Editing Regensburg (section)

===Late Middle Ages and early modern period===

[[File:Braun Regensburg UBHD.jpg|thumb|left|Regensburg in the 16th century]]
[[File:Regensburg Reichstag 1711.jpg|thumb|left|Ceremonial arrival at the Imperial Diet, 1711]]
[[File:Regensburg Prince-Bishopric and Imperial City (18th century).png|thumb|left|The Free Imperial City (yellow) and the Prince-Bishopric (purple) in the 18th century]]

In 1245 Regensburg became a [[Free Imperial City]] and was a trade centre before the shifting of [[trade route]]s in the late Middle Ages. Regensburg has always been a place where international meetings were held. This was also the case in 1471 when a war against the Turks was to be decided.<ref>
Konstantin Moritz Langmaier: Eine Stadt organisiert eine Reichsversammlung. Die Vorbereitungen auf den großen Christentag in Regensburg und die Einzüge von Kardinallegat und Kaiser in die Reichsstadt (1471). Ein Beitrag zur spätmittelalterlichen Kulturgeschichte. In: Verhandlungen des Historischen Vereins für Oberpfalz und Regensburg. Band 161, 2021, 33–80.</ref> In 1486, Regensburg became part of the [[Duchy of Bavaria]], but its independence was restored by the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] ten years later. The first [[Diet of Regensburg (1541)|Diet of Regensburg]] took place in 1541. The city adopted the [[Protestant Reformation]] in 1542 and its Town Council remained entirely [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]].

From 1663 to 1806, the city was the permanent seat of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, which became known as the [[Perpetual Diet of Regensburg]]. Thus, Regensburg was one of the central towns of the Empire, attracting visitors in large numbers.

A minority of the population remained [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]], and Roman Catholics were denied civic rights (''{{lang|de|Bürgerrecht}}''). Although the Imperial city had adopted the Reformation, the town remained the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop and several [[abbey]]s. Three of these, [[St. Emmeram]], [[Niedermünster]] and [[Obermünster]], were free imperial estates within the Holy Roman Empire, meaning that they were granted a seat and a vote at the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] (''{{lang|de|Reichstag}}''). So there was the unique situation that the town of Regensburg comprised five independent "states" (in terms of the Holy Roman Empire): the Protestant city itself, the Roman Catholic bishopric, and the three [[monastery|monasteries]]. In addition, it was seen as the traditional capital of the region Bavaria (not the state), acted as functional co-capital of the Empire (second to the Emperor's court at Vienna) due to the presence of the Perpetual Diet, and it was the residence of the Emperor's Commissary-Principal to the same diet, who with one very brief exception was a prince himself (for many years the Prince of [[Thurn and Taxis]], still resident in the town).