Circle troops
[''Westphalia: The Last Christian Peace'']
by Derek Croxton. Retrieved 26 Nov 2013 () were the contingents of soldiers that the
Imperial Circles (''Reichskreise'') actually placed at the disposal of the
Army of the Holy Roman Empire
The Army of the Holy Roman Empire (; , ''Reichsheer'', or ''Reichsarmatur''; ) was created in 1422 and came to an end when the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.
The Army of the Empire was not a standing ...
or ''Reichsarmee''. Following the Imperial Defence Order (''Reichsdefensionalordnung''), all imperial circles in the empire were obliged to provide contingents of troops, although not all did so in the event. The
Imperial Register
The Imperial Register (, ) was a list of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire that specified the precise numbers of troops they had to supply to the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and/or the financial support they had to make available t ...
(''Reichsmatrikel'') laid down how many troops the individual
Imperial State
An Imperial Estate (; , plural: ') was an entity or an individual of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise signi ...
s had to make available to the ''Reichsarmee''.
Emergence and structure
The Imperial Circles only emerged at the beginning of the 16th century. The first six were established at the Diet of Augsburg in 1500. They were only identified by numbers and consisted of imperial estates of all groups with the exception of the electors. With the creation of four other Imperial Circles in 1512, the
Austrian Hereditary Lands
The ("Hereditary Lands") of the House of Habsburg formed the Alpine heartland of the Habsburg monarchy.Kann, ''Habsburg Empire'', 1–4. They were the hereditary possessions of the Habsburgs within the Holy Roman Empire from before 1526. The ...
and the
electorate
Electorate may refer to:
* The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate''
* The dominion of a prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806
* An electoral district
...
s now joined the Imperial Circle structure.
The "most recent register of all time", drawn up at the
Diet of Worms
The Diet of Worms of 1521 ( ) was an Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire), imperial diet (a formal deliberative assembly) of the Holy Roman Empire called by Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V and conducted in the Imperial Free City o ...
, contained the basic imperial direction, the ''Simplum''. The further division of responsibility to individual Imperial Estates within each Circle was now the business of the Circles themselves according to the Worms register.
In a few Circles, the office of Circle Captain
[ / ]Circle Colonel
The Circle Colonel () was an office in the Imperial Circles of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in the Early Modern Period.
According to the Circle Edict of 1522, every Circle had to nominate a Captain (''Hauptmann'') and notify the Emp ...
''The drillmaster of Valley Forge: the Baron de Steuben and the making of the American Army''
by Paul Douglas Lockhart. Retrieved 26 Nov 2013. (''Kreisobrist'') was created: a military leader appointed for the long term. In some Circles the office of Circle General was created. He was appointed by the Circle for the management of its troops, and he and his staff, as well as the regimental commanders, were paid from the Circle's budget. The appointment and payment of the remaining officers was sometimes carried out by the Circles and sometimes by the Imperial Estates providing the contingents of troops.
See also
*
Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Emperor
Imperial Army (Latin: ''Exercitus Imperatoris'', ) or Imperial troops (''Kaiserliche Truppen'' or ''Kaiserliche'') was a name used for several centuries, especially to describe soldiers recruited for the Holy Roman Emperor during the early mode ...
*
Imperial Register
The Imperial Register (, ) was a list of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire that specified the precise numbers of troops they had to supply to the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and/or the financial support they had to make available t ...
References
Literature
* Hanns Hubert Hofmann: ''Quellen zum Verfassungsorganismus des Heiligen Römischen Reiches Deutscher Nation 1495-1815'', Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, 1st edn., 1976
* Winfried Dotzauer: ''Die deutschen Reichskreise (1383-1806)'', Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1998,
External links
Der Augsburger Reichsabschied ("Augsburger Religionsfrieden")- full text
{{Wikisource, Hernach volgend die zehen Krayss, Verzeichnis der Reichskreise von 1532, 3=x