The ceremonial capital of the Holy Roman Empire and one of its richest fair towns. The Golden Bull of 1356 made Frankfurt the fixed seat of the imperial elections, and from 1562 the emperors were crowned there as well; the city bought its way out of the last marks of dependence in the later 14th century, and by 1372 was governing itself as a free imperial city under a patrician council. Its twin autumn and spring fairs and its bourse made it the financial hub of central Germany, and its territory was unusual in including a large city forest south of the Main.
Its independence was ended in 1806 by the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine; Karl Theodor von Dalberg ruled it, and from 1810 it was capital of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. Restored as a free city in 1815 and made the seat of the German Confederation's diet in 1816, it backed Austria in the war of 1866: Prussian troops entered on 16 July and the city was formally incorporated into Prussia on 18 October 1866.
Polity-specific social and constitutional study of the Frankfurt city-republic at its height; verified on Open Library (/works/OL7212233W).
Current standard survey of the Empire, covering the imperial cities' constitutional place and Frankfurt's electoral role; verified on Open Library (/works/OL17595795W).