Landstände

The Landstände (singular Landstand) or Landtage (singular Landtag) were the various territorial estates or diets in the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages and the early modern period, as opposed to their respective territorial lords (the Landesherrn).

== Usage == The structure of the Landstände was highly variable depending on the country and period of history. Furthermore, both the representatives of the older system, the Ständeordnung, where the estates were predominant, and the parliaments of the newer people's representative systems were called Landstände. The term Landtag was used, both under the Ständeordnung as well as the newer representative structures, for a general assembly of the estates or the parliament. The totality of the Landstände in a sovereign territory was also called the Landschaft.