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The Circle Colonel (german: Kreisobrist) was an office in the Imperial Circles of the
Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
in the Early Modern Period. According to the Circle Edict of 1522, every Circle had to nominate a
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
(''Hauptmann'') and notify the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
. He was not, however, primarily the military superior of the circle troops, but was to carry out all the tasks laid down in the Circle Edict. In the Augsburg reforms of 25 September 1555 his duties were set forth again, this time under the title of Circle Colonel.§§ 56 - 60 of the Augsburg ''Reichsabschied''


Duties

The most important duties of the circle colonels were: * the responsibility for law and order (the ''
Landfrieden Under the law of the Holy Roman Empire, a ''Landfrieden'' or ''Landfriede'' (Latin: ''constitutio pacis'', ''pax instituta'' or ''pax jurata'', variously translated as "land peace", or "public peace") was a contractual waiver of the use of legiti ...
'') within the Circle, * ensuring the Religious Peace, * enforcing imperial legal rulings, * administrative tasks concerning imperial currency and imperial policing, * legal enforcement (execution) against defaulters within the Circle, * taking charge of Circle business as tasked by the Circle between Circle councils, * the mustering of circle troops and the supervision of their equipment and supplies. Where a Circle Captain or Circle Colonel was actually nominated in the Imperial Circles, the office was usually transferred to the most senior (i.e. highest ranking) secular
Imperial Estate An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...
in the Circle for them to fill.


See also

*
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
* Imperial Circle *
Bavarian Circle The Bavarian Circle (german: Bayerischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. The most significant state by far in the circle was the Duchy of Bavaria (raised to an Electorate by Emperor Ferdinand II in 1623) with the U ...
*
Franconian Circle The Franconian Circle (german: Fränkischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle established in 1500 in the centre of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the eastern part of the former Franconian stem duchy—roughly corresponding with the pre ...
*
Upper Rhenish Circle The Upper Rhenish Circle (german: Oberrheinischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former Duchy of Upper Lorraine and large parts of Rhenish Franconia including the Swabi ...
*
Swabian Circle The Circle of Swabia or Swabian Circle (german: Schwäbischer Reichskreis or ''Schwäbischer Kreis'') was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1500 on the territory of the former German stem-duchy of Swabia. However, it did ...
* ''
Reichsarmee , image = Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg , image_size = 150 , caption = , dates = 1422–1806 , country ...
''


Remarks


Literature

* Winfried Dotzauer: ''Die deutschen Reichskreise (1383–1806). Geschichte und Aktenedition.'' Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart, 1998, . * Hans Hubert Hofmann (ed.): ''Quellen zum Verfassungsorganismus des Heiligen Römischen Reiches Deutscher Nation 1495–1815'' (= ''Ausgewählte Quellen zur deutschen Geschichte der Neuzeit.'' Vol. 13). Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1976, {{ISBN, 3-534-01959-8.


External links


Der Augsburger Reichsabschied ("Augsburger Religionsfrieden") - full text
Military history of the Holy Roman Empire Army of the Holy Roman Empire