Franconia

Franconia, the name formerly applied to a loosely defined district in Central Germany, which, as the home of the Franks, was regarded as the heart of the Holy Roman Empire; the emperors long continued to be crowned within its boundaries; subsequently it was divided into two duchies, East Franconia and Rhenish Franconia; the latter was abolished in 1501 and the former much diminished; from 1806 to 1837 the name had no official existence, but in 1837 the names Upper, Middle, and Lower Franconia were given to the three northern divisions of Bavaria.

Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)