An Imperial Circle (German: Reichskreis, plural Reichskreise) comprised a regional grouping of territories of the Holy Roman Empire, primarily for the purpose of organizing a common defensive structure and of collecting the imperial taxes, but also as a means of organization within the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) and the Reichskammergericht.
Each circle had a Kreistag (Circle Diet), although not every member of the Kreistag would hold membership of the Reichstag as well.
Formation of the circles
Initially six circles were created by resolution of the 1500 Diet of Augsburg as part of the Reichsreform (Imperial Reform):
- the Bavarian Circle (brown on the map)
- the Swabian Circle (yellow on the map)
- the Upper Rhenish Circle (grey)
- the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle (beige; sometimes called Westphalian Circle)
- the Franconian Circle (violet)
- the Saxon Circle (red; later the Lower Saxon Circle)
Originally, the territories held by the Habsburg dynasty and the Electors were not encircled. In 1512 at the Diet of Trier, these were organized into four more circles:
- the Austrian Circle (orange), including the Habsburg territories inherited by Maximilian I
- the Burgundian Circle (green), including the patrimony of Maximilian's late wife, Mary of Burgundy
- the Upper Saxon Circle (pink), including the Electorates of Saxony and Brandenburg
- the Electoral Rhenish Circle (light brown), including the ecclesiastical Electorates of Mainz, Cologne and Trier, and the secular Electoral Palatinate.
These ten circles remained largely unchanged until the early 1790s, when the Wars of the French Revolution brought about significant changes to the political map of the Empire.
Territories outside the circles
A number of territories were never encircled:
- The territories of the Bohemian Crown (Bohemia proper, Moravia, Silesia and Upper & Lower Lusatia)
- The territories of the Swiss Confederation
- Imperial territories in northern Italy: Mantua, Milan, Modena, Montferrat, Parma and Tuscany
- Territories of Imperial Knights
- Minor territories, such as the County of Montbéliard, the Lordship of Schmalkalden, Jever and the peasant republic of Dithmarschen
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