Editing Imperial Reform (section)

==Emergence of a national political culture==
[[File:Germania by Jorg Kolderer.jpg|thumb|300px|Personification of the Reich as [[Germania (personification)|Germania]] by {{interlanguage link|Jörg Kölderer|de}}, 1512. The "German woman", wearing her hair loose and a crown, sitting on the Imperial throne, corresponds both to the self-image of Maximilian I as King of Germany and the formula ''Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation'' (omitting other nations). While usually depicted during the Middle Age as subordinate to both imperial power and Italia or Gallia, she now takes central stage in Maximilian's [[Triumphal Procession]], being carried in front of [[c:File:Roma in Maximilian'sTriumphal Procession.jpg|Roma]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Strieder |first1=Peter |title=Zur Entstehungsgeschichte von Dürers Ehrenpforte für Kaiser Maximilian |journal=Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums |date=8 May 2017 |pages=128–142 Seiten |doi=10.11588/azgnm.1954.0.38143 |url=https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/azgnm/article/view/38143/31806|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hirschi |first1=Caspar |title=The Origins of Nationalism: An Alternative History from Ancient Rome to Early Modern Germany |date=8 December 2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-50230-6 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_v4iySQgnsC&pg=PA45 |access-date=7 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Brandt |first1=Bettina |title=Germania und ihre Söhne: Repräsentationen von Nation, Geschlecht und Politik in der Moderne |date=2010 |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |isbn=978-3-525-36710-0 |page=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJLM607h6jsC&pg=PA37 |access-date=8 February 2022 |language=de}}</ref>]]
Maximilian and Charles V (despite the fact both emperors were internationalists personally<ref>{{cite book |last1=Albert Jr |first1=Rabil |title=Renaissance Humanism, Volume 2: Foundations, Forms, and Legacy |date=11 November 2016 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-1-5128-0576-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1ErEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |access-date=5 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Quevedo|first1=Francisco de|last2=Britton|first2=R. K.|title=Francisco de Quevedo: Dreams and Discourses |date=1 January 1989 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-1-80034-588-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ciwDEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |access-date=5 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref>) were the first who mobilized the rhetoric of the Nation, firmly identified with the Reich by the contemporary humanists.{{sfn|Whaley|2011|p=278}} With encouragement from Maximilian and his humanists, iconic spiritual figures were reintroduced or became notable. The humanists rediscovered the work ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'', written by Tacitus. According to Peter H. Wilson, the female figure of [[Germania (personification)|Germania]] was reinvented by the emperor as the virtuous pacific Mother of Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.{{sfn|Wilson|2016|p=263}} Whaley further suggests that, despite the later religious divide, "patriotic motifs developed during Maximilian's reign, both by Maximilian himself and by the humanist writers who responded to him, formed the core of a national political culture."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whaley |first1=Joachim |title=Whaley on Silver, 'Marketing Maximilian: the Visual Ideology of a Holy Roman Emperor' {{!}} H-German {{!}} H-Net |journal=Networks.h-net.org |date=2009 |url=https://networks.h-net.org/node/35008/reviews/45722/whaley-silver-marketing-maximilian-visual-ideology-holy-roman-emperor |access-date=5 February 2022}}</ref>

Maximilian's reign also witnessed the gradual emergence of the German common language, with the notable roles of the imperial chancery and the chancery of the Wettin Elector [[Frederick III, Elector of Saxony|Frederick the Wise]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tennant |first1=Elaine C. |last2=Johnson |first2=Carroll B. |title=The Habsburg Chancery Language in Perspective, Volume 114 |date=1985 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520096943 |pages=1, 3, 9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JdIDcGyUcN4C&pg=PA3 |access-date=21 September 2021 |archive-date=27 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927161255/https://books.google.com/books?id=JdIDcGyUcN4C&pg=PA3 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wiesinger |first1=Peter |title=Die Entwicklung der deutschen Schriftsprache vom 16. bis 18. Jahrhundert unter dem Einfluss der Konfessionen |journal=Zeitschrift der Germanisten Rumäniens |issue=17–18 / 2000 (9th year) |pages=155–162 |doi=10.1515/jbgsg-2018-0014 |s2cid=186566355 |url=http://www.e-scoala.ro/germana/peter_wiesinger.html |access-date=8 November 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The development of the printing industry together with the emergence of the postal system ([[Kaiserliche Reichspost|the first modern one in the world]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meinel |first1=Christoph |last2=Sack |first2=Harald |title=Digital Communication: Communication, Multimedia, Security |date=2014 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=9783642543319 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5O25BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |access-date=20 September 2021 |archive-date=26 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926235052/https://books.google.com/books?id=5O25BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |url-status=live }}</ref>), initiated by Maximilian himself with contribution from Frederick III and  [[Charles the Bold]], led to a revolution in communication and allowed ideas to spread. Unlike the situation in more centralized countries, the decentralized nature of the Empire made censorship difficult.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Metzig |first1=Gregor |title=Kommunikation und Konfrontation: Diplomatie und Gesandtschaftswesen Kaiser Maximilians I. (1486–1519) |date=21 November 2016 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-045673-8 |pages=98, 99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MiyXDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |access-date=29 January 2022 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Hamish M. |title=The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern European History, 1350-1750 |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-959725-3 |page=173 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vL8DCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA173 |access-date=12 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Headrick |first1=Daniel R. |title=When Information Came of Age: Technologies of Knowledge in the Age of Reason and Revolution, 1700–1850 |date=28 December 2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-803108-6 |page=184 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRBPvOAiQmUC&pg=PA184 |access-date=12 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Whaley|2011|p=370}}

Terence McIntosh comments that the expansionist, aggressive policy pursued by Maximilian I and Charles V at the inception of the early modern German nation (although not to further the aims specific to the German nation per se), relying on German manpower as well as utilizing fearsome [[Landsknecht|Landsknechte]] and mercenaries, would affect the way neighbours viewed the German polity, although in the longue durée, Germany tended to be at peace.<ref>{{cite web |title=H-German Roundtable on Smith, Germany: A Nation in Its Time Before, During, and After Nationalism, 1500–2000 {{!}} H-German {{!}} H-Net |url=https://networks.h-net.org/node/35008/discussions/9589141/h-german-roundtable-smith-germany-nation-its-time-during-and |website=networks.h-net.org |access-date=5 February 2022}}</ref>