The name imperial government (german: Reichsregiment) denotes two organs, created in 1500 and 1521, in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation to enable a unified political leadership, with input from the Princes. Both were composed of the emperor or his deputy and 20 — later 22 — representatives of the

Imperial State An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...

s and in both cases, the imperial city of

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

was the seat of government. The creation of a functional imperial government was the central plank of the Imperial Reform the princes attempted in the early 16th Century. Both attempts failed after a short time, due to the resistance of the Emperor and the divergent interests of princes.

The first imperial government

The first imperial government was an initiative of Elector

Berthold of Henneberg Bertold von Henneberg-Römhild (1442–1504) was Archbishop of Mainz and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 1484, imperial chancellor from 1486, and leader of the reform faction within the Empire. Biography The son of George, Count o ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

and the Diet of Worms (1495). In return for granting the tax and assistance in the war against France, he demanded the Emperor Maximilian I establish a permanent government, with representation of the estates. The emperor would be honorary president of the committee that would deal with the Treasury, war and foreign policy. Since this would have meant a massive curtailment of his power, Maximilian I rejected the proposal. However, under pressure due to his precarious financial situation, he agreed to other reforms which would pave the way to the imperial government. Only at the Diet of Augsburg in 1500, when the Princes allowed the Emperor to organize an imperial

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, did the formation of the imperial government come about. A panel of 20 representatives of the spiritual and temporal princes of the Empire was formed and they chose the

Free Imperial City In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

as their seat. Maximilian, however, refused to cooperate with this institution from the beginning and dissolved it in 1502.

The second imperial government

Maximilian's successor, Charles V was also confronted with the demand by the Princes to form a Council of Regency. As a condition of his election to

Roman-German King King of the Romans ( la, Rex Romanorum; german: König der Römer) was the title used by the king of Germany following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward. The title originally referred to any German k ...

, he had to allow the reconvening of the panel in his

election treaty An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

. Since Charles was also King of Spain and other territories inside and outside the Empire, he was to spend much of his time outside Germany. At such times, his brother Ferdinand was to fill in for him and chair the government and take care of the affairs of the Empire. Consequently, at the

Diet of Worms The Diet of Worms of 1521 (german: Reichstag zu Worms ) was an imperial diet (a formal deliberative assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire called by Emperor Charles V and conducted in the Imperial Free City of Worms. Martin Luther was summoned t ...

in 1521, where

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

was to explain himself before the Emperor, the second Imperial Government was founded. Charles V endorsed it, but only granted it decision-making powers when he was absent from the Empire. Otherwise, it was to have a purely consultative role. Thus the effectiveness of the second imperial government was also frustrated by the lack of support from the emperor. {{Citation needed, reason=It was disbanded in 1523., date=November 2021

References

* Victor von Kraus: ''Das Nürnberger Reichsregiment. Gründung und Verfall 1500–1502'', Innsbruck 1883 (reprinted 1969). * Christine Roll: ''Das zweite Reichsregiment 1521–1530'', Colgne/Weimar/Vienna 1996. * Hermann Heimpel: ''Studien zur Kirchen- und Reichsreform des 15. Jahrhunderts'', Heidelberg 1974. * Johannis Kunisch: ''Das Nürnberger Reichsregiment und die Türkengefahr'', in: Historisches Jahrbuch 93 (1973), p. 57-72. * Horst Rabe: ''Reich und Glaubensspaltung, Deutschland 1500 - 1600'' (Neue deutsche Geschichte 4), Munich 1989. * Heinz Angermeier: ''Die Reichsreform 1410 - 1555: die Staatsproblematik in Deutschland zwischen Mittelalter und Gegenwart.'' Munich, Beck, 1984

External links

Imperial Government order of Maximilian I (1500)

Imperial Government order of Charles V (1521)
Nuremberg Politics of the Holy Roman Empire Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor