Burgundian Kreis

European history

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 22, 2026

Quick Summary

The Burgundian Kreis was one of the administrative districts, or Kreise, of the Holy Roman Empire established in the early 16th century. These circles were created by Emperor Maximilian I to provide regional political cohesion, particularly in western and southern Germany, during the upheaval of the Reformation. The Burgundian Kreis encompassed territories that the Dukes of Burgundy had consolidated in the Low Countries, though this union was based on a personal union of principalities rather than a unified state. The dukes attempted to establish central organizations and appointed governors to bridge differences and exert control, but this often led to resistance due to the imposition of foreign administrators and the French language. The Kreis system, including the Burgundian, was granted law-enforcement powers by the Diet of Augsburg in 1555.12

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

history of the Low Countries
The Habsburgs
…from the empire as “Burgundian Kreis” (“Circle”) (1548) and in the Pragmatic Sanction (1549), which stated that succession would be regulated in identical fashion in all the regions of the Low Countries that he had included in his empire. The Low Countries were thus prevented from being split up.
Read More
…from the empire as “Burgundian Kreis” (“Circle”) (1548) and in the Pragmatic Sanction (1549), which stated that succession would be regulated in identical fashion in all the regions of the Low Countries that he had included in his empire. The Low Countries were thus prevented from being split up.
Read More