German Mediatisation
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The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany in 1795–1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era .
Mediatisation was the process of annexing the lands of one sovereign monarchy to another, often leaving the annexed some rights. Secularisation was the redistribution to secular states of the secular lands held by an ecclesiastical ruler such as a bishop or an abbot.
Following the collapse of the Carolingian Empire and the rise of feudalism, much of Europe had been reduced to an array of small, independent statelets. Successive Kings of Germany and Holy Roman Emperors vested temporal authority on many bishoprics, abbacies and convents, and also granted free city rights to many cities and villages throughout Germany. Unlike England and France, for example, the German kings were unable to coalesce their realms into a fully centralised kingdom, so over the course of centuries Germany had come to consist of no less than 300 independent states.
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[edit] Reichsdeputationshauptschluss
The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (formally the Hauptschluss der außerordentlichen Reichsdeputation, or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation") was a resolution passed on 25 February 1803 by the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Empire. It proved to be the last significant law enacted by the Empire before its dissolution in 1806.
Based on a plan agreed in June 1802 between France and Russia, and broad principles outlined in the Treaty of Lunéville of 1801, the law established a major redistribution of territorial sovereignty within the Empire, to compensate numerous German princes for territories to the west of the Rhine that had been annexed by France as a result of the wars of the French Revolution.
The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss was ratified unanimously by the Reichstag in March, 1803, and was approved by the emperor, Francis II, the following month. However, the emperor made a formal reservation in respect of the reallocation of votes within the Reichstag, as the balance between Protestant and Catholic states had been shifted heavily in the former's favour.
The redistribution was achieved by a combination of two processes: secularization of ecclesiastical principalities, and mediatization of numerous small secular principalities.
[edit] Secularisation
From the re-establishment of the Holy Roman Empire by the Salian and Saxon Emperors in the 10th and 11th centuries, the feudal system had turned Germany and northern Italy into a vast network of small statelets, each with its own specific privileges, titles and autonomy. To help administer Germany in the face of growing decentralisation and local autonomy following the rise of feudalism, many bishoprics, abbacies and convents throughout Germany were granted temporal estates and noble titles—such as prince, duke, or count—by successive Holy Roman Emperors. The personal appointment of bishops by the Holy Roman Emperors had sparked the investiture controversy, and in its aftermath the emperors were unable to use the bishops for this end. Following this, the bishops and abbots had begun to run their newfound realms as a temporal lord as opposed to a spiritual lord. The endemic corruption and decadence that followed had led to the falling from grace of the Ecclesiastical rulers, and eventually led to the Protestant Reformation. The Counter-Reformation re-established the relevance of the Prince-Bishops, as they had become known, but by the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia, the new system whereby the inhabitants of a state were expected to follow the religion of the ruler left the Prince-Bishops again obsolete.
In 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte of France defeated the armed forces of the Holy Roman Emperor and by the Treaty of Campo Formio annexed all the lands of the Holy Roman Empire west of the Rhine River. The Holy Roman Emperor was bound by duty to compensate the now stateless monarchs who lost their lands to grant them new estates. The only available lands were those held by the Prince-Bishops, so they were secularised and dispersed amongst the monarchs of Germany.
The ecclesiastical states were generally annexed to neighbouring secular principalities. Only three survived as non-secular states: the Archbishopric of Regensburg, which was raised from a bishopric with the incorporation of the Archbishopric of Mainz, and the lands of the Teutonic Knights and Knights of Saint John. Also of note is the former Archbishopric of Salzburg, which was secularised as a duchy with an increased territorial scope, and was also made an electorate. Many German monasteries had to close.
[edit] Secularised States
Bishops and Archbishops: Augsburg; Bamberg (Babenberg); Basel; Brixen; Chur; Cologne (Köln); Constance (Konstanz); Eichstädt; Freising; Hildesheim; Liège; Lübeck; Mainz; Münster; Osnabrück; Paderborn; Passau; Regensburg; Salzburg; Sion; Spires (Speyer); Strasbourg; Trent (Trento); Trier; Worms; Würzburg
Abbeys, Convents and Provostries: Berchtesgaden; Beuron; Buchau; Corvey; Elchingen; Ellwangen; Essen; Fulda; Gutenzell; Heggbach; Heiligkreuzthal; Herford; Kaisersheim (Kaisheim); Kempten; Marchthal; Niedermünster-in-Regensburg; Neresheim; Ochsenhausen; Obermünster-in-Regensburg; Petershausen; Quedlinburg; Roth; Rottenmünster; Salem; Salmansweiler; Schöntal; Schussenried; Söflingen; Sorlingen; Stablo-Malmedy; St. Blasien; St. Cornelimünster; St. Emmeran; St. Gall; Thorn; Weingarten; Weissenau; Werden-Helmstedt; Wiblingen; Zweifalten
[edit] Mediatisation
Although the number of German states had been steadily decreasing since the Thirty Years' War, there still remained approximately 200 states by the advent of the Napoleonic Era. The defeat of the First Coalition resulted in the secularisation of the ecclesial states and the annexation by France of all lands west of the Rhine. Also in 1803, most of the free cities in Germany were mediatised. On June 12, 1806, Napoleon established the Confederation of the Rhine to help secure the eastern border of France. On August 6, 1806, the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II declared the Empire abolished. In order to gain the support of the more powerful German states, it was announced that all states that joined could mediatise neighbouring states.
Following the Battle of Waterloo and the exile of Napoleon to St. Helena, the Congress of Vienna was held in 1814 by the Great Powers to re-establish the old borders of Europe. It was decided that the mediatised monarchs, free cities and secularised states would not be recreated, but instead the monarchs of the mediatised states were to be considered equal to the remaining sovereign monarchs, and they would receive compensation for their loss. As it was left to each of the remaining states to compensate them, and they had no authority to complain to if they weren't fairly reimbursed, many of the monarchs never received their supposed due.
Mediatisation transferred sovereignty of small secular states to their larger neighbours. In addition to numerous principalities, all but a handful of the imperial cities were also annexed to their neighbours.
[edit] Mediatised Monarchies
- Abensberg-Traun: Count of Abensberg-Traun
- Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym: Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Hoym 1806
- Arenberg: Prince of Arenberg 1810
- Aspremont-Lynden: Count of Aspremont-Lynden 1806
- Auersperg: Prince of Auersperg 1806; Prince of Auersperg-Schönfeldscher 1806; Prince of Auersperg-Zweig 1806
- Bentheim: Count of Bentheim-Bentheim and Bentheim-Steinfurt 1806; Count of Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Rheda 1808
- Bentinck: Count of Knyphausen; Lord of Lütetsberg
- Bömelberg: Baron of Bömelberg 1806
- Bretzenheim: Prince of Bretzenheim 1803 - 1804
- Castell: Count of Castell-Castell 1806; Count of Castell-Rüdenhausen 1806
- Colloredo: Prince of Colloredo-Mannsfeld 1806
- Croÿ: Prince of Croy-Dulmen 1806; Duke of Croy-Solre 1806
- Dietrichstein: Prince of Dietrichstein 1806
- Erbach: Count of Erbach-Fürstenau 1806; Count of Erbach-Erbach 1806; Prince of Erbach-Schönberg 1806
- Esterházy von Galántha: Prince of Esterházy 1806
- Fürstenberg: Prince of Fürstenberg-Pürglitz 1806; Count of Fürstenberg-Taikowitz 1806; Count of Fürstenberg-Weitra 1806
- Fugger: Prince of Fugger-Babenberg 1806; Count of Fugger-Kirchberg-Weissenhorn 1806; Count of Fugger-Glött 1806; Count of Fugger-Kirchheim 1806; Count of Fugger-Nordendorf 1806
- Giech: Count of Giech 1806
- Harrach: Count of Harrach 1806
- Hesse: Elector of Hesse-Cassel 1807; Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg 1806
- Hohenlohe: Prince of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein 1806; Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen 1806; Prince of Hohenlohe-Jagstberg 1806; Count of Hohenlohe-Kirchberg 1806; Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg 1806; Count of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst 1806
- Isenburg: Prince of Isenburg 1814; Count of Isenburg-Büdingen 1806; Count of Isenburg-Meerholz 1806; Count of Isenburg-Philippseich 1806; Count of Isenburg-Wächtersbach 1806
- Kaunitz-Rietberg: Prince of Kaunitz-Rietberg 1806
- Khevenhüller-Metsch: Prince of Khevenhüller-Metsch 1806
- Königsegg-Aulendorf: Count of Königsegg-Aulendorf 1806
- Kuefstein: Count of Kuefstein 1806
- Leiningen: Count of Leiningen-Billigheim 1806; Prince of Leiningen-Hartenburg 1806; Count of Leiningen-Neudenau 1806
- Leyen: Prince of Leyen 1814
- Ligne: Prince of Ligne before 1806
- Limburg-Styrum: Count of Limburg-Styrum 1806; Count of Limburg-Styrum-Borkelö 1806; Count of Limburg-Styrum-Bronchhorst 1806
- Lobkowicz: Prince of Lobkowicz 1806
- Löwenstein-Wertheim: Count of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg 1806; Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg 1806
- Looz und Corswarem: Duke of Looz-Corswarem 1806
- Metternich: Prince of Metternich 1806
- Neipperg: Count of Neipperg 1806
- Nesselrode: Count of Nesselrode 1806
- Nostitz: Count of Nostitz 1806; Count of Thürmitz 1806; Count of Tschochau 1806
- Orsini and Rosenberg: Prince of Orsini and Rosenberg 1806
- Ortenburg: Count of Ortenburg-Neuortenburg 1806
- Ostein: Count of Ostein 1806
- Öttingen: Prince of Öttingen-Spielberg 1806; Prince of Öttingen-Wallerstein 1806
- Pappenheim: Count of Pappenheim 1806
- Platen-Hallermund: Count of Platen-Hallermund 1806
- Plettenberg: Count of Plettenberg-Wittem 1806
- Pückler-Limpurg: Count of Pückler 1806
- Quadt: Count of Quadt-Isny 1806
- Rechberg: Count of Rechberg and Rothenlöwen 1806
- Rechteren-Limpurg: Count of Rechteren 1806
- Salm: Wild- and Rhinegrave of Salm-Horstmar 1813; Prince of Salm-Kyrburg 1813; Count of Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck 1806; Count of Salm-Reifferscheid-Hainsbach 1806; Prince of Salm-Reifferscheid-Krautheim 1806; Prince of Salm-Reifferscheid-Raitz 1811; Prince of Salm-Salm 1813
- Sayn-Wittgenstein: Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg 1806; Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Karlsburg 1806; Count of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg 1806; Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein 1806
- Schäsberg: Count of Schäsberg-Thannheim 1806
- Schlitz gennant von Görtz: Count of Görtz 1806
- Schönborn: Count of Schönborn-Wiesentheid 1806
- Schönburg: Count of Schönburg-Glauchau 1806; Prince of Schönburg-Hartenstein 1806; Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg
- Schwarzenberg: Prince of Klingenberg 1806; Duke of Krumau 1806
- Solms: Count of Solms-Baruth 1806; Prince of Solms-Braunfels 1806; Prince of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich 1806; Count of Solms-Laubach 1806; Count of Solms-Rödelheim-Assenheim 1806; Count of Solms-Rödelheim und Assenheim 1806;Count of Solms-Wildenfels 1806
- Stadion: Count of Stadion-Thannhausen 1806; Count of Stadion-Warthausen 1806
- Starhemberg: Prince of Starhemberg 1806
- Sternberg-Manderscheid: Count and Countess of Sternberg-Manderscheid 1806
- Stolberg: Count of Stolberg-Rossla 1806; Count of Stolberg-Stolberg 1815; Count of Stolberg-Wernigerode 1809
- Thurn und Taxis: Prince of Thurn and Taxis 1806
- Törring Gutenzell: Count of Törring-Jettenbach 1806
- Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg: Prince of Trauttmansdorff 1806
- Waldbott von Bassenheim: Count of Waldbott von Bassenheim 1806
- Waldburg: Prince of Waldburg-Waldsee 1806; Prince of Waldburg-Wurzach 1806; Prince of Waldburg-Zeil 1806
- Waldeck: Counts and Countesses of Waldeck-Bergheim 1806; Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont 1806 (re-established at Congress of Vienna)
- Wallmoden-Gimborn: Count of Wallmoden 1806
- Wartenberg: Count of Wartenberg 1806
- Wied: Prince of Wied-Neuwied 1806; Prince of Wied-Runkel 1806
- Windisch-Grätz: Prince of Windisch-Grätz-Elder 1806; Prince of Windisch-Grätz-Younger 1806
- Wurmbrand-Stuppach: Count of Wurmbrand-Stuppach 1806
As the mediatisations of the Houses of Abensberg-Traun, Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, Aspremont-Lynden, Bentinck, Bömelberg, Bretzenheim, Ligne, Limburg-Styrum, Nesselrode, Nostitz, Ostein, and Wartenberg occurred before the founding of the Confederation of the Rhine, they are not counted officially as mediatised monarchies. Hesse-Homburg was never considered sovereign by Hesse-Darmstadt and therefore was not technically mediatised, and Hesse-Cassel was annexed into the Kingdom of Westphalia but later had its sovereignty restored.
[edit] Abolished Free and Imperial Cities
Aachen; Aalen; Augsburg; Biberach; Bopfingen; Buchau; Buchhorn (Friedrichshafen); Cologne (Köln); Dinkelsbühl; Dortmund; Esslingen am Neckar; Frankfurt; Friedberg; Gengenbach; Giengen; Goslar; Heilbronn; Isny im Allgäu; Kaufbeuren; Kempten; Leutkirch im Allgäu; Lindau; Memmingen; Mühlhausen; Nordhausen; Nördlingen; Nuremberg; Offenburg; Pfullendorf; Ravensburg; Regensburg; Reutlingen; Rothenburg; Rottweil; Schwäbisch Gmünd; Schwäbisch Hall; Schweinfurt; Speyer; Überlingen; Ulm; Wangen; Weil; Weißenburg; Wetzlar; Wimpfen; Windsheim; Worms; Zell
Most of the mediatisations occurred in 1806 after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine. The later mediatisations were: Arenberg (annexed to France in 1810, and not re-established in 1814); Isenburg and Leyen (mediatised in 1814 by the Congress of Vienna for being too close to Napoleon); Salm (several states of Salm survived to 1811 and 1813); and Stollberg (annexed by Prussia in 1815). Also mediatised 1806–1814 were several states created by Napoleon for his relatives and close allies. These include: the Prince of Aschaffenburg 1806; the Grand Duke of Frankfurt 1814; the King of Westphalia 1813; and the Grand Duke of Würzburg 1814. The only free cities in Germany not abolished 1803 were: Augsburg (abolished 1805); Bremen; Frankfurt (abolished 1806); Hamburg; Lübeck (abolished 1937); and Regensburg (abolished 1806).
[edit] Consequences
The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss brought about a massive change to the political map of Germany. Literally hundreds of states were eliminated, with only around forty surviving. A number of the surviving states made significant territorial gains (most notably Baden, Bavaria, and Hesse-Darmstadt), and Baden, Hesse-Kassel, and Württemberg gained status by being made electorates (to replace three that had been lost in the changes). Of the imperial cities, only Augsburg, Bremen, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Lübeck, and Nuremberg survived as independent entities.
The principle that allies of Napoleon could expect to make gains in both territory and status was also established, and was to be repeated on a number of occasions in the following years. The changes of 1803 were also a factor in the end of the Empire in 1806.
[edit] See also
- Confederation of the Rhine
- Congress of Vienna
- Holy Roman Empire
- Imperial Free City
- Mediatization
- Mediatized Houses
- Napoleon Bonaparte
- Treaty of Campo Formio
