INTERREGNUM, strictly a period during which the normal constituted authority is in abeyance, and government is carried on by a temporary authority specially appointed (Lat. inter, between, and regnuni, reign). Though originally and specifically confined to the sphere of sovereign authority, the term is commonly used by analogy in other connections for any suspension of authority, dur ing which affairs are carried on by specially appointed persons. The term originated in Rome during the regal period when an interrex was appointed (traditionally by the senate) to carry on the government between the death of one king and the election of his successor (see ROME : History).
The most noteworthy use of the term "interregnum" in post classical times is that of the Great Interregnum in German history between the death of Conrad IV. (1254) and the election of Rudolf of Habsburg (1273). See GERMANY : History.