Princely abbeys and Imperial abbeys were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of imperial immediacy and therefore were answerable directly to the Emperor. The
Anselm Rittler, last Imperial abbot of Weingarten (1784–1804). Starting in 1555, the abbots of Weingarten cast the collective vote of the Imperial abbots of Swabia at the Imperial Diet.
Imperial abbeys in Swabia
Weissenau abbey, c. 1625
An 18th-century prince-abbot: Anselm Reichlin von Meldegg of Kempten
Imperial immediacy
Videos
In the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' to Emperor and Empire and not to any other intermediate authorities, while
Princely abbeys and imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire
…German: Reichsabtei, Reichskloster, Reichsstift, Reichsgotthaus) were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of imperial immediacy (Reichsunmittelbarkeit) and therefore were answerable directly to the Emperor. The possession of imperial immediacy came with a unique form of territorial…
The Prince-Bishop of Liège, member of the Imperial estates, enjoyed Imperial immediacy and therefore could negotiate and sign international treaties on his own, as long as they were not directed against the Emperor and the Empire.