Austrian Circle

A map of the Imperial Circles as at the beginning of the 16th century. The Austrian Circle is shown in orange.

The Austrian Circle (in German, Österreichischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. It was created in 1512.

The Austrian Circle was largely coterminous with the so-called Erblande ("Hereditary Lands") of the Habsburg family.

[edit] Composition

The circle was made up of the following states:

Name	Type of entity	Comments
An der Etsch ("On the Adige")	Bailiwick	An administrative grouping of lands held by the Teutonic Order
Austria	Archduchy
Austria	Bailiwick	An administrative grouping of lands held by the Teutonic Order
Breisgau	Landgraviate	Held by the Archdukes of Austria
Brixen	Bishopric
Carinthia	Duchy	Held by the Archdukes of Austria
Carniola	Duchy	Held by the Archdukes of Austria
Chur	Bishopric
Friuli	Duchy	Also known as Friaul, a formerly Lombardian territory in northern Italy
Styria	Duchy	Held by the Archdukes of Austria
Swabian Austria	Landgraviate	A grouping of territories in south-western Germany, held by the Archdukes of Austria
Tarasp	Lordship	Held by the Archdukes of Austria
Trent	Bishopric
Tyrol	County	Held by the Archdukes of Austria

The list of states making up the Austrian Circle is based on that in the German Wikipedia article Österreichischer Reichskreis.

Circles of the Holy Roman Empire after the Imperial Reform
Created in 1500: Bavarian Circle · Franconian Circle · (Lower Rhenish-)Westphalian Circle · Lower Saxon Circle · Swabian Circle · Upper Rhenish Circle Created in 1512: Austrian Circle · Burgundian Circle · Electoral Rhenish Circle · Upper Saxon Circle