{"id":1507,"date":"2016-12-23T20:21:21","date_gmt":"2016-12-24T00:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.papaworx.com\/Book\/?page_id=1507"},"modified":"2016-12-23T20:21:21","modified_gmt":"2016-12-24T00:21:21","slug":"7-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.stuehlingen.online\/Book\/?page_id=1507","title":{"rendered":"7-3"},"content":{"rendered":"

The relationship between the three F\u00fcrstenberg branches was complex. The two central issues were the elevation of the F\u00fcrstenberg counts to princes (Reichsf\u00fcrsten<\/em>) and the enactment of a patrilineal primogeniture succession for the F\u00fcrstenberg family as a whole.22<\/a><\/span><\/span> At first glance, the difference between a mere count and a prince in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation might appear to be of a merely decorative nature. But there is more to it. Although the emperor was the chief of state and absolute ruler, he was supported, advised, and sometimes challenged by a parliament \u2013 the imperial diet (Reichstag<\/em>). Prior to the second half of the nineteenth century, the diet was not a democratically elected body. Its decision-making mechanism rested on three colleges (Kurien<\/em>): the electors, the princes, and the cities.23<\/a><\/span><\/span> After the Thirty Years\u2019 War, the diet voted in two parallel colleges regarding religious issues: one Catholic and the other Protestant. Apart from the seven structural electors, the nobility was represented in the diet by the princes and counts. But the actual political power of the nobility lay with the princes in the form of the College of Princes (Reichsf\u00fcrstenrat<\/em>).24<\/a><\/span><\/span> Thus, the princes had immediate access to the emperor in the diet, while the lesser nobles needed an intermediary. Whereas the original Worms Register (Wormser Matrikel<\/em>) listed only twenty-four secular \u201cold princes\u201d by the end of the eighteenth century, there were actually sixty-one.25<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In order for an ordinary count to be elevated to prince, four conditions had to be met, as set out by Arenberg:26<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1<\/td>\n\u201cThe possession of an immediate county\u201d: With the demise of the Duchy of Swabia in 1268 the three St\u00fchlingen branches had become immediate fiefdoms under the suzerainty of the emperor.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\n\u201cThe consent of the emperor, of the Council of Electors, and of the Council of Princes\u201d: This required a great deal of politicking and expenditures<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\n\u201cThe assumption of an appropriate share in supplying the financial, military, and other needs of the empire\u201d: more expenditures.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\n\u201cMembership in one of the ten Imperial Circles [Reichskreise]\u201d: Due to their location, all three F\u00fcrstenberg territories belonged to the Swabian Circle.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Apart from the mainly constitutional aspect, the title \u201cPrince\u201d brought tremendous social prestige and was the hallmark of a leading personality in the empire. A prince had a great deal of political influence that could be wangled into highly profitable positions for himself and other family members. And, finally, it greatly expanded the scope for strategic marriages. But first one had to raise the capital for the entry ticket.27<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

22<\/a><\/span>Ibid., 309, 326.<\/p>\n

23<\/a><\/span>After the Congress of Vienna (1814\/5), the diet was constituted differently.<\/p>\n

24<\/a><\/span>Neuhaus, “Das Reich in der Fr\u00fchen Neuzeit.”<\/p>\n

25<\/a><\/span>Ibid., 28.<\/p>\n

26<\/a><\/span>Arenberg, \u201cThe Lesser Princes,\u201d 15.<\/p>\n

27<\/a><\/span>Mauerer, “S\u00fcdwestdeutscher Reichsadel,” 316.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The relationship between the three F\u00fcrstenberg branches was complex. The two central issues were the elevation of the F\u00fcrstenberg counts to princes (Reichsf\u00fcrsten) and the enactment of a patrilineal primogeniture succession for the F\u00fcrstenberg family as a whole.22 At first glance, the difference between a mere count and a prince in the Holy Roman Empire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"parent":1494,"menu_order":93,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"new_page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuehlingen.online\/Book\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuehlingen.online\/Book\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuehlingen.online\/Book\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuehlingen.online\/Book\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuehlingen.online\/Book\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuehlingen.online\/Book\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1507\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stuehlingen.online\/Book\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stuehlingen.online\/Book\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}