Institutions of the Holy Roman Empire

Timeline

1. 1356Nuremberg and Mainz · NurembergCharles IV issued the Golden Bull, formally establishing the system by which seven prince-electors elected the emperor and regulating the empire's basic legal order, laying the cornerstone of the later imperial constitutional framework.
2. 1461–1470Vienna and across the empire · ViennaFrederick III used Habsburg Vienna as his power center, coordinating the princes through the Imperial Diet and handling affairs on the Hungarian and Ottoman frontiers, while imperial courts heard territorial disputes in places such as Westphalia, demonstrating the day-to-day governing function of the imperial institutions.
3. c. 1485–1495Worms · WormsThe princes' demands to strengthen the empire's central institutions, establish an imperial regency, and carry out imperial reforms grew increasingly loud, laying the groundwork for the 1495 Reform Diet at Worms and subsequent imperial constitutional adjustments.