ABSTRACT
To understand the arguments about resistance and self-defence in Germany it is crucial to keep in mind that they did not develop within a clear-cut relation between king and nobility or within a firm framework of law developed over centuries. Rather, they were themselves to shape the nature of that hierarchy just as it was about to emerge. Based on the idea of continuing the Roman Empire, the Empire provided a framework for a number of noble families and corporations and had been identified as regnum teutonicum since the eleventh century. Membership of the Empire, until the beginning of a number of administrative reforms from 1495, was primarily determined by the relationship of families to each other. Only from these reforms onwards did the Empire attempt to tax its members in any sustained way. Even after reform, the constitution of the Empire remained, at least to an extent, medieval.
