The ''Reformatio Sigismundi'' document appeared in connection with efforts to

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

the

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 ...

during the reign of Emperor

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

(1410–1437). It was produced in 1439 at the Council of Basle, published by an anonymous author, and referred to the injustice of the German rulers. The ''Reformatio'' was published in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and probably as a result became the most widely circulated reform paper of its time. The text was first printed in 1476 and there were seven new editions by 1522. In part it was even treated in the 15th century as an imperial law. The ''Reformatio'' stands at the beginning of a trend to no longer publish constitutional and political principles solely in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, but also in German. In terms of content the ''Reformatio'' differed little from other political reform texts of Sigismund's reign. It presented proposals for the reform of church and empire, some of which were practical, others were unrealistic. The text contained a teaching of the

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the real ...

and argued in favour of the marriage of priests and the

secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

of church property. In addition it included a

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...

of Emperor Sigismund's about the appearance of a priest-king Frederick and plans for a wide

of the monarchy (and emperorship) and the (German) empire.

Literature

* {{MGH, Staatsschriften, 6 *

Hartmut Boockmann Hartmut Boockmann (August 22, 1934 – June 15, 1998) was a German historian, specializing in medieval history. Boockmann was born in Marienburg, East Prussia, Germany, after 1945 Malbork Poland. He received his Ph.D. in 1965. Boockmann was profes ...

: ''Zu den Wirkungen der „Reform Kaiser Siegmunds"'', in: Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters. 1979, pp. 514 – 541 * Lothar Graf zu Dohna: ''Reformatio Sigismundi'', Göttingen, 1960 * Malte Prietzel: ''Das Heilige Römische Reich im Spätmittelalter (= Geschichte kompakt. Mittelalter)'', Darmstadt, 2004, pp. 116f. * H. Koller: ''Reformatio Sigismundi'', in:

Lexikon des Mittelalters The ''Lexikon des Mittelalters'' ("Lexicon of the Middle Ages", LMA, LexMA) is a German encyclopedia on the history and culture of the Middle Ages. Written by authors from all over the world, it comprises more than 36,000 articles in 9 volumes. ...

, Vol.7, pp. 550f. Legal history of the Holy Roman Empire Legal history of Germany Medieval law 1430s in the Holy Roman Empire 1439 in Europe 1439 books Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor Works published anonymously