Germany
A Double Election
The title of emperor was far too important and prestigious for it to lie vacant. After Conrad's death in 1254, Frederick's illegitimate son Manfred tried to claim succession through brute force, but his activites were limited to Italy and Sicily, and he was defeated and killed by Charles of Anjou in 1266. In the north, in 1257 one group of princes chose King Alfonso X of Castile for emperor while another group chose Richard of Cornwall, brother to King Henry III of England. Neither man even entered Germany, but both spent large sums of money trying to shore up their claims.
With no strong hand at the helm, Germany fell prey to innumerable private wars. It got so bad that the merchants in cities formed leagues to protect themselves. By the early 1270s, even the princes themselves were growing tired of the chaos. In 1273, Rudolf of Habsburg was unanimously elected King of the Romans.