Leyen, Principality of
Culture | Defunct
1806 CE to 1814 CE
The Principality of Leyen is a Napoleonic German state that exists 1806–14 in Hohengeroldseck, in the west of modern Baden-Württemberg.
The House of Leyen had acquired many districts in western Germany, and eventually these were inherited by the Leyen line of counts at Adendorf.
In 1797, France defeated the Holy Roman Empire and all lands west of the Rhine were lost
Following the defeat of Austria in 1806, Count Philip Francis of Adendorf is raised to a Prince, and his lands are renamed to the 'Principality of Leyen'.
The territory forms an enclave surrounded by Baden.
Prince Philip Francis, like many other members of the Confederation of the Rhine, becomes largely a French puppet, so following Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, the Congress of Vienna opts to mediatize his realm and give it to Austria.
In 1819, Austria will trade it to Baden.
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Sixteen states in present-day Germany, on signing the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine (German: Rheinbundakte) in Paris on July 12, 1806, join together in a confederation (the treaty calls it the états confédérés du Rhinelande, with a precursor in the League of the Rhine).
Napoleon is its "protector".
Liechtenstein is given full sovereignty, leading to the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire after eight hundred and forty-four years.
According to the treaty, the confederation is to be run by common constitutional bodies, but the individual states (in particular the larger ones) want unlimited sovereignty.
Instead of a monarchical head of state, as the Holy Roman Emperor had had, its highest office is held by Karl Theodor von Dalberg, the former Arch Chancellor, who now bears the title of a Prince-Primate of the confederation.
As such, he is President of the College of Kings and presides over the Diet of the Confederation, designed to be a parliament-like body although it will never actually assemble.
The President of the Council of the Princes is the Prince of Nassau-Usingen.
In return for their support of Napoleon, some rulers are given higher statuses: Baden, Hesse, Cleves, and Berg are made into grand duchies, and Württemberg and Bavaria become kingdoms.
States are also made larger by incorporating the many smaller "Kleinstaaten", or small former imperial member states.
They have to pay a very high price for their new status, however.
The Confederation is above all a military alliance: the members have to maintain substantial armies for mutual defense and supply France with large numbers of military personnel.
As events play out the members of the confederation will find themselves more subordinated to Napoleon than they had been to the Habsburgs.