| Conrad III | |
|---|---|
 A miniature from theChronica sancti Pantaleonis,c. 1240 | |
| King of Germany (formallyKing of the Romans) | |
| Reign | 7 March 1138 – 15 February 1152 |
| Coronation | 13 March 1138,Aachen |
| Predecessor | Lothair III |
| Successor | Frederick I |
| King of Italy | |
| Reign | 1128–1135 |
| Coronation | 29 June 1128,Milan |
| Predecessor | Henry V |
| Successor | Frederick I |
| Born | 1093 or 1094 |
| Died | 15 February 1152 (aged 59–60) Bamberg,Bavaria |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | |
| House | Hohenstaufen |
| Father | Frederick I, Duke of Swabia |
| Mother | Agnes of Germany |
Conrad III (German:Konrad;Italian:Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of theHohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135anti-king of his predecessorLothair III, and from 1138 until his death in 1152King of the Romans in theHoly Roman Empire. He was the son of DukeFrederick I of Swabia andAgnes,[1] a daughter ofEmperor Henry IV.[2][3]
His reign saw the start of the conflicts between theGuelphs and Ghibellines. He was involved in the failedSecond Crusade withLouis VII, where he would fight and lose atDoryleum and would later fall ill and return toConstantinople. After recuperating, he went toJerusalem but would experience a string of failed sieges. Later returning from the Crusade, he was entangled in some conflicts withWelf VI's claim to the Duchy of Bavaria. On his deathbed, he designated his nephewFrederick Barbarossa as his successor instead of his son,Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia.
The origin of the House of Hohenstaufen in theDuchy of Swabia has not been conclusively established. As the name came from theHohenstaufen Castle (built in 1105) Conrad's great-grandfather Frederick of Staufen was a count in theRiesgau and in 1053 became SwabianCount palatine. His son Frederick of Buren probably resided near present-dayWäschenbeuren and about 1050 married CountessHildegard of Egisheim fromAlsace.[2]
Conrad's father took advantage of the conflict between King Henry IV of Germany and the Swabian dukeRudolf of Rheinfelden during theInvestiture Controversy. When Rudolf had himself elected Germananti-king atForchheim in 1077, Frederick of Hohenstaufen remained loyal to the royal crown and in 1079 was vested with the Duchy of Swabia by Henry IV, including an engagement with the king's daughterAgnes. He died in 1105, leaving two sons, Conrad and his elder brotherFrederick II, who inherited the Swabian ducal title. Their mother entered into a second marriage withBabenberg margraveLeopold III of Austria.[4][5]
In 1105, Henry IV,Holy Roman Emperor since 1084, was overthrown by his sonHenry V, Conrad's uncle. Emperor since 1111, Henry V prepared for his second campaign toItaly upon the death of MargravineMatilda of Tuscany, and in 1116 he appointed Conrad asDuke 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 theKingdom of Burgundy, of which he wasrector. With the support of theimperial cities, Swabia, and theMargraviate of Austria, Conrad was electedanti-king atNuremberg in December 1127.[7]
Conrad quickly crossed theAlps to be crownedKing of Italy byAnselmo 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, afterNuremberg andSpeyer, two strong cities that supported him, fell toLothair 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]
After Lothair's death (December 1137), Conrad was elected king atCoblenz on 7 March 1138, in the presence of the papal legateTheodwin. Conrad was crowned atAachen six days later (13 March) and was acknowledged inBamberg by several princes of southern Germany.[10] AsHenry the Proud, son-in-law and heir of Lothair and the most powerful prince in Germany, who had been passed over in the election, refused to do the same, Conrad deprived him of all his territories, giving theDuchy of Saxony toAlbert the Bear and that ofBavaria toLeopold 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 betweenGuelphs and Ghibellines, which later extended southwards to Italy. After Henry's death (October 1139), the war was continued by his sonHenry the Lion, supported by the Saxons, and by his brotherWelf VI. Conrad, after along siege, defeated the latter atWeinsberg in December 1140, and in May 1142 a peace agreement was reached inFrankfurt.[9]
In the same year, Conrad enteredBohemia to reinstate his brother-in-lawVladislav II as Duke. The attempt to do the same with another brother-in-law, the Polish princeLadislaus the Exile, failed. Bavaria, Saxony, and the other regions of Germany were in revolt.
In 1146, Conrad heardBernard of Clairvaux preach theSecond Crusade atSpeyer, and he agreed to joinLouis VII in a great expedition to theHoly Land. At the imperial diet inFrankfurt in March 1147 Conrad and the assembled princes entrustedBernard of Clairvaux with the recruitment for theWendish crusade.[11]
Before leaving, he had the nobles elect and crown his sonHenry Berengar king. The succession secured in the event of his death, Conrad set out. His army of 20,000 men went overland, viaHungary, causing disruptions in theByzantine territories through which they passed. They arrived atConstantinople by September 1147, ahead of the French army.[12][13]
Rather than taking the coastal road aroundAnatolia through Christian-held territory, by which he sent most of his noncombatants, Conrad took his army across Anatolia. On 25 October 1147, they were defeated by theSeljuk Turks at theBattle of Dorylaeum.[14] Conrad and most of the knights escaped, but most of the foot soldiers were killed or captured. The remaining 2,000 men of the German army limped on toNicaea, where many of the survivors deserted and tried to return home. Conrad and his adherents had to be escorted toLopadium by the French, where they joined the main French army under Louis. Conrad fell seriously ill atEphesus and was sent to recuperate in Constantinople,[15] where his host theByzantine EmperorManuel I Comnenus acted as his personal physician. After recovering, Conrad sailed toAcre, and from there reachedJerusalem. He participated in the ill-fatedSiege of Damascus and after that failure, grew disaffected with his allies. Another attempt to attackAscalon 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 theproblem of two emperors,[16] and to renew their alliance againstRoger II of Sicily.[17]
In 1150, Conrad and Henry Berengar defeated Welf VI and his sonWelf VII at theBattle 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 "King of the Romans" until his death.[18] On his deathbed, in the presence of only two witnesses, his nephewFrederick Barbarossa and theBishop of Bamberg, he allegedly designated Frederick his successor, rather than his own surviving six-year-old sonFrederick. Frederick Barbarossa, who had accompanied his uncle on the unfortunate crusade, forcefully pursued his advantage and was duly elected king inCologne a few weeks later. The young son of the late king was given the Duchy of Swabia.
Conrad left no male heirs by his first wife,Gertrude von Komburg. In 1136, he marriedGertrude of Sulzbach, who was a daughter ofBerengar II of Sulzbach,[20] and whose sisterBertha 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]
Conrad III of Germany Born: 1093 Died: 1152 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Italy 1128–1135 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | German King (formallyKing of the Romans) (withHenry Berengar (1147–1150) 1138–1152 | |
