Imperial circle

Administrative groupings of the Holy Roman Empire

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A map of the imperial circles in 1560

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Burgundian Circle

Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle

Electoral Rhenish Circle

Upper Rhenish Circle

Lower Saxon Circle

Upper Saxon Circle

Franconian Circle

Swabian Circle

Bavarian Circle

Austrian Circle

Unencircled territories

During the early modern period, the Holy Roman Empire was divided into imperial 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 the Imperial Diet and the Imperial 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 the Diet of Augsburg in 1500. In 1512, three more circles were added, and the large Saxon Circle was split into two, so that from 1512 until the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in the Napoleonic era, there were ten imperial circles. The Crown of Bohemia, the Swiss Confederacy and Italy remained unencircled, as did various minor territories which held imperial immediacy and mostly regrouped the semi-official Kingdom of Germany and the remains of the Kingdom of Arles.

## Formation

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Initially the 1500 Diet of Augsburg set up six imperial circles as part of the Imperial Reform:

* the Bavarian Circle
* the Franconian Circle
* the Saxon Circle
* the Swabian Circle
* the Upper Rhenish Circle
* the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle

Originally, the territories held by the Habsburg dynasty and the electors remained unencircled. In 1512, the Diet at Trier and Cologne organized these lands into three more circles:

* the Austrian Circle, including the Habsburg territories inherited by Maximilian I
* the Burgundian Circle, including the patrimony of Maximilian's late wife, Mary of Burgundy
* the Electoral Rhenish Circle, including the ecclesiastical Electorates of Mainz, Cologne and Trier, and the secular Electorate of the Palatinate.

Also, the Saxon Circle was divided into:

* the Lower Saxon Circle
* the Upper Saxon Circle, including the Electorates of Saxony and Brandenburg

Although the empire lost several western territories after the secession of the Seven United Netherlands in 1581 and during the French annexations of the 1679 Peace of Nijmegen, the ten circles remained largely unchanged until the early 1790s, when the French Revolutionary Wars brought about significant changes to the political map of Europe.

Some of the circles were de facto controlled by a powerful noble house. The Austrian Circle corresponded almost exactly with the Habsburg hereditary lands. The Burgundian Circle encompassed the territory controlled by the Spanish Habsburgs (Franche-Comte and the Habsburg Netherlands). The Bavarian Circle mostly consisted of the Wittelsbach Duchy of Bavaria plus its satellites. The Upper Saxon Circle was dominated by the electorates of Saxony (plus its satellite Ernestine duchies) and Brandenburg.

## Responsibilities

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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 the Reichskammergericht, the Imperial Chamber Court. In 1530, they were made responsible for mobilizing contingents of the Reichsarmee, and by 1555, they were responsible for protecting the public peace within the Empire. In 1559, they began to regulate imperial coinage.

The Peace 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 the kriestags, 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.

## Unencircled territories

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Main article: Territories of the Holy Roman Empire outside the Imperial Circles

A number of imperial territories remained unencircled, notably the lands of the Bohemian crown, the Old Swiss Confederacy and most of the Italian territories. Besides these, there were also a considerable number of minor territories which retained imperial immediacy, such as individual Imperial Villages, and the lands held by individual Imperial Knights.

## References

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1. ^ a b Wines, Roger (1967). "The Imperial Circles, Princely Diplomacy and Imperial Reform 1681-1714". The Journal of Modern History. 39 (1): 1–29\. doi:10.1086/239995. ISSN 0022-2801. JSTOR 1877665.

* Winfried Dotzauer: Die deutschen Reichskreise in der Verfassung des alten Reiches und ihr Eigenleben. 1500–1806. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1989, ISBN 3-534-04139-9 [1]
* Peter Claus Hartmann (ed.): Regionen in der frühen Neuzeit. Reichskreise im deutschen Raum, Provinzen in Frankreich, Regionen unter polnischer Oberhoheit. Ein Vergleich ihrer Strukturen, Funktionen und ihrer Bedeutung. (= Zeitschrift für historische Forschung; Beiheft 17). Duncker und Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-08078-5.

## Literature

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Contemporary (1500–1806) literature and source material:

* Wolfgang Wüst (ed.): Die "gute" Policey im Reichskreis. Zur frühmodernen Normensetzung in den Kernregionen des Alten Reiches, edition of primary sources in four volumes, vol. 1: Der Schwäbische Reichskreis, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung Bayerisch-Schwabens, Berlin 2001; vol. 2: Der Fränkische Reichskreis, Berlin 2003; vol. 3: Der Bayerische Reichskreis und die Oberpfalz, Berlin 2004; vol.: Die lokale Policey: Normensetzung und Ordnungspolitik auf dem Lande. Ein Quellenwerk, Berlin 2008.
* Hernach volgend die Zehen Krayß, 1532.
* Johannes Alhusius: Politica methodice digesta. 3.Aufl., Herborn 1614.
* Martin Zeiller: Von den zehn Kreisen. 1660, 1694.
* Johann Samuel Tromsdorff: Accurate neue und alte Geographie von ganz Teutschland. Frankfurt 1711 (pp. 128ff).
* "Creiß" in: Zedler, Grosses vollständiges Universallexikon aller Wissenschaften und Künste, vol. 6 (Ci – Cz), 1733.

## External links

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* "Imperial Circles in the 16th Century", Historical Maps of Germany, Webs, archived from the original on 2012-01-27.

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Circles of the Holy Roman Empire after the Imperial Reform

Created in 1500|

* Bavarian
* Franconian
* Westphalian (Lower Rhenish-Westphalian)
* Lower Saxon
* Swabian
* Upper Rhenish

Created in 1512|

* Austrian
* Burgundian
* Electoral Rhenish
* Upper Saxon

and|

* Territories of the Holy Roman Empire outside the Imperial Circles

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Designations for types of administrative division

English terms

Common English terms

| Area|

* Insular area
* Local government area
* Special area
* Unincorporated area
* Unorganized area

|

Borough|

* County borough
* Metropolitan borough

Canton|

Half-canton

Capital|

* Federal capital
* Imperial capital

City|

* Autonomous city
* Charter city
* Independent city
* Incorporated city
* Imperial city
* Free imperial city
* Royal free city

Community|

* Autonomous community
* Residential community

County|

* Administrative county
* Autonomous county
* Consolidated city-county
* County seat
* County town
* Metropolitan county
* Non-metropolitan county
* Regional county municipality
* Viscounty

Country|

* Overseas country

Department|

* Overseas department

District|

* Capital district
* City district
* Congressional district
* Electoral district
* Federal district
* Indian government district
* Land district
* Local government district
* Metropolitan district
* Non-metropolitan district
* Military district
* Municipal district
* Police district
* Regional district
* Rural district
* Sanitary district
* Service district
* Educational service district
* Local service district
* School district
* Intermediate school district
* Special district
* in the US
* Urban district

Division|

* Census division
* Police division
* Subdivision of India

Indian reserve/reservation|

* Indian reservation (United States)
* Indian reserve (Canada)

Municipality|

* City municipality
* County municipality
* Direct-controlled municipality
* District municipality
* Neutral municipality
* Regional municipality
* Resort municipality
* Mountain resort municipality
* Rural municipality
* Specialized municipality

Prefecture|

* Autonomous prefecture
* Subprefecture
* Super-prefecture
* Praetorian prefecture

Province|

* Autonomous province
* Overseas province
* Roman province

Region|

* Administrative region
* Special administrative region
* Autonomous region
* Capital region
* National capital region
* Development region
* Mesoregion
* Microregion
* Overseas region
* Subregion

State|

* Proto-state
* City-state
* Federal state
* Free state
* Sovereign state

Territory|

* Capital territory
* Federal capital territory
* National capital territory
* Dependent territory
* Federal territory
* Incorporated territory
* Organized incorporated territory
* Overseas territory
* Union territory

Town|

* Census town
* Market town

Township|

* Charter township
* Civil township
* Paper township
* Survey township
* Urban township

Unit|

* Regional unit

Zone|

* Economic zone
* Exclusive economic zone
* Free economic zone
* Special economic zone
* Exclusion zone
* Military exclusion zone
* Free speech zone
* Neutral zone
* Self-administered zone
* Trade zone
* Free-trade zone

Other English terms

| Current|

* Alpine resort
* Bailiwick
* Banner
* Autonomous
* Block
* Cadastre
* Circle
* Circuit
* Colony
* Commune
* Condominium
* Constituency
* Duchy
* District
* Eldership
* Emirate
* Enclave and exclave
* Federal dependency
* Governorate
* Hamlet
* Manor
* Royal
* Muftiate
* Neighbourhood
* Parish
* Precinct
* Principality
* Protectorate
* Quarter
* Regency
* Autonomous republic
* Riding
* Sector
* Autonomous
* Shire
* Sultanate
* Suzerainty
* Townland
* Village
* Summer
* Ward

|

Historical|

* Agency
* Barony
* Burgh
* Exarchate
* Hide
* Hundred
* Imperial Circle
* March
* Monthon
* Presidency
* Residency
* Roman diocese
* Seat
* Tenth
* Tithing
* Viceroyalty

Non-English terms or loanwords

| Current|

* Amt
* Apskritis
* Bakhsh
* Barangay
* Bashki
* Bezirk
* Regierungsbezirk
* Comarca
* Comune
* Frazione
* Freguesia
* Fu
* Gemeinde
* Austria
* Germany
* South Tyrol
* Switzerland
* Gemeente
* Gmina
* Hromada
* Județ
* Kampong
* Kommun/Kunta
* Finland
* Sweden
* Län (Sweden)
* Landskap
* Finland
* Località
* Maakunta
* Megye
* Muban
* Mukim
* Njësi administrative
* Obec
* Oblast
* Autonomous
* Okrug
* Ostān
* Poblacion
* Purok
* Qark
* Raion
* Savivaldybė
* Selsoviet
* Sitio
* Seniūnija
* Shahrestān
* Sum
* China
* Sýsla
* Tehsil
* Townlet
* Vingtaine

|

Historical|

* Commote
* Gau
* Heerlijkheid
* Komunë
* Köping
* Korale
* Län/Lääni
* Landskap
* Sweden
* Landskommun
* Maalaiskunta
* Nome
* Egypt
* Greece
* Pagus
* Pargana
* Plasă
* Rreth
* Satrapy
* Socken
* Subah
* Syssel
* Zhou

Used by ten or more countries or having derived terms. Historical derivations in italics.

See also
Autonomous administration
Census division
Electoral district
List of administrative divisions by country
Greek administrative divisions
Slavic administrative divisions

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