Political Structure of the Holy Roman Empire

Timeline

1. 1165Worms · WormsFrederick I convened a Hoftag at Worms, reaffirming the emperor's supreme lordship over his vassals and coordinating the positions of the dukes and ecclesiastical princes on Italian policy, military levies, and the sharing of taxes; the imperial diet was the core mechanism for day-to-day decision-making and the display of legitimacy in the imperial polity.
2. 1167–1170Northern Italy · LombardyAfter the setback of the Italian expedition, the emperor had to rebalance the interests of the electors, ecclesiastical princes, and the city communes of northern Italy: the states bargained over supplying troops and funds, while the papacy used the moment of weakened imperial power to expand its temporal jurisdiction, giving the imperial polity its characteristic feature of 'nominal unity with actual decentralization'.