Dictionary

free imperial city en · NOUN

Etymology

A calque of German Freie Reichsstadt (short singular form of Freie und Reichsstädte) or Latin urbs imperialis libera.

Meanings

1. (historical) A self-ruling city within the Holy Roman Empire that had some autonomy and was represented in the Imperial Diet.
   • Like many free imperial cities, Augsburg in the early Middle Ages was an Episcopal city. 2012, Joel Van Amberg, A Real Presence: Religious and Social Dynamics of the Eucharistic Conflicts in Early Modern Augsburg 1520-1530, BRILL, page 7:
   • Verdun was an ancient bishopric and a free imperial city, which France conquered in 1552 (together with Metz and Toul) and made into a fortress to protect its eastern borders. 2007, Carlos Ramirez-Faria, Concise Encyclopedia Of World History, Atlantic Publishers, page 243:
   • A free imperial city held the status of Imperial immediacy, and was thus subordinate only to the Holy Roman Emperor, whereas a territorial city or town (Landstadt) was subordinate to a territorial prince – either an ecclesiastical lord (prince-bishop or prince-abbot) or a secular prince (duke (Herzog), margrave, count (Graf), etc.).
   • The city-states of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire had their origins as free imperial cities, a term coined in the late eleventh century. 1996, John Dornberg, Western Europe, Oryx Press, page 56:

Forms

Translations (4)

bn আজাদ শাহী শহর (self-ruling city within the Holy Roman Empire subordinate only to the emperor) · de Freie Reichsstadt (self-ruling city within the Holy Roman Empire subordinate only to the emperor) · es ciudad imperial libre (self-ruling city within the Holy Roman Empire subordinate only to the emperor) · it città libera dell'Impero (self-ruling city within the Holy Roman Empire subordinate only to the emperor)