Mediatisation

For communications studies, see Mediatization (media).

Mediatisation is the loss of imperial immediacy. Broadly defined it is the subsumption of one monarchy into another monarchy in such a way that the ruler of the annexed state keeps his sovereign title and, sometimes, a measure of local power. For instance: when a sovereign county is annexed to a larger realm, its reigning count might find himself subordinated to another sovereign ruler, but nevertheless remains a count of sovereign rank, if not actually fully sovereign in fact. His subjects owe allegiance to the higher prince through him, and so his sovereignty is said to be mediatised, that is, rendered intermediate.

The term "mediatisation" was originally applied to the reorganisation of the German states during the early 19th century, although the process had been going on since the Middle Ages. Mediatisation has occurred in a number of other countries: Italy (e.g. Orsini, Doria, Pallavicini), Russia (e.g. Sibirsky, Vorotynsky), and France (e.g. Rohan, de Bouillon and Lorraine) are notable examples.

The term is also sometimes used in reference to some Indian princely states.

Holy Roman Empire

Main article: German Mediatisation

Between 1803 and 1806, the vast majority of the states of the Holy Roman Empire were mediatised by Napoleon. These states lost their imperial immediacy (Reichsunmittelbarkeit) and became part of other states. The number of states was reduced from about three hundred to about thirty. Mediatisation went along with secularisation: the abolition of most of the ecclesiastic states.

The legal basis for mediatisation was the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, which had become necessary under pressure from France. The Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine of 1806 continued the process of mediatisation. The constitution of the German Confederation of 1815 confirmed the mediatisation, but gave certain rights to the mediatised princes, such as first instance jurisdiction.

Mediatised sovereign houses rank higher than other houses of nominally equal (or higher) rank, but who never ruled a state.^{[citation needed]} This division had great social significance, as mediatised princes were considered equal to royals for marriage purposes; in essence they were regarded as royalty. Thus if a scion from the most obscure mediatised family (say the child of an impoverished mediatised count) married an emperor or a king, their alliance was considered equal, not morganatic, and their children could inherit dynastic rights. Thus the children of Ernst Count zu Lippe-Biesterfeld, though the children of a Count, were called princes, and the son of his second son, Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, was fit to marry Juliana, Crown Princess, later Queen, of the Netherlands and their eldest daughter, Beatrix, today occupies the Dutch throne.

This is one of the reasons why so many monarchs married German princes: German mediatised families were especially abundant.

The authoritative guide to the royal and noble houses of Europe, the Almanach de Gotha, is divided into three sections: sovereign houses, mediatised houses, and other noble houses.

See also

• Mediatized houses - a list of German mediatized princely houses.
• Protectorate