The Diet of Regensburg was a meeting of the

Prince-Elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prin ...

s of the

Holy Roman Empire 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 ...

(or ''Kurfürstentag'') which occurred at Regensburg from July to November 1630. It resulted in a major loss of power for the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II.

Context

The

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

had prevented any Imperial Diet (German ''Reichstag'') from being summoned for thirty years: the last one before the war had been that of 1613. In 1623, the Emperor had summoned and dominated a Diet of the Princes at Regensburg. The rest of the states' corporate representation had been done on occasional days at the Imperial Circle and at the Electors' Diets of 1619, 1627, and 1630. The Diet of 1630 was preceded by Ferdinand's

Edict of Restitution The Edict of Restitution was proclaimed by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, on 6 March 1629, eleven years into the Thirty Years' War. Following Catholic League (German), Catholic military successes, Ferdinand hoped to restore control ...

and the Peace of Lübeck after

Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

's defeat of Denmark. These both put the Emperor in a favourable position to succeed in achieving his goals.

Representatives

The Diet of the Electors met at Regensburg in June, 1630. The Catholic Electors were present in person, whilst those of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

and

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

were represented by ambassadors. The Emperor, the Empress, their eldest son, and two daughters made their entry into the city on the 19th of June. Representatives of

Frederick V, Elector Palatine Frederick V (german: link=no, Friedrich; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both ...

, the English ambassador Sir Robert Anstruther, two French ambassadors, and the Papal Nuncio came afterwards, while Spain was represented by the Duke of Tursi and James Bruneau. Anselm Casimir Wambold von Umstadt was invited as Imperial Chancellor (''Reichserzkanzler'') and Bishop-Elector of Mainz.

Course and results

The meeting was opened by Ferdinand himself on the 3rd of July 1630 . Ferdinand's chief aim was to have his son Ferdinand the Younger elected King of the Romans and to gain the Empire's military support against the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

in the Thirty Years' War, as well as against France in the

War of the Mantuan Succession The War of the Mantuan Succession (1628–1631) was a related conflict of the Thirty Years' War, caused by the death in December 1627 of Vincenzo II, last male heir in the direct line of the House of Gonzaga and ruler of the duchies of Mantua ...

. He also needed to deal with the imminent Swedish threat - on 6 July, shortly after the Diet had opened, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden had landed in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

Maximilian I of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

feared the rising power of the empire and the strength of Wallenstein's Imperial Army. The Catholic electors therefore opposed rather than supported Ferdinand, requiring that the imperial army be downsized, the war-taxes reduced and Wallenstein dismissed from command. Ferdinand largely had to concede these demands so as not to lose his political underpinning in the empire. Wallenstein was dismissed and Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly put in supreme command of imperial forces, which were shrunk despite the Swedish threat. The debate on Mantua forced Ferdinand into a peace treaty which France soon broke. The Electors blocked Ferdinand the Younger's election as King of the Romans and in the name of their own freedom revoked the Edict of Restitution. The Diet thus saw Ferdinand - previously at the height of his power - suffer his first defeat by the Imperial States, a defeat that was near-complete.

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Context

Representatives

Course and results

Notes

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Further reading