Imperial Diet and peace settlement. Decision-making processes and controversies on peace treaties at the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg

在威斯特伐利亚和约（1648年）之后，神圣罗马帝国议会有权共同决定与外国的和平条约。这种权利，即所谓的和平法，在近代欧洲其他君主国的议会和议会中是非常独特的。从17世纪70年代起，这一和平法不断成为皇帝和帝国议会各阶层之间激烈谈判和激烈争论的主题，自1663年以来，帝国议会成为永久性机构。这些讨论涉及和平条约的内容，但也涉及各阶层适当参与和平谈判的问题。历史研究提到了这些讨论的重要性，只是在一些特殊的情况下，如《赖斯韦克和约》（1697年）。因此，与国会共同决定宣战的权利的“正义法”相比，永久国会关于“和平法”的这些决策过程和争议尚未得到系统和连贯的研究。填补这一空白是该研究项目的中心目标。这种调查追求不同的目标，在最近的研究背景下，这些目标特别令人感兴趣：一方面，在关于特别条约的这些争议中，人们深入讨论了和平与和平条约的一般意义和价值，但讨论的方式非常主要。因此，可以深入了解近代早期和平的一般思想和概念。在和平解决和和平谈判是否必须被视为失败的问题上，情况尤其如此。这些问题在《永膳》的传播中起着至关重要的作用。因此，该项目有助于早期现代概念和失败评估的一般研究。另一方面，这个项目提供了新的见解，以当代解释神圣罗马帝国作为一个君主制，也在欧洲的比较。皇帝是否可以单独代表帝国参加和平谈判，还是只能与庄园一起代表帝国，这个问题与神圣罗马帝国的一般评价密切相关。

After the Peace of Westphalia (1648) the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire had the right to co-decide on peace treaties with foreign powers. This right, the so-called Ius Pacis, was quite unique regarding diets and parliaments of other Early Modern European monarchies. From the 1670ties onwards, this Ius Pacis was repeatedly subject of intense negotiations and bitter controversies between the Emperor and the estates at the Imperial Diet, which since 1663 had become – as the Immerwährender Reichstag (Perpetual Diet) – a permanent institution. These discussions dealt with the contents of peace treaties, but also with the appropriate participation of the estates in peace negotiations. Historical research has mentioned the importance of these discussions only regarding particular cases like the Peace of Rijswijk (1697). Thus and in contrast to the Ius Belli, the diet’s right to co-decide on declarations of war, these decision making processes and controversies of the Perpetual Diet about the Ius Pacis have not yet been investigated in a systematical and coherent way. Filling this gap is the central objective of the research project. Such an investigation pursues different goals, which are of special interest against the background of recent research: On the one hand, the general relevance and value of peace and peace treaties were intensively discussed during these controversies with respect to special treaties, but in a very principal manner. It is therefore possible to gain profound insights into general ideas and concepts of peace in the Early Modern period. This is especially the case when it comes to the question if peace settlements and peace negotiations had to be regarded as failed. Such questions played a crucial role in the communication of the Perpetual Diet. Thereby, the project contributes to the general research on Early Modern conceptions and assessments of failure. On the other hand, this project offers new insights into the contemporary interpretation of the Holy Roman Empire as a monarchy, also in European comparison. The question whether the Emperor could represent the Empire in peace negotiations on his own or only together with the estates was closely connected with general assessments of the Holy Roman Empire.