Editing Imperial Reform (section)

=== Reception of Roman Law ===
[[File:Maximilian I watching an execution during Philip and Joanna betrothal.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Maximilian I paying attention to an execution instead of watching the betrothal of his son [[Philip I of Castile|Philip the Handsome]] and [[Joanna of Castile]]. The top right corner shows [[Cain and Abel]]. Satire against Maximilian's legal reform, associated with imperial tyranny. Created on behalf of the councilors of Augsburg. Plate 89 of ''Von der Arztney bayder Glück'' by the {{interlanguage link|Petrarcameister|de}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hodnet |first1=Andrew Arthur |title=The Othering of the Landsknechte |date=2018 |publisher=North Carolina State University |page=81}}</ref>]]

At the 1495 Diet, the Reception of Roman Law was accelerated and formalized. The Roman Law was made binding in German courts, except in the case it was contrary to local statutes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burdick |first1=William Livesey |title=The Principles of Roman Law and Their Relation to Modern Law |date=2004 |publisher=The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. |isbn=978-1-58477-253-8 |pages=19, 20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRkMm73NCEUC&pg=PA19 |access-date=19 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> In practice, it became the basic law throughout Germany, displacing Germanic local law to a large extent, although Germanic law was still operative at the lower courts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Daniel |title=Popular Sovereignty in Early Modern Constitutional Thought |date=19 February 2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-106244-5 |page=243 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3jfcCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA243 |access-date=20 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Thornhill |first1=Chris |title=German Political Philosophy: The Metaphysics of Law |date=24 January 2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-38280-4 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3JuU_MfVTbAC&pg=PA12 |access-date=20 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Haivry |first1=Ofir |title=John Selden and the Western Political Tradition |date=29 June 2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-01134-2 |page=118 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KNvFDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 |access-date=20 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mousourakis |first1=George |title=The Historical and Institutional Context of Roman Law |date=2 March 2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-88840-0 |page=435 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n6tBDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT435 |access-date=20 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Other than the desire to achieve legal unity and other factors, the adoption also highlighted the continuity between the Ancient Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zoller |first1=Élisabeth |title=Introduction to Public Law: A Comparative Study |date=2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16147-4 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1zfs2VcJs0C&pg=PA64 |access-date=20 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> To realize his resolve to reform and unify the legal system, the emperor frequently intervened personally in matters of local law, overriding local charters and customs. This practice was often met with irony and scorn from local councils, who wanted to protect their local codes.{{sfn|Hodnet|2018|pp=79–81}}

The legal reform seriously weakened the ancient [[Vehmic court]] (''Vehmgericht'', or Secret Tribunal of [[Westphalia]], traditionally held to be instituted by [[Charlemagne]] but this theory is now considered unlikely.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spence |first1=Lewis |title=An Encyclopedia of Occultism |date=1993 |publisher=Kensington Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-0-8065-1401-7 |page=133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDXYAAAAMAAJ |access-date=12 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Palgrave |first1=Francis |title=The Collected Historical Works of Sir Francis Palgrave, K.H. |date=5 December 2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-62636-2 |pages=xiv,203, 204 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U98aAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA204 |access-date=12 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref>), although it would not be abolished completely until 1811 (when it was abolished under the order of [[Jérôme Bonaparte]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beccaria |first1=Cesare marchese di |last2=Beccaria |first2=Cesare |last3=Stevenson |first3=Bryan |title=On Crimes and Punishments and Other Writings |date=1 January 2008 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-8990-8 |page=133 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=surdzOtEZgQC&pg=PA133 |access-date=12 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ripley |first1=George |last2=Dana |first2=Charles Anderson |title=The New American Cyclopædia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge |date=1869 |publisher=D. Appleton |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lwIoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA43 |access-date=12 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref>