Regarding German Hanse towns:Anklam, Stolpe, Kolberg and Königsberg, were any of these medieval free city-states. if not what was their status in the “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation”?
Anklam, Stolpe and Kolberg were not free cities, but were part of the Duchy of Pomerania. This became part of the Empire in 1181, for all of 4 years. It then became a more permanent part in 1227. Until 1637, at any rate.
Königsberg wasn’t exactly a city-state, either, it was part of the larger Deutschordensstaat crusader state. And then part of the Duchy of Prussia. It was thus never part of the Empire.
You can find out who was sovereign in any Hansa city on the table here.
Only 3 Hansa towns were Free Cities sensu strictu- Bremen, Lubeck and Hamburg. Others were Imperial Cities -. Dortmond, Gosla, Cologne. The division between these blurred over time.
Thanks MrDibble. Very helpful.
But note that there were many cities in medieval Germany which were formally subject to some territorial ruler rather than imperial cities, but which still maintained a high degree of autonomy from the control of that ruler in practice. The Holy Roman Empire was an exceedingly complex political and legal structure.
Thanks Schnitte. So if Wismar or Rostock enjoyed a lot of autonomy but were’s free city-states like Lübeck or Danzig, what would they have been called. Was there a designation for these kinds of cities?