Mainz Claim

"Established as one of the seven prince-electors in the Golden Bull of 1356, the Archbishop of Mainz was the most senior of the prince-electors and of the ecclesiastical estates of the Holy Roman Empire. Given the honorary title of Archchancellor of Germany the archbishop-elector was also the president of the electoral college of the Diet. In terms of ecclesiastical precedence, he was the primate of Germany, and the pope’s representative north of the Alps. The archbishopric began its rise under St Boniface, who was the first archbishop of Mainz and an early missionary to the Germans.

Adding to the depth of this claim, the current archbishop is Bertold von Henneberg, who is the most prominent reformer in the Holy Roman Empire. He was, by accounts, a proponent of Renaissance humanism and an enemy of corruption in his archdiocese. He had played a key role in the election of Maximilian von Habsburg as the Holy Roman Emperor.

At the Diet of Worms in 1495, Bertold took advantage of the situation to push reform. The Emperor Maximilian was in a hurry, in 1494 Charles VII of France had begun an Italian campaign, nominally to enforce his claim to the throne of Naples over the excommunicated Ferdinand I. This created three great risks for the emperor:
Milan: Ludivico Sforza, acting as regent for his nephew, had sought to take advantage of the conflict between the Papacy and Naples by agreeing to let French troops march across Milanese territory. He did not anticipate that Charles would decide to press his own claim on Milan while he was in town. Looking for allies, he found one in Maximilian. Sealing the deal by marrying off his niece Bianca to the emperor, he agreed to make Milan part of the empire with investiture and was confirmed as duke.
The Pope: While the Papal States were outside of the empire, Maximilian was concerned about the pope’s confirmation of his imperial title. Traditionally, the emperor was crowned by the pope in Rome, but Maximilian had not been. The Papacy had issued decrees confirming the imperial titles, but would they continue to do so with French troops in Rome?
Imperial Italy: Charles’s army could attack nearly any imperial vassal in northern Italy, and the emperor was duty bound to protect them, lest they be annexed by France.
Maximilian needed men and money from the lords of the empire. On March 18, 1495, he arrived at Worms. The emperor had planned for the Diet to take two weeks, and set him off on a triumphant campaign ending in his coronation in Rome. Little did he know it would not be until September until the meeting was done, hijacked by the reformers.

Bertold and the reform faction had a number of objectives they wished to accomplish, and they were going to take advantage of Maximilian’s urgent need. They delayed, saying they needed time for all the princes to arrive for the diet. Negotiations with the diet did not begin for nearly a month, and once they did, news from Italy got worse. Charles had conquered Naples, and the emperor begged for a speedy resolution, which was refused. Finally, on April 27th, the emperor appeared at the assembly and announced he was prepared to hold discussions on the three objectives the reformers were interested in:
Eternal Peace Agreement (Ewiger Landfriede): In an attempt to curb the constant internecine wars between the princes of the empire, the reformers wanted to push a peace agreement between them. This agreement would end the right of vendetta (Fehderecht) and move disputes between lords from the battlefield to a legal process in a uniform process that was the same from one end of the empire to another.
Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht): To facilitate the enforcement of the agreement, and unify the administration of justice across the empire, there was to be established an imperial court that would hear all disputes in the empire not covered by those with the right to oversee justice in their own realms.
Imperial Government (Reichsregiment): The most significant reform would be the establishment of a permanent imperial government, representing each of the states of the empire. The Emperor would be the honorary president of the committee dealing with the treasury, war and foreign policy. Maximilian understood that this would be a significant reduction of the emperor’s power, and deeply opposed it.
Despite willingness to discuss these issues, the estates pressed back, refusing to grant the emperor the men and money with these promises to discuss. As Charles and the French began to withdraw from Italy, the deal was finalized. The Imperial Government was withdrawn, and the chamber assented to the Common Penny tax in exchange for the Eternal Peace Agreement and the Imperial Chamber Court.

In the wake of the Diet, Maximilian left deeply suspicious of Berthold. While his motivations are unclear based on documents, it is clear he was a keen politician who was deeply interested in reform in the imperial government. Maximilian believed he wanted to undermine imperial power and usurp control of the empire.

The Electorate of Mainz is a critical claim for this game. In April of 1500, the diet will meet in Augsburg, and the short lived First Imperial Government will be formed at Bertold’s insistence (assuming things fall into place). Bertold will remain the most ardent supporter of imperial reform for his life, and his historical successor Jacob von Liebenstein will also be a strong supporter of reform. Mainz will have to be careful in how it pushes forward that reform, lest it come into open conflict with the emperor. I would play to try and push for the reforms that Bertold and Jacob pushed for, trying actively to build support amongst the princes while maintaining decent relations with the emperor."