Great Interregnum begins in the Holy Roman Empire

1254

With the Hohenstaufen line collapsing, the electors could agree on no legitimate king of the Romans. Germany entered nearly two decades without an effective emperor as princes carved out independent jurisdictions and towns bought their liberties. Robber knights flourished. The vacuum allowed the territorial princes to consolidate the fragmented sovereignty that would define German politics until Bismarck finally unified the nation six centuries later.