Electorate of the Palatinate in the context of "Prince elector"

The prince-electors (German: Kurfürst [ˈkuːɐ̯ˌfʏʁst] , pl. Kurfürsten [ˈkuːɐ̯ˌfʏʁstn̩] , Czech: Kurfiřt, Latin: Princeps Elector) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops.

From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince-electors gained the privilege of electing the King of the Romans. The king would then later be crowned Emperor by the pope. Charles V (elected in 1519) was the last emperor to be crowned (1530); his successors assumed the title "Elected Emperor of the Romans" (German: erwählter Römischer Kaiser; Latin: electus Romanorum imperator) upon their coronation as kings.

The Sachsenspiegel (German: [ˈzaksn̩ˌʃpiːɡl̩] ; Middle Low German: Sassen Speyghel; modern Low German: Sassenspegel; all literally "Saxon Mirror") is one of the most important law books and custumals compiled during the Holy Roman Empire. Originating between 1220 and 1235 as a record of local customary law and rulings, it was used in places until as late as 1900. Some legal principles recorded in the Sachsenspiegel continued to apply into recent time laws. It is important not only for its lasting effect on later German and Dutch law but also as an early example of written prose in a Low German language. The Sachsenspiegel is the first comprehensive law book not in Latin, but in Middle Low German. A Latin edition is known to have existed, but only fragmented chapters remain.

The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (German: Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar, pronounced [metʁoˈpoːlʁeˌɡi̯oːn ˌʁaɪnˈnɛkaʁ]), often referred to as the Rhein-Neckar Triangle, is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the north and the Stuttgart Region to the south-east.

Rhine-Neckar has a population of some 2.4 million, with major cities including Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg. Other cities include the former free imperial cities of Speyer and Worms. The metro area also encompasses parts of the Baden and Palatinate wine regions, the second largest vine region of the country (Deutsche Weinstraße), and territory from the three federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It has a strong local identity as a successor to the historical Electorate of the Palatinate state.

The Diet of Regensburg of 1623 was a meeting of the Imperial States of the Holy Roman Empire (or Fürstentag) convened by Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II. The meeting was not technically an imperial diet in the full sense, but a convention of princes or Deputationstag – a looser constitutional format giving the emperor greater leeway to make decisions without being bound by formal procedures. At the meeting, the Electorate of the Palatinate was transferred to Maximilian I of Bavaria. The meeting marked the high-water mark of imperial power during the Thirty Years' War.