The Imperial Register (, ) was a list of the Imperial Estates of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

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 to sustain the Army. An entry in the register was often viewed as an important indicator of the

imperial immediacy In the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy ( or ) was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' () to Emperor and Empire () and not to any other intermediate authorities, while one that did not possess that stat ...

of an imperial estate, although that was not always undisputed. The importance of the register for historical research lies in the fact that all Estates were recorded in it. However, it also contains obvious errors. The term ''Matrikel'' is derived from the Latin word ''mātrīcula'', a

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

of ''mātrīx'' ("list", "register").

Literature

References

Army of the Holy Roman Empire Index (publishing) {{Germany-hist-stub

See also

Literature

References