Imperial vicar

An imperial vicar (Reichsvikar) was a prince charged with administering all or part of the Holy Roman Empire on behalf of the Emperor. Later, an imperial vicar was invariably one of two princes charged by the Golden Bull with administering the Holy Roman Empire during an interregnum.

The Holy Roman Empire had no fixed law of succession. When a King or Holy Roman Emperor died, if a King of the Romans had not already been elected, there would be no new Emperor for a matter of several months until all the Electors, or their representatives, could assemble for a new Imperial election. During that time, Imperial institutions still required oversight. This was performed by two Imperial vicars. Each vicar, in the words of the Golden Bull, was "the administrator of the empire itself, with the power of passing judgments, of presenting to ecclesiastical benefices, of collecting returns and revenues and investing with fiefs, of receiving oaths of fealty for and in the name of the holy empire". All acts of the vicars were subject to ratification by the elected King or Emperor. On many occasions, however, there was no interregnum, as a new king had been elected during the lifetime of the previous Emperor.

The vicariate came to be associated with two Counts Palatinate: the Duke and Elector of Saxony (who also held the position of Count Palatine of Saxony) was vicar in areas operating under Saxon law (Saxony, Westphalia, Hanover, and northern Germany). The Count Palatine of the Rhine, also an Elector, was vicar in the remainder of the Empire (Franconia, Swabia, the Rhine, and southern Germany). The Golden Bull of 1356 confirmed the position of the two Electors.

Disputes over the Palatine electorate from 1648 to 1777 led to confusion about who the rightful vicar was. In 1623, the Palatine Electorate was transferred to the Duke (and thenceforth Elector) of Bavaria. However, in 1648 a new Electorate was created for the restored Count Palatinate of the Rhine, which led to disputes between the two as to which was vicar. In 1657, both purported to act as vicar, but the Saxon vicar recognised the Elector of Bavaria. In 1711, while the Elector of Bavaria was under the ban of the Empire, the Elector Palatine again acted as vicar, but his cousin was restored to his position upon his restoration three years later. In 1724, the two electors made a pact to act as joint vicars, but the Imperial Diet rejected the agreement. Finally, in 1745, the two agreed to alternate as vicars, with Bavaria starting first. This arrangement was upheld by the Imperial Diet at Regensburg in 1752. In 1777 the question became moot when the Elector Palatine inherited Bavaria.

In 1806, Emperor Francis II abdicated the imperial throne and also declared the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire itself in the wake of defeats by France and the defection of much of southern and western Germany from the Empire to join the new Confederation of the Rhine. His decision to declare the dissolution of the Empire as well as to abdicate was apparently partially designed to forestall an interregnum with rule by the Imperial Vicars, which he feared might result in the election of Napoleon as Emperor.