Diet of Speyer (1570)

Last updated September 26, 2024

The Diet of Speyer or the Diet of Spires (sometimes referred to as Speyer V) was an Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire which took place in 1570 in the Imperial City of Speyer (also known as Spires, in present-day Germany).^[1]

Diet

The Diet decided to allow printing only in free imperial cities, residences, and university towns. This was a measure to exert tighter control (censorship) in the struggle against the spread of the Protestant Reformation.

The Diet also decided to return part of the land confiscated from Elector John Frederick II of Saxony to his children John Casimir (who received the Coburg area) and John Ernest (who received the Eisenach area).

The Diet also agreed to the Treaty of Speyer (1570) in which King John II Sigismund Zápolya abdicated as King of Hungary in favor of Emperor Maximilian II. John became Prince of Transylvania. The verdict of the Diet was also necessary for the adoption of the Augsburg Imperial Coin Edict of 1566.^[2]^[3]

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The Diet of Speyer or the Diet of Spires was a Diet of the Holy Roman Empire held in 1529 in the Imperial City of Speyer. The Diet condemned the results of the Diet of Speyer of 1526 and prohibited future reformation. It resulted in the Protestation at Speyer.

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The history of Speyer begins with the establishment of a Roman camp in 10 BCE, making it one of Germany's oldest cities. Its name evolved from Spira, first mentioned in 614. As of 1294 a Free Imperial City, the town became renowned for its Romanesque cathedral, its vibrant Jewish community, its seat of the Imperial Chamber Court, for 50 diets that took place within its walls, most notably 1526 and 1529, and last but not least, for the Protestation at Speyer. For several centuries from the Middle Ages into the early modern period, Speyer was one of the main centres of gravity of the Holy Roman Empire.

References

↑ Close, Christopher W. (2021-02-25). State Formation and Shared Sovereignty: The Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic, 1488–1690. Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–187. ISBN 978-1-108-83762-0.
↑ Fox, David Murray; Ernst, Wolfgang (2016). Money in the Western Legal Tradition: Middle Ages to Bretton Woods. Oxford University Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-19-870474-4.
↑ Fichtner, Paula S. (2001-01-01). Emperor Maximilian II. Yale University Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-300-08527-3.

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[1] Close, Christopher W. (2021-02-25). State Formation and Shared Sovereignty: The Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic, 1488–1690. Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–187. ISBN 978-1-108-83762-0.

[2] Fox, David Murray; Ernst, Wolfgang (2016). Money in the Western Legal Tradition: Middle Ages to Bretton Woods. Oxford University Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-19-870474-4.

[3] Fichtner, Paula S. (2001-01-01). Emperor Maximilian II. Yale University Press. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-300-08527-3.

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