1803
The Batavian Republic was ruled by a Head of State called
the Pensionary of the Council, Rutger-Jan Schimmelpenninck van der Oyen. The new
departments of the Republic, similar to the traditional sovereign Dutch
provinces can now be seen on the map. In the remnants of the neighbouring Holy
Roman Empire great changes came about in 1803, as can also be seen on this map.
Under French influence the so called Principal Decree of the Imperial Deputation
(Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) came about in that year. It involved the
abolition of many of the smaller German suzerainties, including thousands of
semi-suzerain Knights Lands, many of the smaller Principalities, most of the
free cities and all of the suzerain Counties of the Empire. Also the
Ecclesiastical states (purple on the previous and on the European maps) were
abolished. They had been a main feature of the Empire since Medieval times. The
Princes that had lost territory when France annexed the Rhineland were now
compensated with lands that were taken away from the Prince-Bishops and
Germany's smaller rulers. On this map, the Duchy of Aremberg and the
Principality of Salm, appear for that very reason. The son of the former Dutch
Stadtholder, who was already the Sovereign Prince of Nassau-Dietz (depicted here
for the first time in separation from the other Nassau lands as Orange-Nassau)
was compensated with the Abbey of Fulda, some smaller Abbeys, and the city of
Dortmund. Prussia took many ecclesiastical lands. They are now simply depicted
as Kingdom of Prussia and not by the names of the constituent fiefs, as on the
previous maps. Hesse-Darmstadt was enlarged with the former Cologne Duchy of
Westphalia. Other pro French states also gained territory, and their rulers were
promoted to more exalted titles or to the Electorate.
