ABSTRACT
The Reich, graced since Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa's reign with the epithet 'holy', was the most geographically extended and most developmentally diverse lordship region of the European Middle Ages, and remained one of the most complex even beyond that period. It was never formed from a centre outward, but was and remained polycentric. From 1032 on it consisted of three kingdoms – 'German', Italian and Burgundian – which were ruled by the king or emperor in personal union. The two so-called 'free' elections of 1125 and 1138, that is, elections that were obligated to no legitimisation by inheritance, strengthened the federative potential of the high nobility to the detriment of royal power. But this tendency was again held in check by the Staufen rulers. In particular, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa came astonishingly near to the ideal maximum coverage of the three regna.
