Germany
The Diet of 1495
Besides the Hapsburg marriages, Maximilian is best known for his attempts to reform the Imperial judicial and administrative systems. Everyone knew that reforms were needed, at least if there was to be a strong central government, but Maximilian was the only one in our period who made a serious effort. The reforms looked pretty good on paper, and they lasted for a long time, but their effectiveness depended entirely on the goodwill of the princes, and that was most fickle.
Reform of Law
With so many princes, each with their own legal systems, it was only natural for cases to be appealed to the Emperor. The trouble was, there were nearly innumerable paths for such appeals, to an armload of imperial courts. Maximilian created a new imperial law court, called in German the Reichskammergericht (which simply means imperial court). Its specific function was to administer matters covered by Roman law throughout the Empire. It had no jurisdiction over local, customary law, so it was far from being equivalent to the American Supreme Court, but it was a step, and it was a much larger step than any previous emperor had taken.
Reform of Taxes
In much the same spirit was the Common Penny, the Gemeine Pfenning, an empire-wide tax. One of the most crippling weaknesses of imperial courts had been and still was a chronic shortage of money. This was being experienced by all monarchs across Europe, but it was more acute for the German Emperor because nearly all imperial estates had been granted away over the centuries. The emperors in our period had to depend mainly on their own personal estates and possessions. Maximilian sought to change that, to create some sort of steady income for the Empire on which an emperor could depend.
The tax was graduated depending on wealth and was a combination of a property tax, a tax on wealth, and a per-capita tax. The formula was a bit convoluted, but there was a recognition that a tax burden should fall unequally, depending upon ability to pay. There was also an attempt to keep too many entities (princes, towns, individuals) from being exempted, though this attempt did not succeed. Maximilian hoped the Common Penny would help fund wars against the Turks, but it never lived up to its promise.
Peace
A third significant aspect of Maximilian's reforms was a moratorium on private wars within the Empire. This was an attempt not only at ending the disruption and suffering such wars brought, but more importantly at asserting Imperial authority in such matters. Germany in the 15th century was the scene for interminable feuding between princes and other princes, between princes and towns, between towns and other towns. All had the right to raise armies and all felt they had the right to pursue their own interests by force. Most of these were local and petty (though not to those victimized by them!), but some could be on a scale large enough to threaten imperial interests, including the tendency for some of these lords to make alliances with foreign powers. It was political chaos. After the proclamation of the "Land Peace", disputes were supposed to be brought before a special imperial court.
Results
Maximilian lost control of these institutions almost at once, and they were placed under the control of an imperial council (
Reichsregiment)
in 1500. This council consisted of twenty-one nobles chosen by the princes who sat continuously and who could represent the emperor in his absence. Not surprisingly, Maximilian refused to support the council, whereupon many of the princes refused to support his reforms. The haggling over these and other reforms occupied much of Maximilian's later years, and most were still unresolved at his death. We do see some of the institutions surviving in the 16th century and even the 17th century. This or that emperor tried to breathe life into this or that institution, but with no lasting success. Maximilian's attempts to reform the Empire must ultimately be judged a failure.