the peace of westphalia has frequently been portrayed as conferring full sovereignty on at least the imperial princes. in fact, the princes' powers were not expanded, but the right of their aristocratic subjects (mediate lords) to maintain military forces was removed. the princes' right to make treaties and enter into alliances—to engage in foreign relations—was not affected, but remained "constrained by the obligation not to harm the emperor or empire." their authority in their own territories remained "circumscribed by imperial law and by the emperor's formal position as their feudal overlord."