This volume looks at the submission of a major part of the Imperial Knights by Prussia toward the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. At the end of the 18th century, Prussia and its Franconian provinces forced the neighbouring Imperial Knights to submit to their authority, which shook the very premises of the imperial constitutions and served to accelerate the end of the Holy Roman Empire. This study is based on the numerous sources from both Germany and elsewhere and reconstructs the events of the years 1792 through 1798, providing a new interpretation of this era. It highlights the respective motivation, resistance and compromises of the important figures of the time and views them in their political, social and historial context.