AULIC COUNCIL, one of the two high est courts of the Holy Roman empire (Reichshofrath), the other being the court of the Imperial Chamber (Reichskammergericht). It was at first a paid Council of the Emperor, and was reorganized 1497 by Maximilian I, who set it up as a rival to the Imperial Cham ber, which the Diet had forced upon him. At first its main functions appear to have been in regard to the business administration of the crownlands and the empire in general, and so to facilitate and expedite the decisions of the Im perial Chamber. In the course of time other functions devolved upon it and it received a fixed constitution in 1559. Its powers were greatly limited by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, but six years later it was formally consti tuted as one of the two supreme courts of the empire, the equal of the Imperial Chamber, and the highest Court of Appeals in the empire. In this form it consisted of a president, vice-presi dent, a vice-chancellor and 18 councillors, all of whom were selected and paid by the Em peror, except the vice-chancellor, who was ap pointed by the Elector of Mainz. Its seat was
at the Imperial residence, Vienna. It had jurisdiction in all matters concerning the re served rights of the Emperor, all questions of appeal on the part of the states from decisions in minor courts, and whatever concerned the Imperial jurisdiction in Italy. It was dissolved on the death of the Emperor, and had to be re instituted by his successor. Six of the council lors were Protestants, who could thus exercise an effective veto and preserve religious parity. The council ceased to exist on the fall of the Holy Roman empire in 1806. The title is now applied in Germany in a general sense to the chief council of any department, political, ad ministrative judicial or military. Consult Herschenhahn,