Editing Robber baron (feudalism) (section)

===Great Interregnum===
During the period in the history of the Holy Roman Empire known as the [[Great Interregnum]] (1250–1273), when there was no Emperor, the number of tolling stations exploded in the absence of imperial authority.  In addition, robber barons began to earn their ''[[wikt:opprobrium|opprobrium]]'' by robbing ships of their cargoes, stealing entire ships, and even kidnapping.

In response to this organized, military lawlessness, the "Rheinischer Bund," or Rhine League was formed by 100 Cities, and from several princes and prince-prelates (lords of the Church), all of whom held large stakes in the restoration of law and order to the Rhine.

Officially launched in 1254, the Rhine League wasted no time putting robber barons out of business by the simple expedient of taking and destroying their castles.  In the next three years, four robber barons were targeted and between ten and twelve robber castles destroyed or inactivated.

The Rhine League was not only successful in suppressing illicit collection of tolls and river robbery, they also took action against other state aggression. For example, they are documented as having intervened to rescue a victim of abduction by the Baron of Rietberg.

The procedure pioneered by the Rhine League for dealing with robber barons&nbsp;– to besiege, capture and destroy their castles&nbsp;– survived long after the League self-destructed from political strife over the election of a new Emperor and military reversals against unusually strong robber barons.

When the Interregnum ended, the new king [[Rudolf I of Germany|Rudolf of Habsburg]] applied the lessons learned by the Rhine League to the destruction of the highway robbers at [[Sooneck]], torching their castles and hanging them.  While robber barony never entirely ceased, especially during the [[Hundred Years' War]], the excesses of their heyday during the Interregnum never recurred.