Franconian Circle

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A map of the Imperial Circles as at the beginning of the 16th century. The Franconian Circle is shown in purple.

The Franconian Circle as at 1789, before the Great French War and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire (captions in German).

The flag of Franconia as used by troops of the Franconian Circle when fighting with the Imperial Army.

The Franconian Circle (German: Fränkischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire.

Composition

The circle was made up of the following states:

Name	Type of entity	Comments
Ansbach	Margraviate	Established in 1398, held by the House of Hohenzollern, acquired by Prussia in 1791
Bamberg	Bishopric	Established in 1007 by King Henry II, Prince-Bishopric since 1303
Bayreuth	Margraviate	Established in 1398 at Kulmbach, held by the House of Hohenzollern, personal union with Ansbach from 1769, acquired by Prussia in 1791
Castell	County	Imperial counts since 1202
Eichstätt	Bishopric	Established in 741 by Saint Boniface
Erbach	County	Imperial counts from 1532
Franconia (de)	Teutonic bailiwick	Based around Bad Mergentheim
Hausen	Lordship	Held by Bamberg since 1007, condominium with Bayreuth and Nuremberg from 1538
Henneberg	County	Imperial immediacy since 1310, acquired by Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Gotha in 1660
Hohenlohe	County	Immediate counts since 1450, principality from 1744
Limpurg	Lordship	Territory around Limpurg Castle near Schwäbisch Hall, held by the Schenken von Limpurg, hereditary cup-bearers of the Empire for the Bohemian kings
Löwenstein	County	Imperial immediacy since 1494, Löwenstein-Wertheim from 1574
Nuremberg	Imperial City	Reichsfreiheit granted by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen in 1219
Reichelsberg	Lordship	Territory around Reichelsberg Castle near Aub, originally a fiefdom granted by Bamberg to Hohenlohe, since 1401 a fief of Würzburg
Rieneck	County	Territory around Rieneck Castle, established in 1168, claimed as a fief by Mainz from 1366, line extinct in 1559, acquired by the Imperial counts of Nostitz in 1673
Rothenburg ob der Tauber	Imperial City	Reichsfreiheit granted by Rudolph of Habsburg 1274
Schwarzenberg	Lordship	Established in 1429 by the Lords of Seinsheim, territory around Schwarzenberg Castle near Scheinfeld, Imperial county from 1599, principality from 1670
Schweinfurt	Imperial City	Since 1254
Seinsheim	Lordship	Held by the Counts of Schwarzenberg from 1655
Weißenburg	Imperial City	Since 1296
Welzheim	Lordship	Fiefdom of Württemberg, from 1379 to 1713 in possession of the Schenken von Limpurg
Wertheim	County	Established in 1132, acquired by Löwenstein in 1574
Wetterau	County	Established abt. 950, Held by the counts von Wetter-tegerfelden 1317
Wiesentheid	Lordship	Imperial county from 1678, acquired by the Counts of Schönborn in 1701
Windsheim	Imperial City	Since 1248
Würzburg	Bishopric	Established in 741 by Saint Boniface, prince-bishopric since 1168, titular "Duke in Franconia"

Sources

• The list of states making up the Franconian Circle is based on that in the German Wikipedia article Fränkischer Reichskreis.

Links to related articles v • d • e Franconian Circle (1500–1806) of the  Holy Roman Empire Ecclesiastical Bamberg · Eichstädt · Mergentheim · Würzburg Secular Ansbach · Bayreuth · Henneberg (Römhild, Schleusingen, Schmalkalden) · Hohenlohe-Waldenburg · Löwenstein-Wertheim · Schwarzenberg Counts / Lords Castell · Erbach · Hausen · Hohenlohe-Neuenstein · Limpurg (Gaildorf, Speckfeld) · Reichelsberg · Rieneck · Seinsheim · Welzheim · Wertheim · Wiesentheid Cities Nuremberg · Rothenburg · Schweinfurt · Weißenburg · Windsheim v • d • e 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