Episode 328: The Empire

next series of episode will be quite the joy. Indeed, in order to understand the war and its far reaching consequences for Europe and the West, we have to dig into the early modern Holy Roman Empire. I've talked about the Empire in this show before, but not really to the same extent as England, France, or Spain. The Holy Roman Empire was very different from those kingdoms. It wasn't necessarily worse, though it is often portrayed as such, but

it was very different. In the seventeenth century, historian Samuel Huffendorff declared the Empire a quote unquote monstrosity for the writing that it was neither kingdom nor republic. I'm not sure he was entirely right. The events that gripped the empire after sixteen eighteen were certainly dramatic, but they weren't the first major tests for the emperor or his government since Charlemagne cobbled the whole thing together roughly six hundred

years earlier. Today, we begin our study in detail of the Holy Roman Empire because it's necessary to explain the Thirty Years War, but also because it tells us so much about early modern Europe and early modern state craft. So the first thing that you want to understand is start to talk about the Holy Roman Empire is the

fact that it's large. There were literally millions of peasants and common folk living it over two two hundred towns and at least one hundred and fifty thousand villages, including numerous monasteries, convents, and other communities across the empire. It was the level of communities that things got done, People got married, children were born, work was organized, crops harvested,

goods made in exchange. It was these communities that would dominate a monumental publishing venture by Matthias Marian that was begun while the war was still at its height in the sixteen thirties and not completed until about forty years later called the Topographia Germani. The work contains scarcely any

description of the natural environment. Instead, it talks about the empire by region, all the settlements that Marian and the various collaborators he was working with, the things he had visited, the places he had heard of, and then he described them in alphabetical order. This is what gives us our understanding of the empire today. The numerous engravings that he put into the work perfectly illustrate the three elements of these communities and how they relate to the structure of

the empire overall. If you look at the engravings, you will see that each settlement is shown clearly against the countryside, delineating the community as its own distinct and social space. Most were located on or by rivers, which, of course were essentially over communications at this time, as walls for carrying away garbage and providing some sort of a rudimentary barrier against intruders. Unlike modern rivers, those of the seventeenth

century still followed their natural course. They swelled with heavy rain or melted snow, and they spread out wherever there were low lying meadows. Larger streams changed course over time, leaving islands or inlets that different bridge builders incorporated into the structures to span over these water features. Medieval walls surrounded towns and larger villages, often using rivers or streams

to provide a ditch around the settlement. These high, but relatively thin walls, with their prominent towers and gatehouses all visible in the engravings, were being supplemented by additional, more modern outer defenses to protect now by the seventeenth century against artillery bombardment. Some cities had acquired these defenses already in the sixteenth century, but most built them or modernized existing structures in the sixteen twenties, once the danger of

war had become apparent. The thick, low lying walls with massive stone fronted bastions spread outwards around the medieval core, sometimes encompassing newer suburbs, other times simply sweeping them away. Only those that experienced eye could make out the elaborate geometrical patterns that they cut into the ground, Since the military system of wall outworks and ditches were largely hidden from view on the ground by additional banks of earth

pushed further into the countryside. The few buildings that remained outside the walls were either used for industrial purposes think of things like sawmills, or they were ecclesiastical foundations, like existing monetaries or convents. The ones that had survived the Reformation and continued to exist. Even the smallest village or hamlet was fenced, were shut and barred every single night.

The walled environment meant that cottages and homes were always built very close together because space was at a premium. But this also meant that fire was an ever present danger. The most prominent feature of any town was its church, or I should say church is. Even the smaller towns have three or four. You could see their spires rising above the town walls. Generally, these were the only buildings in town made of stone, and they were also the

focal point of community life. The only other buildings that a traveler might have noticed were the symbols of secular power that could be a town hall, a palace, or simply a bailiff's house. Every town had some such building because towns and cities in the Empire, unlike in England or in France, had considerable autonomy over their own affairs. Towns could, for example, decide who got to live there

and who had to leave. Towns also set their own societal norms and could take punitive actions against any transgressors. It was the Imperial Constitution that linked these thousands of settlements, binding them in a series of hierarchical, ordered and often overlapping jurisdictions. The word Germany did appear in the title of Marian's work, but it actually covered the Empire, an area that still stretched over almost seven hundred thousand kilometers.

It included not only all of modern Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, and the Czech Republic, but also much of western Poland and Alsals and Lorraine, which are now in modern day France. Missing in Marion, Most of the modern Netherlands in Belgium were actually still associated with the Empire in the year sixteen hundred, as was a further around seventy thousand Kaloismeters of northern Italy, even if these regions were not represented in imperial institutions as a whole. The Empire symbolized the

late medieval universal idea of a single Christendom. Its ruler was the only Christian monarch with an imperial title, elevating him above all other crown heads. His pretensions to be the secular head of Europe rested on the idea that the Empire was a direct continuation of ancient Rome. The universal ideal was of course, very distant from the area of practical politics and the localities, ensuring that the emperor

did not rule the numerous communities directly. His authority was always mediated through the empire's hierarchy of jurisdictions, and these were in turn related to medieval and feudal origins. The emperor was considered to be the superior lord over a host of lesser authorities bound by all these various chains of vassalage. As between these lords had grown sharper, particularly as the Empire had to deal with a variety of

internal and external problems. Since roughly the year fourteen eighty, a fundamental division had emerged between those lords who were immediately under the emperor's jurisdiction and those mediate authorities who were subordinate to intervening lords. Immediate lords possessed full imperial thiefs, which were called reich Islam, held directly from the Empire in his capacity as their feudal overlord. These thiefs were generally composed of other lesser thiefs that were held then

by mediate lords or lesser lords. Again, you have to think of feudalism like a giant pyramid scheme. If a lord had jurisdiction over a village, he could expect the deference of everyone who lived there, a share of the produce, and some of their time in the form of a labor requirement. This is where loyalties started to overlap. However, lords could hold authority over multiple towns and fiefs. The problem is that this might make a lord a vassal to multiple greater lords, each of whom might be in

conflict at any given time. I cannot stress the importance of this conflicting loyalty situation. In the Thirty Years War enough, nobles were often faced with a question of who they wanted to support. That made the situation a lot more fluid than it might have been in a more traditional kingdom like England or France. Most rights were required by inheritance and were held by the fifty to sixty thousand

noble families living throughout the Empire. The vast majority of these were the so called territorial nobles, the landindell possessing only less writes subject to the superior jurisdiction of an exclusive group of lords, those who held what were called imperial fiefs. There were around one hundred and eighty lay and one hundred and thirty spiritual fiefs that collectively constituted

the territories of the Empire. They varied considerably in size, and there was no direct correlation between geographical extent and political power. The Empire had taken shape when its population had been concentrated in the south and in the west. The density of settlements in these parts enabled them to sustain a higher concentration of lordships than the more sparsely

populated north and east. Those territories were not even fully incorporated into the Imperial constitution until the beginning of the sixteenth century. Consolidation of this constitution forged to get the other the lay and spiritual lords, into three separate groups. By the critical year of fifteen twenty one. The smallest but most senior group were the seven electors who held feafths associated with the Golden Bull of thirteen fifty six.

These had the exclusive right to choose each emperor. The prevailing social distinction gave precedence to the clergy as the quote unquote first state over the nobility, an account of the societal function of praying for the entire community's salvation. The premier electorate was therefore the Archbishop of Manse, followed by his colleagues in Colonne and Trier, none of whom held more than one hundred thousand subjects. The secular electors were headed by the Kingdom of Bohemia, the only land

with a distinct royal title in the Empire. Bohemia was also the largest electorate, covering over fifty thousand square kilometers, with a population of one point five million living in one hundred and two towns, three hundred and eight market centers, two hundred and fifty eight castles, over thirty thousand villages

and hamlets, and about two thousand parish churches. Brandenburg was the next electorate in size, but it was the most junior in status, covering thirty six thousand kilometers but with only three hundred and fifty thousand people. Saxony was smaller but more densely populated, with around one point two million subjects. The Palatinate ranked second after Bohemia, covered around eleven thousand kilometers in two parts there was a lower part on the Rhine and an upper part in northern Bavaria. The

Palatinate had a combined population of around six hundred thousand. Together, the electors held around a fifth of the territory of the Empire and about a sixth of its total population. The other imperial fiefs fell broadly into one of two types. Fifty spiritual and thirty three lay fiefs were held by the lords of princely rank, though their actual titles ranged from things like archbishop and bishop through duke and marquis. All lay fiefs were formally acquired by inheritance or purchase.

In both cases the transfer was subject to the emperor's approval. Spiritual leaders, including the three electors, were chosen by the cathedral or the local abbey of the principal church in the land, again subject formally to the emperors and in this case also the pope's agreement. The number of princes was always less than the total number of fiefs, since it was possible for the electors to acquire additional princely fiefs, while existing princes could held more than one, and prince

bishops might seek election in another area. In this case, the Habsburgs were the most successful of all the princely families in accumulating influence in this traditional way. They had acquired not only the eleven Austrian provinces, but also Bohemia and its associated lands, together with seventeen Netherlands provinces, which gave the Habsburgs over three hundred thousand kilometers of territory about two fifths of the entire Empire held by one family.

Parts of Hungary also fell to that dynasty in fifteen twenty six. As a result, the Habsburgs governed over seven million subjects by sixteen hundred, compared with around seventeen million people in the rest of the Empire. This territorial base ensured the dynasty's basic monopoly of imperial title. Between fourteen thirty eight and the end of the empire in eighteen oh six, they stood heads and shoulders over every other noble family in the land, few of whom had more

than one hundred thousand subjects. The second group of around two hundred and twenty fiefs were smaller and lacked full princely status, ruled by a local count, just a lord or prelate, most of whom never had more than a thousand subjects, a further four hundred baroneal and knightly families held a further fifteen hundred fiefs directly from the Emperor,

who had been declared his imperial knights or reich Strader. Individually, these holdings were no larger than those of the far more numerous territorial nobility, who lacked the status of imperial immediacy. They had ceased to play a significant role in imperial politics even by the mid sixteen s entry. The majority of communities fell under one or more of the jurisdictions that had just mentioned, But the Empire was unique in

one respect. There were eighty or so quote free and imperial cities end quote that were subject only to the emperor. These were mostly in the old heartland of the Empire, to the south and the west. They were also the largest settlements in the Empire. Augsburg was the biggest, with around forty eight thousand inhabitants. At the time, it was around four times the size of Berlin. Several other cities, including Nuremberg and Hamburg, had around forty thousand people each.

After these major cities were the smaller but still critical population centers like Frankfurt and Achan, which had about half as many people. The majority of the smaller cities only held around four thousand people each. However, these cities were incredibly independent because their only lord was the emperor. Their direct relationship with imperial authority gave these free cities a tremendous amount of power and made them economic powerhouses because

no nearby petty lord was siphoning off their profits. Now, the Holy Roman Empire did have an imperial constitution. The constitution in part explained how power was supposed to be shared between the emperor and his vassals. However, the constitution was extremely hierarchical, and as a result, the rights and responsibilities under said constitution were shared unequally. The emperor was the ultimate overlord, but his powers were left quite intentionally vague.

By the time we get to the Thirty Years War, the emperorship was effectively dominated by the Habsburg family, but it was not a hereditary position. The Holy Roman Emperor had to be elected. It was possible for the emperor to designate a successor, who, if he was acceptable to the electors, gained the title of King of the Romans. This was kind of like the Prince of Wales in England. But I don't want you to think that this was

some kind of democracy. The emperor was considered to have quote unquote princely qualities, so the position was not opened to anyone. The growth of Habsburg resources made that dynasty the obvious choice, since imperial prerogatives confer executive authority but supplied very few means by which you might put that

authority into effect. The electors expected the emperor to use his own lands to fund not only his personal court and imperial institutions, but also much of the defense of the empire against the Ottomans and of course other later Christian enemies. However, they recognized that changes in warfare made this impossible without at least saw assistance from the rest

of the Empire. The princes and cities accepted this. The willingness to contribute imperial taxes became sort of the criteria for imperial power, marking them out from all the other lords and towns that merely paid into territorial treasuries. Imperial contributions later became known as quote unquote Roman months. It was named so after the cost of the escort that was intended to take Charles the Fifth to his coronation

in Rome. Each territory was assessed a tax according to a scale fixing its share of a single month's pay for twenty four thousand soldiers. Taxes could be raised as fractions or multiples of this basic quota. They might be levied either as a one off payment or spread across several months, even years. The Empire did have a sort of representative body in addition to the executive authority held by the Emperor. This was called the Reichstog, but the

Reichstog was not a parliament in the traditional sense. Essentially, whether a territory got representation in the Reichstog was determined by whether or not it was on the official tax registry in fifteen twenty one. The Reichstag could not constrain the Emperor in the way the English Parliament might constrain the actions of James the First, but the Emperor was supposed to consult his leading subjects on important matters. True to the hierarchical nature of the Empire, there were three

separate colleges in the Reichstag, Electors, princes, and city. Each college or part took its decision by a simple majority vote. Once a mutually acceptable decision had been worked out between the three colleges, a collective decision was presented to the Emperor as a quote unquote recommendation. He was free to accept it or reject it. If he accepted it, it

was called an imperial recess. By the time of the war in sixteen eighteen, working with the reichs Dog had become the only effective way the Emperor could secure a binding agreement on all of his territories. As a result, the Reichstag met fairly regularly, voting consistently, for example, to support the war against the Ottomans. In fourteen ninety five, the reichs Dog declared a perpetual public peace, requiring the Emperor and all his vassals submit their disagreements to a

new imperial court called the Reichschmergate. Note I did not take German in high school. This new well court was set up in the imperial city of Spire. This was not a court, though in the traditional sense. Its job wasn't to determine guilt or innocence, but rather to search and find a mutually agreeable solution to problems. It has however, been largely blamed for failing to secure agreements to issues

that led to the Thirty Years War. If the court came to a decision, it was enforced by lesser courts throughout the md Empire, backed up by the Emperor himself. Except in his dynastic lands, the Emperor had little direct say over the lives of his imperial subjects, or were always under the control of one or more territorial lords. As imperial estate members, the territorial lords enjoyed their own special set of liberties, marking them out from their subjects

and their vassals. These liberties gave them the privilege of being consulted by the Emperor and a sharing collective governance, but they also brought the responsibility of defending the rights and autonomies of their territories and peoples. Here's where the checks and balances of the imperial system of government are most evident. Each lord or prince sought to maintain his or her particular place within the imperial hierarchy. No one ever,

and I do mean ever, thought of independence. Even the largest electors lacked the resources for an independent political existence. All the rulers derived their authority and status from membership of the Empire, setting themselves apart from aristocrats in other countries who were the subjects of mere kings. As Imperial Estate members, they were distinguished between the emperor and the Empire.

They were loyal to both, but their ties to the Emperor remained highly personal, whereas ties to the Empire were collective and more corporate in nature. In fifteen sixty two, when Maximilian the Second was crowned, marked the last time that all the electors attended the vote in person. From that point on, electors by and large sent trained lawyers who acted as delegates. The election of an emperor was always portrayed, like that of a pope, as a unanimous decision.

Now in the end, the Empire was a cumbersome legal patchwork that made decisive action difficult, but it did make the entire structure stronger because it allowed local interests to be overseen by local actors. Thus it was much more federal in nature than England or Spain. Critically, while the inhabitants of the Empire might fight over the interpretation of the imperial and constitution, no one ever disputed its right to exist. It was that overriding belief that the Empire

was in the end good for Central Europe. That gave it the strength to endure the horrific war that was about to unfold. Now. Next week I want to dive into the religious divisions within the Empire that are very much going to play a massive role in the war to come between now and then. If you'd like more Western Sieve, check out the link in the show notes.

You can get a free trial to Western SIV two point zero and get caught up to speed in really great detail, all about the ongoings of the decline and fall of the Roman Republic.