 | This article includes alist of references,related reading, orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
-en.svg)
During theearly modern period, theHoly Roman Empire was divided intoimperial circles (Latin:Circuli imperii;German:Reichskreise[ˈʁaɪçsˌkʁaɪzə]; singular:Circulus imperii,Reichskreis[ˈʁaɪçsˌkʁaɪs]), administrative groupings whose primary purposes were the organization of common defensive structure and the collection of imperial taxes. They were also used as a means of organization within theImperial Diet and theImperial Chamber Court. Each circle had a circle diet, although not every member of the circle diet would hold membership of the Imperial Diet as well.
Six imperial circles were introduced at theDiet of Augsburg in 1500. In 1512, three more circles were added, and the largeSaxon Circle was split into two, so that from 1512 until the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in theNapoleonic era, there were ten imperial circles. TheCrown of Bohemia, theSwiss Confederacy andItaly remained unencircled, as did various minor territories which heldimperial immediacy and mostly regrouped the semi-officialKingdom of Germany and the remains of theKingdom of Arles.
Initially the 1500Diet of Augsburg set up six imperial circles as part of theImperial Reform:
Originally, the territories held by the Habsburg dynasty and the electors remained unencircled. In 1512, the Diet atTrier andCologne organized these lands into three more circles:
Also, the Saxon Circle was divided into:
Although the empire lost several western territories after the secession of theSeven United Netherlands in 1581 and during the French annexations of the 1679Peace of Nijmegen, the ten circles remained largely unchanged until the early 1790s, when theFrench Revolutionary Wars brought about significant changes to the political map of Europe.
Some of the circles werede facto controlled by a powerful noble house. The Austrian Circle corresponded almost exactly with theHabsburg hereditary lands. The Burgundian Circle encompassed the territory controlled by the Spanish Habsburgs (Franche-Comte and theHabsburg Netherlands). The Bavarian Circle mostly consisted of the WittelsbachDuchy of Bavaria plus its satellites. The Upper Saxon Circle was dominated by the electorates ofSaxony (plus its satelliteErnestine duchies) andBrandenburg.
The Imperial Circles were extremely important in the administration of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1747,Friedrich Carl Moser noted that "the preservation of the imperial system depends largely upon . . . the western imperial circles."[1] Some historians go even farther, like Hanns Hubert Hofmann, who suggests that "all real state-like functions of the Reich lay exclusively with the circles, not the diet."[1]
At first, starting as elective districts in 1500, the powers of the Imperial Circles gradually expanded. In 1512 they became responsible for enforcing decrees of theReichskammergericht, the Imperial Chamber Court. In 1530, they were made responsible for mobilizing contingents of theReichsarmee, and by 1555, they were responsible for protecting the public peace within the Empire. In 1559, they began to regulate imperial coinage.
ThePeace of Augsburg in 1555 also drew upon the first attempts at local organization in the circles, particularly in the Swabian Circle. It created a fixed constitution for the circles and gave them authority to keep civil and religious peace in their territories. The princes in each circle met in local assemblies called theKreistag, and as such, the circles became a substitute for imperial bureaucracy. After 1555, several circles became effective governmental bodies, especially in Swabia, Franconia, and Lower Saxony. Not only did they carry out orders from the Imperial Diet and Courts, but they also enacted their own legislation. Examples of such include economics, police, and military affairs.
By 1648, some of the Imperial Circles, which became dominated by one or two major powers, began to lose their function. The Austrian and Burgundian circles, both dominated by possessions of the Habsburgs, never developed full constitutions in the first place. Both Saxon circles (for example the Upper Saxon Circle was dominated by Brandenburg and Saxony) stopped convening by 1683, and the Bavarian circle only met on occasion to decide military measures.
A number of imperial territories remained unencircled, notably thelands of the Bohemian crown, theOld Swiss Confederacy and most of theItalian territories.Besides these, there were also a considerable number of minor territories which retainedimperial immediacy, such as individualImperial Villages, and the lands held by individualImperial Knights.
Contemporary (1500–1806) literature and source material:
| Created in 1500 | -en.png) | |
|---|---|---|
| Created in 1512 | ||
| and | ||
