How did the Eternal Peace of 1495 try to reduce violence in the Holy Roman Empire?

The "Eternal Peace" (Ewiger Landfriede) of 1495 was a landmark reform measure adopted at the Imperial Diet of Worms to curb the endemic violence within the Holy Roman Empire.1

The primary mechanism for reducing violence was the formal outlawing of private feuds, which had long been a source of instability. To enforce this prohibition and ensure the rule of law, the Diet established the Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht). This institution served as the empire’s supreme tribunal, providing a legal venue for resolving disputes—such as property conflicts between vassals or violations of imperial decrees—that might otherwise have been settled through armed conflict.12

By creating a centralized, official court that was not dependent on the emperor’s personal authority or finances, the estates sought to replace the chaos of private warfare with a structured, legalistic process for maintaining public peace.12