(in Germany, Franken), a historic region in Germany, now part of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Franconia was named for the Franks, who settled there in the middle of the first millennium A.D. From the late ninth century it was a tribal duchy in the kingdom of Germany. In 939 it was conquered by Otto I, who abolished it as a duchy. Shortly thereafter, the region was split into Western, or Rhenish, Franconia (along the middle course of the Rhine, including the cities of Mainz and Worms) and Eastern Franconia (along the middle and upper course of the Main and its tributaries). During the process of feu-dalization, it was further divided into a number of independent feudal holdings. Only Eastern Franconia retained the name. The bishoprics of Würzburg, Bamberg, and Eichstatt, as well as the secular principalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth and the imperial cities of Nuremberg and Rothenburg, arose in Eastern Franconia. In the 12th century the bishops of Würzburg received the title of dukes of Franconia. Eastern Franconia was one of the main areas of fighting during the Peasant War of 1524–26.
In 1803 the lands of the duchy were divided among Bavaria (which received the largest share of the territory), Württemberg, and Baden. The name “Franconia” was subsequently preserved only in the names of three districts in Bavaria (Upper, Middle, and Lower Franconia) and in the name of the people inhabiting the region.