Conrad III of Germany

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Conrad III
Frederick I
Born1093 or 1094
Died15 February 1152 (aged 59–60)
Bamberg, Bavaria
Burial
Spouse
Issue
Agnes of Germany

Conrad III (

Emperor Henry IV.[2][3]

His reign saw the start of the conflicts between the

Frederick Barbarossa as his successor instead of his son, Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia
.

Descent

The origin of the House of Hohenstaufen in the Duchy of Swabia has not been conclusively established. As the name came from the Hohenstaufen Castle (built in 1105) Conrad's great-grandfather Frederick of Staufen was a count in the Riesgau and in 1053 became Swabian Count palatine. His son Frederick of Buren probably resided near present-day Wäschenbeuren and about 1050 married Countess Hildegard of Egisheim-Dagsburg from Alsace.[2]

Conrad's father took advantage of the conflict between King Henry IV of Germany and the Swabian duke

Babenberg margrave Leopold III of Austria.[4][5]

Biography

In 1105, Henry IV,

Italy upon the death of Margravine Matilda of Tuscany, and in 1116 he appointed Conrad as Duke of Franconia.[6] Conrad was marked out to act as regent for Germany, together with his elder brother, Duke Frederick II of Swabia. At the death of Henry V in 1125, Conrad unsuccessfully supported Frederick II for the kingship of Germany. Frederick was placed under a ban and Conrad was deprived of Franconia and the Kingdom of Burgundy, of which he was rector. With the support of the imperial cities, Swabia, and the Duchy of Austria, Conrad was elected anti-king at Nuremberg in December 1127.[7]

Conrad quickly crossed the Alps to be crowned King of Italy by Anselmo della Pusterla, Archbishop of Milan, in the village of Monza.[8] Over the next two years, he failed to achieve anything in Italy, however, and returned to Germany in 1130, after Nuremberg and Speyer, two strong cities that supported him, fell to Lothair in 1129. Conrad continued in Lothair's opposition, but he and Frederick were forced to acknowledge Lothair as emperor in 1135, during which time Conrad relinquished his title as King of Italy. After this they were pardoned and could take again possession of their lands.[9]

Conrad III and his armies in Hungary. Image from the Chronicon Pictum

After Lothair's death (December 1137), Conrad was elected king at

Leopold IV, Margrave of Austria. Henry, however, retained the loyalty of his subjects. The civil war that broke out is considered the first act of the struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines, which later extended southwards to Italy. After Henry's death (October 1139), the war was continued by his son Henry the Lion, supported by the Saxons, and by his brother Welf VI. Conrad, after a long siege, defeated the latter at Weinsberg in December 1140, and in May 1142 a peace agreement was reached in Frankfurt.[9]

In the same year, Conrad entered Bohemia to reinstate his brother-in-law Vladislav II as Duke. The attempt to do the same with another brother-in-law, the Polish prince Ladislaus the Exile, failed. Bavaria, Saxony, and the other regions of Germany were in revolt.

In 1146, Conrad heard

Wendish crusade.[11]

Before leaving, he had the nobles elect and crown his son Henry Berengar king. The succession secured in the event of his death, Conrad set out. His army of 20,000 men went overland, via Hungary, causing disruptions in the Byzantine territories through which they passed. They arrived at Constantinople by September 1147, ahead of the French army.[12][13]

Rather than taking the coastal road around

Manuel I Comnenus acted as his personal physician. After recovering, Conrad sailed to Acre, and from there reached Jerusalem. He participated in the ill-fated Siege of Damascus and after that failure, grew disaffected with his allies. Another attempt to attack Ascalon failed when Conrad's allies did not appear as promised, then Conrad returned to Germany,[13] through Constantinople, where he met again with the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I to discuss the problem of two emperors,[16] and to renew their alliance against Roger II of Sicily.[17]

In 1150, Conrad and Henry Berengar defeated Welf VI and his son Welf VII at the Battle of Flochberg. Henry Berengar died later that year and the succession was thrown open. The Welfs and Hohenstaufen made peace in 1152 and the peaceful succession of one of Conrad's family was secured.

Conrad was never crowned emperor and continued to style himself "

Bishop of Bamberg, he allegedly designated Frederick his successor, rather than his own surviving six-year-old son Frederick. Frederick Barbarossa, who had accompanied his uncle on the unfortunate crusade, forcefully pursued his advantage and was duly elected king in Cologne
a few weeks later. The young son of the late king was given the Duchy of Swabia.

Tomb of King Conrad III in the Bamberg Cathedral[19]

Conrad left no male heirs by his first wife, Gertrude von Komburg. In 1136, he married Gertrude of Sulzbach, who was a daughter of Berengar II of Sulzbach,[20] and whose sister Bertha was married to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I. Gertrude was the mother of Conrad's children and the link which cemented his alliance with Byzantium.[21]

See also

  • Kings of Germany family tree

References

  1. ^ Frederick I 2000, p. xii.
  2. ^ .
  3. .
  4. .
  5. ^ Thomas Oliver Schindler (2003). Die Staufer – Ursprung und Aufstieg eines Herrschergeschlechts. Grin. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  6. ^ Barber 2004, p. 193.
  7. .
  8. ^ Marina 2013, p. 395.
  9. ^ .
  10. .
  11. .
  12. .
  13. ^ .
  14. ^ Tyerman 2006, p. 303.
  15. ^ Suger 2018, p. 169.
  16. ^ Petersohn 2010, p. 126.
  17. ^ P. Magdalino, The Byzantine Empire, 621
  18. ^ The medieval sources on Conrad's death are discussed in: Manuel Kamenzin: Die Tode der römisch-deutschen Könige und Kaiser (1150–1349). Ostfildern 2020, S. 91–99. (online)
  19. ^ On the funeral see: Manuel Kamenzin: Die Tode der römisch-deutschen Könige und Kaiser (1150–1349). Ostfildern 2020, S. 412–414. (online)
  20. ^ Otto I of Freising 1953, p. 54.
  21. .

Sources

Conrad III of Germany
Born: 1093 Died: 1152
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Italy
1128–1135
Succeeded by
Frederick I
Preceded by German King
(formally King of the Romans)
(with Henry Berengar (1147–1150)

1138–1152