Copyright © Val Rozn 1999, 2000, 2002
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Last updated : April 3, 2002
The Last years of the Ancient
Empire
The Holy Roman Empire loses the Left Bank of the
Rhine
By 1792, there were approximately 150 secular
territorial rulers with the status of the Imperial Estate.
The French Revolutionary wars drastically changed
the political map of Central Europe. In 1793-1794 the French armies occupied
lands of the Empire on the left bank of the Rhine and many reigning houses lost
their immediate territories. The French invasion also dispossessed rulers in
North Italy.
The following is the list of the secular Imperial
estates, who lost their position of territorial rulers as a result of the
French invasion in the Imperial lands on the left bank of the Rhine:
- the Duke of Arenberg;
- the Count of Aspremont-Lynden in
Reckheim;
- the Prince of Bretzenheim;
- the Prince of
Leiningen-Hartenburg;
- the Count of
Leiningen-Güntersblum;
- the Count of
Leiningen-Heidesheim;
- the Prince of Ligne in
Fagnolles;
- the Countess of Manderscheid (a widow of - the
Count of Sternberg) in Blankenheim & Gerolstein;
- the Countess of Mark-Lumman (a widow of Duke of
Arenberg) in Schleiden & Saffenburg;
- the Count of Metternich in Winneburg &
Beilstein;
- the Count of Ostein in Mylendonk;
- the Count of Plettenberg in Wittem & Eyss;
- the Count of Quadt in Wykradt;
- the Count of Salm-Grumbach;
- the Prince of Salm-Kyrburg;
- the Count of Salm-Reifferscheidt-Bedbur;
- the Count of Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck;
- the Count of Schäsberg in Kerpen &
Lommersum;
- the Count of Sinzendorf in Winterrieden;
- the Count of Törring-Jettenbach in
Gronsfeld;
- the Count of Waldbott of Bassenheim in
Ollbrück;
- the Count of Wallmoden in Neustadt &
Gimborn;
- the Count of Wartenberg.
The Final Recess of the Imperial Deputation of
1803
The treaty of Lunéville (1801)
recognized these territorial losses and promised to compensate the secular
rulers. The Imperial Assembly created a special Imperial deputation to
distribute the compensation. By the provision of the Final Recess of the
Imperial Deputation (Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) (February
1803) the secular rulers, which have the status of Imperial Estate, were
compensated with the secularized ecclesiastical territories and
territories of the Imperial free cities. Only three ecclesiastical rulers
preserved their status of terrirorial rulers:
- Karl-Theodor of Dalberg, the Imperial
Arch-chancellor for Germany, Elector and Archbishop of Mainz (His new
possessions became Regensburg, Wetzlar and Aschaffenburg);
- the Grand Prior of the Malta Order (St John
Knights);
- the High-Master of the Teutonic Order;
Of the 48 free cities that still existed, only
six were left: Lübeck, Hamburg, Bremen, Nuremberg (Nürnberg),
Augsburg, Frankfurt. Most of the dispossessed secular rulers from left bank of
the Rhine restored their status of sovereign rulers. The restored rulers, both
princes and - the Counts, were to receive at least the same status as Imperial
and Imperial Circle estates they had as owners the lost territories. Some
Imperial - the Counts were compensated for their immediate territories only with
an annual rent:
- the Count of Salm-Reifferscheidt for Dyck,
- the Count of Limburg-Styrum for Oberstein,
- the Countess of Hillesheim and the Countess of
Parkstein (a widow of Prince of Isenburg-Birstein) for Reipoltskirchen,
- the Count of Goltstein for
Schlenacken,
- the Countess of Öttingen (a wife of the
Count of of Colloredo-Mansfeld) for Dahstuhl,
etc.
The Final Recess changed the composition of the
Councils of the Imperial Assembly.
Now in the Council of Electors were
represented:
1. Bohemia,
2. Regensburg (transferred from
Mainz),
3. Saxony,
4. Brandenburg,
5. Palatinate-Bavaria,
6. Salzburg (in 1805 transferred to
Würzburg),
7. Hesse-Kassel,
8. Baden and
9. Württemberg.
The composition of the Council of Princes
was also changed.
The voices of the territories annexed by France
were excluded (e.g. voices of Burgundy, Mömpelgard (Montbeliard),
Palatinate-Zweibrücken,Palatinate-Lautern, Palatinate-Veldenz, Savoy,
etc).
The voices of the former ecclesiastical
territories, but not of free cities, went to their new owners, mostly the
Ancient Princely houses.
The Ancient Princely houses got individual voices
for the territories they owned for long time but without representation in the
Imperial Assembly:
- Bavaria for Sulzbach, the Lower Bavaria, and
Berg;
- Austria for Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and
Tyrol;
- Brunswick-Hanover for
Göttingen;
- Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel for
Blankenburg;
- Electoral Saxony for Meissen (the margraviate),
Meissen (the burgraviate), Thuringia and Querfurt;
- Holstein for Plön;
- Hesse-Kassel for Hanau;
- Württemberg for Tübingen and
Teck;
The number of the New Princely houses was
increased.
Several reigning houses that possessed the
Princely rank but had only currial voices in Colleges of Imperial - the Counts
now received individual voices:
1. Nassau-Usingen,
2. Nassau-Weilburg,
3. Waldeck,
4. Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg ( former
Rochefort),
5. Öttingen-Spielberg ,
6. Öttingen-Wallerstein,
7. Solms-Braunfels,
8. Hohenlohe-Neuenstein,
9.
Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst,
10. Hohenlohe-Bartenstein,
11. Isenburg-Birnstein,
12. Kaunitz-Rietberg,
13. Reuss-Greiz,
14. Leiningen-Hartenburg,
15. Ligne.
Salm-Kyrburg that shared an individual voice with
Salm-Salm got its own individual voice.
The Princes of Fürstenberg, Schwarzenberg,
Thurn-Taxis were given the second voice.
The Sigmaringen branch of the House of
Hohenzollern received a separate individual voice.
Two dispossessed Italian rulers were compensated
in Germany :
1. Archduke Ferdinand, a brother of Emperor Franz
II and the former Grand Duke of Tuscany, received Salzburg, Eichstaedt,
Berchtesgaden and three individual voices in the Council of Princes and one
voice in the Council of Electors.
2. Hercules(Ercole) of Este, the former
Duke of Modena, was given Breisgau and Ortenau and two individual voices in the
Council of Princes. Hercules' heir was Archduke Ferdinand, an uncle of Emperor
Franz II.
The Duke of Arenberg was compensated for the loss
of immediate territories that belonged his mother's (born the Countess of Mark),
where he was an administrator.
The Prince of Dietrichstein exchanged his
lordship Tarasp in Switzerland for Neu-Ravensberg in Swabia.
The former lands of the dispossessed Dukes of
Croÿ and of Looz-Corswarem were not recognized as immidiate to the
Empire.
Nevertheless, the dukes were given new
territories with the right of as immediate Imperial fiefs.
The Duke of Looz-Corswarem was to receive an
individual voice in the Council of Princes for Rheina-Wolbeck.
The End of the Holy Roman Empire
The War of the Third Coalition against France in
1805 led to the defeat of Austria. The treaty of Pressburg (December
1805) rewarded German allies of Napoleon I with new territories and titles.
Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the house of Modena-Este(see above) was
dispossessed, and his lands, Breisgau and Ortenau, were assigned to Baden. The
Electors of Württemberg and Bavaria would be recognized as Kings (without
leaving the Empire). Emperor Franz II lost all of the Habsburg lands in
Southwest Germany (Hohenberg,Nellenburg,Burgau,Tyrol, Hohenems, Lindau,
Rothenfels, etc). His brother Ferdinand had to exchange Salzburg for
Würzburg, but preserved his status of Elector.
In December 1805 posssession of the Elector and
Duke of Brunswick-Hanover (the King of Great Britain), which had been occupied
by the French since 1803, were given to Elector and Margrave of Brandenburg (the
King of Prussia).
In January 1806 Napoleon I acquired the Duchies
of Kleve (from Brandenburg) and Berg (from Bavaria). He then gave both Duchies
to Joachim Murat, his brother-in-law (March 1806). Kleve and Berg remained in
the Empire, nevertheless, the status of Joachim Murat as an Imperial Estate
was not defined.
The authority of Emperor Franz II declined in the
Empire. Because small Imperial Estates traditionally supported the Roman
Emperors, Napoleon I preferred that in Germany there would be several midsize
states. In July 1806, 16 rulers of South and West Germany, encouraged by
Napoleon I, left the Empire and mediatized , i.g. submitted to their
overlordship, all other immediate territorial rulers of this region. In
August 1806, Emperor Franz II laid down the crown of the Holy Roman
Empire. All Imperial Estates, which were not mediatized, received the
unlimited sovereignty.