Through the history the respective rulers of the Prince-Archbishopric and its successor state "Bremen-Verden" often denied the city's status. And also the city could and did not always cling to its claim of "imperial immediacy", which made the city's status somewhat ambiguous. Through most of the history the city participated in the Prince-Archbishopric's "Diets" as part of the Estates (see below) and paid its share in the taxes, at least when it had consented to the levying before. Since the city was the major taxpayer, its consent was mostly searched for. Like this the city wielded fiscal and political power within the Prince-Archbishopric, while the city would rather not allow the Prince-Archbishop or his representatives to rule in the city against its consent.