The imperial finance (1556-1576)

The project "The Imperial Finance in the Second Half of the 16th Century (1556-1576)" is an international co- operation between historians of the Universities of Vienna and Passau; its aim is to explore the financial sources of Habsburg power in the late 16th century. The period is defined by two events: firstly by the division of the heritage of Charles V into a Spanish and an imperial Austrian branch, and secondly by the death of Maximilian II. Although the research will cover the history of the former Habsburg territories with a special emphasis on Austria and Bohemia, it will also include other areas. Examples are the history of the Holy Roman Empire, the history of the European state system and the economic-financial connections between the monarchs and their financiers. The reciprocal relationship between state making and public finance forms the subject of this academic research. Therefore, various sources of revenue of the Habsburg dominions have to be compared with the fiscal grants of the parliamentary bodies of these dominions. Next to this territorial perspective, the financial relationship between the Emperor and the Estates of the Holy Roman Empire at the various Diets will be explored. In this context special emphasis will be put on financial aid for the war against the Ottoman Empire and on the relationship between the Emperor and the Spanish Crown which had strong political connections with the Austrian Habsburgs as a result of its heritage. Furthermore, the Emperor`s choice of financiers and methods will be looked at in connection with financial transactions in Europe. The central issues of this research will be the administrative finance organisation at the imperial court as well as the composition (credit, ordinary and extraordinary taxes, rents of the imperial dominions, etc.) and the extent of the imperial finances. The relationship between finance, state-making and the political possibilities of the Emperor within his territories, the political systems of the Holy Roman Empire and the European powers will also be looked into.

The project "The Imperial Finance (1556-1576)" was an international co-operation between historians of the Universities of Vienna and Passau, later Bonn, its aim was to explore the financial sources of Habsburg power in the late 16th century. The period was defined by two events: firstly by the division of the heritage of Charles V into a Spanish and an imperial Austrian branch, and secondly by the death of Maximilian II. Although the research covered the history of the former Habsburg territories with a special emphasis on Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, it also included other areas. Examples were the history of the Holy Roman Empire, the history of the European state system and the economic-financial connections between the monarchs and their financiers. The reciprocal relationship between state building and public finance formed the subject of this academic research. Therefore, various sources of revenue of the Habsburg dominions have been compared with the fiscal grants of the parliamentary bodies of these dominions. Next to this territorial perspective, the financial relationship between the Emperor and the Estates of the Holy Roman Empire at the various Diets were explored. In this context special emphasis has been put on financial aid for the war against the Ottoman Empire and on the relationship between the Emperor and the Spanish crown, which had strong political connections with the Austrian Habsburgs as a result of its heritage. Furthermore, the Emperor`s choice of financiers and methods has been investigated at in connection with financial transactions in Europe. The central issues of this research have been the administrative finance organisation at the imperial court, the Habsburg territories as well as the composition (credit, ordinary and extraordinary taxes, rents of the imperial dominions, etc.) and the extent of the imperial finances. The relationship between finance, state building and the political facilities of the Emperor within his territories, the political systems of the Holy Roman Empire and the European powers have also been looked into.