The imperial villages (Reichsdörfer, singular Reichsdorf) were the smallest component entities of the Holy Roman Empire.[1] They possessed imperial immediacy, having no lord but the Emperor, but were not estates. They were unencircled and did not have representation in the Imperial Diet. In all these respects they were similar to the Imperial Knights. The inhabitants of imperial villages were free men.[2]
- ^ Whaley 2012, p. 44: "the most minuscule and least significant independent entities of the Reich".
- ^ Whaley 2012, p. 44.