Recess (Holy Roman Empire)

A Recess (Reichsabschied, Reichsrezess) in the Holy Roman Empire was the document detailing all the decisions made by an Imperial Diet.

Until 1654, a Diet began, in addition to ceremonial rituals, with the reading of the Imperial Proposition&mdash;the agenda predetermined by the Emperor&mdash;and ended with the decisions being read by the Emperor and ratified, the Recess.

The last such Recess is called the Youngest Recess and contains the resolutions of the 1653/54 Diet of Regensburg.

Since the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg which began in 1663 was never formally concluded, its decisions could not be collected as a Recess. They were therefore issued in the form of so-called Imperial Conclusions (Reichsschlüsse). Ratification of these conclusions was usually carried out by the Emperor's representative in the Reichstag, the Principal Commissioner, in the form of an Imperial Commissioner's decree.