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1653 imperial election
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Imperial election in the Holy Roman Empire
1653 imperial election Holy Roman Empire presidential no 1636 imperial election 1636 1658 imperial election 1658 31 May 1653 7 Prince-electorsFollowing the Peace of Westphalia, the electoral college was expanded to eight members. Ferdinand IV, holding the Bohemian electoral vote, abstained from the ballot. 5 Frans Luyckx - Ferdinand IV, King of the Romans.jpg Ferdinand IV House Habsburg 7 100% Emperor Elected EmperorFerdinand was elected as King of the Romans to act as Ferdinand III's designated successor and co-ruler. However, he predeceased his father in 1654 and never assumed the title of Emperor. Ferdinand III House of Habsburg Ferdinand IV House of Habsburg
May 2026
The imperial election of 1653 was an imperial election held to select the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It took place in Augsburg on May 31.
Background
This was the first imperial election to take place after the Thirty Years' War.
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, a professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, now part of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, had delivered the Ninety-five Theses to Albert of Brandenburg, the elector of Mainz. This list of propositions criticized the practice of selling indulgences, remissions of the punishment meted out for sin in Purgatory. Luther's criticism snowballed into a massive schism in the church, and from there into a split among the states of the empire.
On August 26 and 27, 1619, the Protestant estates of Kingdom of Bohemia deposed the Catholic king Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and invited the Lutheran elector Palatine, Frederick V, to take his place. This Bohemian Revolt was put down with the help of the Catholic League, a confederation of Catholic princes of the empire. The league's leader, Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, was granted the Upper Palatinate and its electoral rights in a treaty of 1619, confirmed at the Diet of Regensburg on February 25, 1623.
The revolt ignited a broader religious war across Germany, the Thirty Years' War, which would involve not only the states of the empire but also Sweden, the Dutch Republic, France, Denmark–Norway, England, Scotland, Spain and Hungary and which would kill some eight million people before its end. The Peace of Westphalia which ended the war in 1648 revived the principle of cuius regio, eius religio established in 1555 by the Peace of Augsburg and established the modern concept of Westphalian sovereignty. It additionally reinstated the electoral rights of the Electoral Palatinate, though not its territorial rights in the Upper Palatinate. Bavaria was raised to the Electorate of Bavaria, bringing the number of electors of the empire to eight.
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor called for the election of his successor.Ferdinand IV: Vain hopes Die Welt der Habsburger https://www.habsburger.net/en/chapter/ferdinand-iv-vain-hopes 2026-02-11 To avoid a tie, his son, Ferdinand IV, king of Bohemia and the presumptive favorite, agreed to abstain. The remaining seven electors were:
Johann Philipp von Schönborn, elector of Mainz
Karl Kaspar von der Leyen, elector of Trier
Maximilian Henry of Bavaria, elector of Cologne
Ferdinand Maria, elector of Bavaria
John George I, elector of Saxony
Frederick William, elector of Brandenburg
Charles I Louis, elector of the Electoral Palatinate
Election results
Ferdinand IV was elected king of the Romans.Hengerer Mark Making Peace in an Age of War Purdue University Press West Lafayette 2020 978-1-55753-844-4 245
Elector Electorate Vote Maximilian Henry of Bavaria Cologne Ferdinand IV Philipp Christoph von Sötern Trier Ferdinand IV Charles I Louis Palatinate Ferdinand IV Maximilian I Bavaria Ferdinand IV John George I Saxony Ferdinand IV Frederick William Brandenburg Ferdinand IV Lothar Franz von Schönborn Mainz Ferdinand IV Total 7 votes, 100% (unanimous)
Aftermath
Ferdinand IV predeceased his father, dying of smallpox on July 9, 1654.Hengerer Mark Making Peace in an Age of War Purdue University Press West Lafayette 2020 978-1-55753-844-4 253
References
Notes
Category:Imperial election (Holy Roman Empire)
Category:1653 in the Holy Roman Empire
Category:17th-century elections in Europe
Category:Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor