[2] In 1803, under the new political structures imposed by the final resolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, the Imperial Knights (Reichsritterschaften should have remain untouched, unlike the ecclesial prince-bishoprics which were forcibly secularised.
But by the winter of 1802/1803, the territorial states of Bavaria, Hesse-Kassel and Württemberg attempted to take possession of the tiny and fragmented estates belonging to the neighbouring Imperial Knights through a combination of Surrender and Transfer Edicts (Abtretungs- und Überweisungspatente) and military force.
Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Leiningen and Bavaria each sent troops to occupy parts of the estates of the Freiherr von Massenbach [de] late in 1803.
[2] The measures were denounced by the knights to the Reichshofrat and, in January 1804, pronounced as illegal by Emperor Francis II.
[citation needed] Article 25 of the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine sanctioned unilateral action by territorial states.