Imperial matrix

Imperial matrix ( imperial metric ; German: Reichsmatrikel ) - a list of estates of the Holy Roman Empire periodically approved by the Reichstag with the distribution of responsibilities for the deployment of military contingents in the imperial army and the payment of general imperial taxes. The inclusion of the territory in the imperial matrix meant confirmation of its status as a direct imperial Lena , which provided the appropriate ruler with a wide range of rights and prerogatives provided by imperial law for the imperial estates .

The first imperial matrix was approved in 1422 by the imperial parliament in Nuremberg . Of particular importance is the imperial matrix of 1521 , which drew up an agreement between the emperor Charles V and the imperial estates on the procedure for financing the costs of the coronation of Charles V in Rome . The Worms matrix is ​​considered one of the basic laws of the Holy Roman Empire of the new time , since it recorded a list of territorial entities recognized by the subjects of the empire and established the principles of acquisition and financing of the imperial armed forces.

The Worms matrix of 1521 provided for the formation of an imperial army in the amount of 4,000 cavalry units and 20,000 infantry soldiers, which corresponded to the payment by the imperial estate of a tax of 51,000 guilders . The basis for calculating the amount paid by each territory was the so-called “Roman month,” that is, the amount of money needed to maintain the entire imperial army for one month. This unit was used to determine the financial obligations of the estates in relation to the empire. The total amount was divided between territorial entities recognized by the imperial estates, approximately in proportion to the size and financial potential of each. The amount to be paid to the imperial budget from each territory was indicated in the imperial matrix in the equivalent of the corresponding number of infantry and cavalry soldiers. Thus, the Archbishop of Salzburg was obliged to pay the amount necessary to maintain 120 cavalry units and 554 infantry, while the small county of Ortenburg exhibited only 4 horsemen and 26 infantrymen.

Over time, the list of imperial estates and the size of the imperial army repeatedly changed, which was recorded by the corresponding imperial matrices, which the Reichstag claimed. The principles of the distribution of financial responsibilities, as well as the skeleton of the subject composition of the empire, established by the Worms matrix of 1521, however, remained practically unchanged until the end of the existence of the Holy Roman Empire.