Imperial immediacy (
German:
Reichsfreiheit or
Reichsunmittelbarkeit) was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the
Imperial estates of the
Holy Roman Empire such as
Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular principalities, and individuals such as the
Imperial knights, were declared free from the authority of any local lord and placed under the direct ('immediate') authority of the Emperor, and later of the institutions of the Empire such as the
Diet (
Reichstag), the
Imperial Chamber of Justice and the
Aulic Council.