The question of in which country the imperial cities existed is asked by many people who are interested in history. And in order to answer it, you need to understand what it is all about and turn to history. And this term is directly related to Rome.
The name "Germany" was given by the Romans of the territory located east of the Rhine and north of the upper and middle Danube. The term the Romans borrowed from the Gauls, but no one knows where this name came from, or why the Gauls so called the neighbors of the Rhine.
What is it
Imperial cities are settlements that did not pay taxes to local governments. Their population paid taxes directly to the emperor, hence the name came from. Imperial was Nuremberg in Germany, for example. But there were also cities free of such duties. And to understand how it happened, you need to turn to history again.
History
Germany was inhabited mainly by the tribes of the same name. They were beautifully described in the work of Tacitus from the 1st century AD. e. called Germania. This is one of the tribes that were never completely subordinate to the Empire of Rome. Only a couple of times the Romans managed to cross the Rhine, but it never succeeded for a long time to subjugate the territory of a modern country. The Rhine became the conditional border of Rome in the east, many emperors tried to expand the territory in this direction. The provinces that were created here were called: Germania Superior (Upper) and Germania Inferior (Lower), which were created at the end of the 1st century BC. e. on the left bank of the Rhine.
The Germans were a group of Indo-European peoples who came at the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennium BC. e. from the peninsula of Jutland, Denmark and southern Scandinavia. From these territories they began expansion to the north (Scandinavia) and the south (Germania). These peoples reached the Rhine and the upper Danube.
Germany covered an area of about 500 thousand square kilometers, between the Baltic Sea in the north, the Danube in the south, the Vistula in the east and the Rhine in the west.
The population of these lands in the 1st century BC e. amounted to about 5 million people. The history of imperial cities originates in interaction with the Roman Empire. And the first contacts of this people with the Romans began at the end of the II century BC. e. In the 1st century AD e. they occupied central Europe and fought with the representatives of Rome, who sought to explore the area between the Rhine and the Elbe. In the year 15 BC e. Roman legions occupied the south of Germany through winning campaigns by the sons of Emperor Octavian Augustus. Then appeared imperial settlements.
The long neighborhood of Rome influenced the Germans, in particular, the development of the economic, social and cultural level, which was manifested in the adoption of many of the gains of ancient civilization. This created the prerequisites for tax systems, the creation of imperial cities.
Over time, Rome began to weaken. In the years 260–455 AD e. he dealt with the growing onslaught of the Germans. At the end of the 4th century, the Huns, Goths, and then other Germans rose, who successfully made attempts to break through the borders of the Roman Empire; the great migrations of the peoples of Germany led to their gradual settlement on the territory of the Roman Empire and the creation of independent kingdoms in many modern European states. Also, the settling of tribes on the borders of the Empire led to the creation of future European states with imprints of Roman culture. In 410 AD e. Rome was taken by the Visigoths, and in 455 by the Vandals. It was a triumph of the Germans over the Romans and a symbol of change.
Cities
In the Roman era, imperial cities were subordinate to the emperor. And in the Middle Ages, some of them gained their independence more and more. In fact, the rulers bought it and began to collect taxes from the population, regardless of the prince. So there was a difference between free cities and imperial. Free became Basel, Worms, Strasbourg and several other cities. While imperial, for example, remained Frankfurt, Augsburg.
Status
Over the centuries, such legal aspects have changed repeatedly. However, initially there were more populated areas with more freedom of choice. In addition, the status of cities has changed many times: it could be taken away or granted. Free settlements, among other things, had their own defense, army, and generally enjoyed great privileges. And therefore, the issue of this status soon became a political tool that was used very actively. In the XVI century, for example, there were 85 cities in the country imperial.