Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor

Conrad II (c. 990 – June 4, 1039) was the son of Count Henry of Speyer and Adelheid of Alsace. He was elected king in 1024 and crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on March 26, 1027, the first emperor of the Salian Dynasty.

Conrad II is buried in the crypt of the Speyer Cathedral.

During his reign, he proved that the German monarchy had become a viable institution. Survival of the monarchy was no longer dependent on contracts between sovereign and territorial nobles.

Henry, count of Speyer, the father of Conrad II was a grandson of Luitgard, a daughter of Emperor Otto I who had married the Salian Duke Conrad the Red of Lorraine. Conrad grew up poor by the standards of the nobility and was raised by the bishop of Worms. He was reputed to be prudent and firm out of consciousness of deprivation. In 1016, he married Gisela of Swabia, a widowed duchess. Both parties claimed descent from Charlemagne and were thus distantly related. Strict canonists took exception to the marriage, and Emperor Henry II used this to force Conrad into temporary exile. They became reconciled, and upon Henry's death in 1024, Conrad appeared as a candidate before the electoral assembly of princes at Kamba in the Rhineland. He was elected by the majority and was crowned king in Mainz on September 8, 1024.

The Italian bishops paid homage at Conrad's court at Konstanz in June 1025, but lay princes sought to elect William III (V), Duke of Aquitaine, as king instead. However early in 1026 Conrad went to Milan, where Ariberto, archbishop of Milan, crowned him king of Italy. After overcoming some opposition of the towns Conrad reached Rome, where Pope John XIX crowned him emperor on Easter, 1027.

He formally confirmed the popular legal traditions of Saxony and issued new constitutions for Lombardy. In 1028 at Aachen he had his son Henry elected and anointed king of Germany. Henry married Cunigunde or Gunhilda, daughter of King Canute the Great of England, Denmark and Norway. This was an arrangement that Conrad had made many years ago, when he gave Canute the Great parts of northern Germany to administer. Henry, the later Emperor Henry III, became chief counselor of his father.

When Rudolph III, King of Burgundy died on February 2, 1032, he bequeathed his kingdom, which combined two earlier kingdoms of Burgundy, to Conrad. Despite some opposition, the Burgundian and Provencal nobles paid homage to Conrad in Zürich in 1034. This kingdom of Burgundy, which under Conrad's successors would become known as the Kingdom of Arles, corresponded to most of the southeastern quarter of modern France and included western Switzerland, the Franche-Comté and Dauphiné. It did not include the smaller Duchy of Burgundy to the north, ruled by a cadet branch of the Capetian King of France. (Piecemeal over the next centuries most of the former Kingdom of Arles was incorporated into France - but King of Arles remained one of the Holy Roman Emperor's subsidiary titles until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.)

In 1039 Conrad fell ill and died in Utrecht.

Note: The Salian dynasty succeeded the Saxon dynasty. The Salian Franks were a subgroup of the Franks who had been living North and East of the limes in the Dutch coastal area. From the 5th century they migrated throughout Belgium and to northern France, then formed a kingdom in northern France and on coasts north of it. This kingdom was the nucleus of the future Kingdom of France.

They are distinguished from the Ripuarian Franks. The name Ripuarian is believed to mean 'river-dwelling'. The name Salian may refer to salt and, by extension, the sea, i.e. 'sea-dwelling'. Alternatively, it may be derived from the Roman name for a river in The Netherlands: Isala, a branch of the Rhine currently named IJssel in Dutch. In the third century A.D., the Romans may have named the Germanic tribe living in this area after this river. Even nowadays, this area is called Salland.

Reference

Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Wayfarer garvestite website, in Grave of a Famous Person
Waymark Code: WM1619

N 49° 19.029 E 008° 26.577

32U E 459515 N 5462862
Location: Germany
Date Posted: 1/27/2007
Date of birth: 01/01/990
Date of death: 06/04/1039
Area of notoriety: Politics

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Conrad II (c. 990–June 4, 1039) was the son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, who inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty. As he matured he came to be well known beyond his power base in Worms and Speyer, so when the Saxon line died off and the elected monarchy for the German realm stood vacant, he was elected King of Germany in 1024 at the respectably old age of thirty-four years and crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on March 26, 1027, becoming the first of four kings and emperors of the Salian Dynasty.

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Konrad «Salieren» var konge av Tyskland 1024 - 1027 og Tysk-romersk keiser 1027 - 1039. Konrad ble 26.03.1027 kronet til keiser i Roma. Han måtte dempe tre opprør av sin stesønn, Ernst av Schwaben. I 1032 forenet han Burgund med riket og gjorde i 1037 de mindre len arvelige.

Han døde i Utrecht i 1039 og ble bisatt i Speier.

Salierslekten etterfulgte Liudolfingerslekten som konger av Tyskland og som tysk-romerske keisere fra 1024 til 1125. Slekten ble etterfulgt av Hohenstauferslekten.

Tekst: Tore Nygaard

Kilder: Erich Brandenburg: Die Nachkommen Karls des Grossen, Leipzig 1935. Allgemeine deutsche Biographie. Mogens Bugge: Våre forfedre, nr. 199. Bent og Vidar Billing Hansen: Rosensverdslektens forfedre, side 63, 91.

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BIOGRAPHY: b. c. 990 d. June 4, 1039, Utrecht, Ger., Holy Roman Empire German king (1024-39) and Holy Roman emperor (1027-39), founder of the Salian dynasty. During his reign, he proved that the German monarchy had become a viable institution. Since the survival of the monarchy was no longer primarily dependent on a compact between sovereign and territorial nobles, it was henceforth invulnerable to prolonged rebellion on their part. Conrad was the son of Count Henry of Speyer, who had been passed over in his inheritances in favour of a younger brother. Henry was descended, through the marriage of his great-grandfather Conrad the Red to a daughter of Emperor Otto, from the Saxon house. Left poor, Conrad was brought up by the Bishop of Worms and did not receive much of a formal education; but, conscious of the deprivations suffered by him and his father, he matured early. Prudent and firm, he often displayed great chivalry as well as a strong sense of justice, and he was determined to gain the status that fortune had denied him. In 1016 he married Gisela, the widowed duchess of Swabia and a descendant of Charlemagne. Conrad, however, was distantly related to Gisela. When strict canonists took exception to the marriage, Emperor Henry II, who was jealous of the growth of Conrad's personal influence, used their findings as an excuse for forcing Conrad into temporary exile. The two men later became reconciled, and, by the time Henry II died, in 1024, Conrad presented himself to the electoral assembly of the princes at Kamba on the Rhine as a candidate for the succession. After prolonged debates, the majority voted for him, and he was crowned king in Mainz on Sept. 8, 1024. Intelligent and genial, Conrad was also fortunate. Soon after his election, even the minority opposition was persuaded to pay their homage. Early in the following year, the sudden death of Boleslaw I the Brave of Poland, a tributary to the German monarchy who had styled himself an independent king, spared Conrad the necessity of military interference. In Germany a rebellion fomented by nobles and relatives of Conrad was joined by many lay princes of Lombardy; and, although the Italian bishops paid homage at a court in Constance in June 1025, the lay princes sought to elect William of Aquitaine as antiking. But, when the King of France refused his support, the rebellion collapsed. Early in 1026, Conrad was able to go to Milan, where Archbishop Ariberto crowned him king of Italy. After brief fighting, Conrad overcame the opposition of some towns and nobles and managed to reach Rome, where he was crowned emperor by Pope John XIX on Easter 1027. When a renewed rebellion in Germany forced him to return, he subdued the rebels and imposed severe penalties on them, not sparing members of his own family. Conrad not only showed strength and incorruptible justice in maintaining his power but also displayed enterprise in legislation. He formally confirmed the popular legal traditions of Saxony and issued a new set of feudal constitutions for Lombardy. On Easter Sunday 1028, at an imperial court in Aachen, he had his son Henry elected and anointed king. In 1036 Henry was married to Kunigunde, the daughter of King Canute of England. Eventually, he became inseparable from his father and acted as his chief counsellor. Thus, the succession was virtually assured, and the future of the new house looked bright. In the meantime, Conrad had been compelled, after all, to campaign against Poland in 1028. After severe fighting, Mieszko--Boleslaw's son and heir--was forced to make peace and surrender lands that Conrad's predecessor had lost. Even so, Conrad had to continue to campaign in the east, and in 1035 he subdued the heathen Liutitians. Although occupied intermittently in the east, Conrad was able to gain political triumphs in the west. Earlier, the childless king Rudolf of Burgundy had offered the succession to his crown to Emperor Henry II, who, however, died before Rudolf. Thus, when Rudolf died in 1032, he left his kingdom to Conrad over the opposition of the Burgundian princes, who two years later, on Aug. 1, 1034, paid homage to Conrad at Zürich. Although Conrad's relations with his son remained close, King Henry at times showed independent initiative. He once concluded a separate peace with King Stephen of Hungary and on another occasion gave his oath to Duke Adalbero of Carinthia never to side against him. Thus, when Conrad fell out with Adalbero in 1035, Henry's oath severely strained relations between father and son. Conrad managed to overcome his son's partisanship only by humbling himself before him. In the end, Conrad's determination prevailed, and Adalbero was duly punished. In 1036 Conrad appeared for a second time in Italy, where he proceeded with equal vigour against his old ally, Archbishop Aribert of Milan. Italy was rent by dissensions between the great princes, who, together with their vassals--the capitanei--had suppressed both knights and the burghers of the cities, the valvassores. Conrad upheld the rights of the valvassores, and, when Aribert, claiming to be the peer of the emperor, rejected Conrad's legislative interference, Conrad had him arrested. Aribert managed to escape, however, and succeeded in raising a rebellion in Milan. Through luck and skillful diplomacy, Conrad succeeded in isolating Aribert from his Lombard supporters as well as from his friends in Lorraine. Conrad was thus able to proceed in 1038 to southern Italy, where he installed friendly princes in Salerno and Anversa and appointed the German Richer as abbot of Monte Cassino. On his return to Germany the same year along the Adriatic coast, his army succumbed to a midsummer epidemic in which both his daughter-in-law and his stepson died. Conrad himself reached Germany safely and held several important courts in Solothurn (where his son Henry was invested with the kingdom of Burgundy), in Strassburg, and in Goslar. He fell ill during the following year (1039) and died.

BIOGRAPHY: (P.Mu.) Copyright © 1994-2001 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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Conrad II (c. 990–June 4, 1039) was the son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, who inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty. As he matured he came to be well known beyond his power base in Worms and Speyer, so when the Saxon line died off and the elected monarchy for the German realm stood vacant, he was elected King of Germany in 1024 at the respectably old age of thirty-four years and crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on March 26, 1027, becoming the first of four kings and emperors of the Salian Dynasty.

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Conrad II (c. 990 – June 4, 1039) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death.

The son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty. As he matured he came to be well known beyond his power base in Worms and Speyer, so when the Saxon line died off and the elected monarchy for the German realm stood vacant, he was elected King of Germany in 1024 at the respectably old age of thirty-four years and crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on March 26, 1027, becoming the first of four kings and emperors of the Salian Dynasty.

Contents

1. Early life
2. Politics
3. Last years
4. Depictions of Conrad II
5. Ancestry
6. See also
7. References

Early life

Salian family tree

During his reign, he proved that the German monarchy had become a viable institution. Survival of the monarchy was no longer dependent on contracts between sovereign and territorial nobles.

The father of Conrad II, Henry of Speyer was a grandson of Liutgarde, a daughter of the great Emperor Otto I who had married the Salian Duke Conrad the Red of Lorraine.

Despite his bloodline in that age when people died young and younger, the orphaned Conrad grew up poor by the standards of the nobility and was raised by Burchard, Bishop of Worms.

He was reputed to be prudent and firm out of consciousness of deprivation. In 1016, he married Gisela of Swabia, a widowed duchess. Both parties claimed descent from Charles the Great (Charlemagne) and were thus distantly related.

Strict canonists took exception to the marriage, and Emperor Henry II used this to force Conrad into temporary exile.

They became reconciled, and upon Henry's death in 1024, Conrad appeared as a candidate before the electoral assembly of princes at Kamba, an historical name for an area on the East banks of the river Rhine and opposite to the German town Oppenheim (Today the position of Kamba is marked by a small monument, which displays Conrad on a horse). He was elected by the majority and was crowned king in Mainz on September 8, 1024, arguably in the prime of life. It was equally obvious that the Saxon line of Emperors was at an end, and all of Europe speculated and maneuvered to influence the Prince-electors in unseemly disrespect for the aging Henry II. That same year, Conrad commissioned the construction of the Speyer Cathedral in Speyer which was started in 1030.

The Italian bishops paid homage at Conrad's court at Konstanz in June 1025, but lay princes sought to elect William V of Aquitaine, as king instead. However early in 1026 Conrad went to Milan, where Ariberto, archbishop of Milan, crowned him king of Italy. After overcoming some opposition of the towns Conrad reached Rome, where Pope John XIX crowned him emperor on Easter, 1027.

Politics

He formally confirmed the popular legal traditions of Saxony and issued new constitutions for Lombardy. In 1028 at Aachen he had his son Henry elected and anointed king of Germany. Henry married Gunhilda of Denmark, daughter of King Canute the Great of England, Denmark and Norway by Emma of Normandy. This was an arrangement that Conrad had made many years prior, when he gave Canute the Great parts of northern Germany to administer[citation needed]. Henry, the later Emperor Henry III, became chief counselor of his father.

Conrad campaigned unsuccessfully against Poland in 1028-1030, but in 1031 in a combined action with the Kievan Rus' forced King Mieszko II, son and heir of Bolesław I, to make peace and return the land that Bolesław had conquered from the Empire during Henry II's reign. Mieszko II was compelled to give up his royal title and for the remainder of his troubled rule became the Duke of Poland and Conrad's vassal.

In 1029 some Bavarian border conflicts undermined the good relations with Stephen I of Hungary. One year later Conrad launched a campaign against Hungary. The Hungarians successfully used the scorched earth tactics and the emperor had to withdraw with his army. Finally the Hungarian army forced him to surrender at Vienna. After his defeat Conrad was obliged to cede some border territory to Hungary.

When Rudolph III, King of Burgundy died on February 2, 1032, he bequeathed his kingdom, which combined two earlier kingdoms of Burgundy, to Conrad. Despite some opposition, the Burgundian and Provencal nobles paid homage to Conrad in Zürich in 1034. This kingdom of Burgundy, which under Conrad's successors would become known as the Kingdom of Arles, corresponded to most of the southeastern quarter of modern France and included western Switzerland, the Franche-Comté and Dauphiné. It did not include the smaller Duchy of Burgundy to the north, ruled by a cadet branch of the Capetian King of France. (Piecemeal over the next centuries most of the former Kingdom of Arles was incorporated into France - but King of Arles remained one of the Holy Roman Emperor's subsidiary titles until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.)

Conrad upheld the rights of the valvassores (knights and burghers of the cities) of Italy against Archbishop Aribert of Milan and the local nobles. The nobles as vassal lords and the bishop had conspired to rescind rights from the burghers. With skillful diplomacy and luck Conrad restored order.

The grave of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor at the crypt of the cathedral of Speyer, Germany.

Last years

In 1038, Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno requested his adjudication in a dispute over Capua with its Prince Pandulf, whom Conrad had released from imprisonment in 1024, immediately after his coronation. Hearing that Michael IV the Paphlagonian of the Byzantine Empire had received the same request, Conrad went to Southern Italy, to Salerno and Aversa.

He appointed Richer, from Germany, as abbot of Monte Cassino, the abbot Theobald being imprisoned by Pandulf. At Troia, he ordered Pandulf to restore stolen property to Monte Cassino. Pandulf sent his wife and son to ask for peace, giving 300 lb of gold and a son and daughter as hostages. The emperor accepted Pandulf's offer, but the hostage escaped and Pandulf holed up in his outlying castle of Sant'Agata de' Goti. Conrad besieged and took Capua and gave it to Guaimar with the title of Prince. He also recognised Aversa as a county of Salerno under Ranulf Drengot, the Norman adventurer. Pandulf, meanwhile, fled to Constantinople. Conrad thus left the Mezzogiorno firmly in Guaimar's hands and loyal, for once, to the Holy Roman Empire.

During the return trip to Germany an epidemic broke out among the troops. Conrad's daughter-in-law and stepson died. Conrad himself returned safely and held several important courts in Solothurn, Strasbourg and in Goslar. His son Henry was invested with the kingdom of Burgundy.

A year later in 1039 Conrad fell ill and died of gout in Utrecht. His heart and bowels are buried at the Cathedral of Saint Martin, Utrecht. His body was transferred to Speyer via Cologne, Mainz and Worms, where the funeral procession made stops. His body is buried at Speyer Cathedral, which was still under construction at this time. During a major excavation in 1900 his sarcophagus was relocated from his original resting place in front of the altar to the crypt, where it is still visible today along with those of seven of his successors.

A biography of Conrad II in chronicle form, Gesta Chuonradi II imperatoris, was written by his chaplain Wipo of Burgundy, and presented to Henry III in 1046, not long after the latter was crowned.

Depictions of Conrad II

The Basilica of Aquileia (northern Italy) contains an apse fresco (c. 1031) showing emperor Conrad II, his wife Gisela of Swabia and Patriarch Poppone of Aquileia.

Ancestors of Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor

16. Werner V, Count of the Nahegau
8. Conrad, Duke of Lorraine
17. Hicha of Swabia
4. Otto I, Duke of Carinthia
18. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
9. Liutgarde of Saxony
19. Edith of England
2. Henry of Speyer
20. Arnulf, Duke of Bavaria
10. Heinrich of Bavaria
21. Judith of Friuli or Sulichgau
5. Judith of Bavaria
1. Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
24. Gottfried of the Jülichgau, Counts Palatine of Lotharingia
12. Gerhard, Count of Metz
25. Ermentrude of France
6. Richard, Count of Metz or Gerhard of Metz
3. Adelaide of Metz

See also

Kings of Germany family tree. He was related to every other king of Germany.

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Kung av Tyskland från 1024, tysk–romersk kejsare från 1027, den förste härskaren av den saliska ätten. Konrad utsattes för flera uppror, som han dock lyckades bemästra genom att med stor politisk skicklighet spela ut de mindre vasallerna mot stamhertigar och kyrkofurstar. Också utåt hävdade Konrad på det hela taget framgångsrikt riksintressena. Enligt tidigare fördrag förvärvade han Burgund. Slesvigfrågan reglerades genom överenskommelse med Knut den store, som också var närvarande vid Konrads kejsarkröning. Konrads kraftfulla hävdande av kungamakten lade en god grund för hans son och efterträdare Henrik III.

Källa: Nationalencyklopedin.

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Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Conrad II (c. 990–June 4, 1039) was the son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, who inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty. As he matured he came to be well known beyond his power base in Worms and Speyer, so when the Saxon line died off and the elected monarchy for the German realm stood vacant, he was elected King of Germany in 1024 at the respectably old age of thirty-four years and crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on March 26, 1027, becoming the first of four kings and emperors of the Salian Dynasty.

Early life

During his reign, he proved that the German monarchy had become a viable institution. Survival of the monarchy was no longer dependent on contracts between sovereign and territorial nobles.

The father of Conrad II, Henry, Count of Speyer was a grandson of Luitgard, a daughter of the great Emperor Otto I who had married the Salian Duke Conrad the Red of Lorraine.

Despite his bloodline in that age when people died young and younger, the orphaned Conrad grew up poor by the standards of the nobility and was raised by the bishop of Worms.

He was reputed to be prudent and firm out of consciousness of deprivation. In 1016, he married Gisela of Swabia, a widowed duchess. Both parties claimed descent from Charles the Great (Charlemagne) and were thus distantly related.

Strict canonists took exception to the marriage, and Emperor Henry II used this to force Conrad into temporary exile.

They became reconciled, and upon Henry's death in 1024, Conrad appeared as a candidate before the electoral assembly of princes at Kamba in the Rhineland. He was elected by the majority and was crowned king in Mainz on September 8, 1024, arguably in the prime of life. It was equally obvious that the Saxon line of Emperors was at an end, and all of Europe speculated and maneuvered to influence the Prince-electors in unseemly disrespect for the aging Henry II

The Italian bishops paid homage at Conrad's court at Konstanz in June 1025, but lay princes sought to elect William V of Aquitaine, as king instead. However early in 1026 Conrad went to Milan, where Ariberto, archbishop of Milan, crowned him king of Italy. After overcoming some opposition of the towns Conrad reached Rome, where Pope John XIX crowned him emperor on Easter, 1027.

[edit]Politics

He formally confirmed the popular legal traditions of Saxony and issued new constitutions for Lombardy. In 1028 at Aachen he had his son Henry elected and anointed king of Germany. Henry married Gunhilda of Denmark, daughter of King Canute the Great of England, Denmark and Norway by Emma of Normandy. This was an arrangement that Conrad had made many years prior, when he gave Canute the Great parts of northern Germany to administer[citation needed]. Henry, the later Emperor Henry III, became chief counselor of his father.

Conrad campaigned against Poland in 1028 and forced Mieszko II, son and heir of Boleslaus I, to make peace and return land that Boleslaw I had conquered from the Empire during his father's reign. At the death of Henry II the bold and rebellious Duke of Poland Mieszko II had tried to throw off vassalage, but then submitted and swore to be Emperor Conrad's faithful vassal. Mieszko II quit being self-anointed king and returned to being duke of Poland.

In 1029 some Bavarian border conflicts undermined the good relations with Stephen I of Hungary. One year later Conrad launched a campaign against Hungary. The Hungarians successfully used the scorched earth tactics and the emperor had to withdraw with his army. Finally the Hungarian army forced him to surrender at Vienna. After his defeat Conrad was obliged to cede some border territory to Hungary.

When Rudolph III, King of Burgundy died on February 2, 1032, he bequeathed his kingdom, which combined two earlier kingdoms of Burgundy, to Conrad. Despite some opposition, the Burgundian and Provencal nobles paid homage to Conrad in Zürich in 1034. This kingdom of Burgundy, which under Conrad's successors would become known as the Kingdom of Arles, corresponded to most of the southeastern quarter of modern France and included western Switzerland, the Franche-Comté and Dauphiné. It did not include the smaller Duchy of Burgundy to the north, ruled by a cadet branch of the Capetian King of France. (Piecemeal over the next centuries most of the former Kingdom of Arles was incorporated into France - but King of Arles remained one of the Holy Roman Emperor's subsidiary titles until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806.)

Conrad upheld the rights of the valvassores (knights and burghers of the cities) of Italy against Archbishop Aribert of Milan and the local nobles. The nobles as vassal lords and the bishop had conspired to rescind rights from the burghers. With skillful diplomacy and luck Conrad restored order.

Last years

In 1038, Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno requested his adjudication in a dispute over Capua with its Prince Pandulf, whom Conrad had released from imprisonment in 1024, immediately after his coronation. Hearing that Michael IV the Paphlagonian of the Byzantine Empire had received the same request, Conrad went to Southern Italy, to Salerno and Aversa.

He appointed Richer, from Germany, as abbot of Monte Cassino, the abbot Theobald being imprisoned by Pandulf. At Troia, he ordered Pandulf to restore stolen property to Monte Cassino. Pandulf sent his wife and son to ask for peace, giving 300 lb of gold and a son and daughter as hostages. The emperor accepted Pandulf's offer, but the hostage escaped and Pandulf holed up in his outlying castle of Sant'Agata dei Goti. Conrad besieged and took Capua and gave it to Guaimar with the title of Prince. He also recognised Aversa as a county of Salerno under Ranulf Drengot, the Norman adventurer. Pandulf, meanwhile, fled to Constantinople. Conrad thus left the Mezzogiorno firmly in Guaimar's hands and loyal, for once, to the Holy Roman Empire.

During the return trip to Germany an epidemic broke out among the troops. Conrad's daughter-in-law and stepson died. Conrad himself returned safely and held several important courts in Solothurn, Strasbourg and in Goslar. His son Henry was invested with the kingdom of Burgundy.

A year later in 1039 Conrad fell ill and died in Utrecht.

A biography of Conrad II in chronicle form, Gesta Chuonradi II imperatoris, was written by his chaplain Wipo of Burgundy, and presented to Henry III in 1046, not long after the latter was crowned.

[edit]Depictions of Conrad II

The Basilica of Aquileia (northern Italy) contains an apse fresco (c. 1031) showing emperor Conrad II, his wife Gisela of Swabia and Patriarch Poppone of Aquileia.

[edit]References

Halliday, Andrew (1826). Annals of the House of Hannover. at Google Books

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

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Koenraad II de Saliër

Uit Wikipedia, de vrije encyclopedie

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koenraad_II_de_Sali%C3%ABr

Koenraad II (rond 990 – Utrecht, 4 juni 1039) was de zoon van Hendrik van Spiers en Adelheid van Elzas. In 1024 werd hij gekozen tot koning en in 1027 gekroond tot keizer van het Heilige Roomse Rijk, waarmee hij de eerste Salische Keizer werd.

Koenraad werd opgevoed door de bisschop van Worms, in bescheiden omstandigheden (voor een edelman). Hij trouwde Gizela van Zwaben, die net als Koenraad beweerde een afstammeling te zijn van Karel de Grote. Keizer Hendrik II zag dit als een aanleiding om Koenraad in de ban te doen, maar dit duurde niet lang en in 1024 was Koenraad kandidaat om Hendrik op te volgen als koning van Duitsland. Op 8 september werd hij in Mainz gekroond.

In 1027 werd hij, ondanks weerstand van enkele prinsen, in Rome door paus Johannes XIX gekroond tot Keizer van het Heilige Roomse Rijk.

In deze periode gaf hij opdracht om in Nijmegen, op de restanten van de palts van Karel de Grote, de Sint-Nicolaaskapel te bouwen.

Hij continueerde het beleid van de Ottonen op het gebied van godsdienst met een voortzetting van de Rijkskerk. Hij maakte ook nog steeds gebruik van ministerialen en zorgde voor territoriale uitbreiding. In het westen veroverde hij in 1033 Bourgondië en in het oosten zorgde de Drang nach Osten voor een verder oprukkende kerstening en kolonisatie.

In 1039 stierf Koenraad in Utrecht aan een aanval van jicht. Zijn ingewanden werden in de Dom van Utrecht bijgezet, mogelijk heeft om die reden zijn zoon een vermoedelijk kerkenkruis daaromheen gebouwd. Zijn stoffelijk overschot werd overgedragen en bijgezet in de Dom van Spiers.

Hij was gehuwd met Gizela van Zwaben (995-1043), dochter van Herman II van Zwaben, en was de vader van:

1. Hendrik III (1017-1056)
2. Beatrix
3. Mathildis (1027-1044), die zich in 1043 verloofde met koning Hendrik I van Frankrijk (-1060).

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http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/GERMANY,%20Kings.htm#KonradIIGerman...

KONRAD of Franconia, son of HEINRICH Graf [im Wormsgau] & his wife Adelheid [Matfriede] ([990]-Utrecht 4 Jun 1039, bur Speyer cathedral).  "Heinricus…Romanorum imperator augustus" renewed the privileges of Kloster Fulda by undated charter, placed in the compilation with other charters dated 1020, witnessed by "Godifridi ducis, Berinhardi ducis, Thiederici ducis, Welphonis comitis, Cunonis comitis, Kunrati comitis, Ottonis comitis, Adilbrahtis comitis, Bobonis comitis, Friderici comitis, Bezilini comitis, Ezonis comitis palatini"[337], the order of witnesses presumably giving some idea of the relative importance of these named nobles at the court of Emperor Heinrich II at the time.  Herimannus names "Counradus senior, filius Heinrici et Adalheidæ" when recording his candidacy to succeed as king of Germany in 1024[338].  Thietmar names "Konrad who had illegally married his own cousin, the widow of Duke Ernst" when recording that he was wounded when Gerhard Graf von Metz (his maternal uncle) met Godefroi II Duke of Lower Lotharingia for "a judicial duel" 27 Aug 1017[339].  Wipo, in his description of the election of Konrad II King of Germany in 1024, calls him "Cuono of Worms Duke of the Franks" and "Cuono the Younger"[340].  He was elected as KONRAD II King of Germany at Chamba, Rheingau 4 Sep 1024, crowned at Mainz 8 Sep 1024.  Crowned King of Italy at Milan in Mar 1026.  Crowned Emperor KONRAD I at Rome 26 Mar 1027.  Rudolf III King of Burgundy in 1032 bequeathed his kingdom to Emperor Konrad, who was crowned king of Burgundy at Payerne 2 Feb 1033[341].  Konrad's succession in Burgundy was challenged by his wife's first cousin Eudes II Comte de Blois, with support from Géraud Comte de Genève, but he consolidated his position by 1037 when he proclaimed a law which established the basis for the inheritance of titles and offices in the kingdom[342].  Founded Kloster Limburg 1024-1032.  The necrology of Prüm records the death "II Non Iun" of "Cuonradus imperator"[343].  The Annales Spirenses record his burial at Speyer[344]. 
m ([31 May 1015/Jan 1017]) as her third husband, GISELA of Swabia, widow firstly of BRUNO Graf [von Braunschweig], secondly of ERNST Duke of Swabia [Babenberg], daughter of HERMANN II Duke of Swabia & his wife Gerberga of Upper Burgundy (11 Nov 990-Goslar 15 Feb 1043, bur Speyer cathedral).  The Annalista Saxo names her three husbands, although the order of her first and second marriages is interchanged which appears impossible chronologically[345].  She was crowned Queen of Germany at Köln 21 Sep 1024.  Crowned empress, with her husband, at Rome 26 Mar 1027.  The Annalista Saxo records the death of "Gisla imperatrix mater Heinrici regis" on "XVI Kal Martii" and her burial at Speyer[346].  The necrology of St Gall records the death "XV Kal Feb" of "Gisila imperatrix"[347].  Herimannus records her death at Goslar[348].  The Annales Spirenses record the burial at Speyer of "Heinricus senior [=Heinricus IV] et aviam suam"[349], the latter assumed to be his paternal grandmother Gisela rather than his maternal grandmother.  Emperor Konrad & his wife had three children: 

• 1.         HEINRICH (Oosterbecke [Ostrebeck] 28 Oct 1017-Burg Bodfeld im Harz 5 Oct 1056, bur Speyer Cathedral).  "Cunradus…Romanorum imperator augustus" granted property to the church of Paderborn by charter dated 7 Apr 1027, naming for the first time "filii nostri Heinrici"[350].  He was crowned as HEINRICH III King of Germany at Aachen 14 Apr 1028 and crowned Emperor HEINRICH II at Rome 25 Dec 1046.   -        see below. 
• 2.         BEATRIX (-24 Sep 1036).  "Chuonradus…Romanorum imperator augustus" donated property to the church of Worms with "filii nostri Heinrici Regis, filie quoque nostre Beatricis" for the souls of "parentum nostrorum defunctorum atavi nostri ducis Chuonradi, avie nostre Iudithe, patris nostri Heinrici, patrui nostri ducis Chuonradi eiusque coniugis Mathildis, sororis etiam nostre Iudithe" by charter dated 30 Jan 1034[351].  The necrology of Merseburg records the death "24 Sep" of "Beatrix filia Cuonradi imperatoris"[352].  "Chuonradus…Romanorum imperator augustus" donated property to Kloster Quedlinburg "pro remedio animæ filiæ nostræ Beatricis" by charter dated 25 Oct 1036[353]. 
• 3.         MATHILDE ([Oosterbecke] 1027[354]-Worms 1034 [after 30 Jan], bur Worms Cathedral).  Wipo names "filia imperatoris Chuonradi et Giselæ, Mahthilda" when recording her death and burial at Worms in 1034, specifying that she was betrothed to "Heinrico regi Francorum"[355].  Her marriage was arranged to confirm a peace compact agreed between Henri I King of France and Emperor Konrad at Deville in May 1033[356].  Her absence from the list of deceased relatives in the donation of "Chuonradus…Romanorum imperator augustus" to the church of Worms by charter dated 30 Jan 1034 suggests that Mathilde died after that date, while her absence from the list of the children of Emperor Konrad named in the same charter is explainable on the basis of her youth[357].  Betrothed (May 1033) to HENRI I King of France, son of ROBERT II " le Pieux" King of France & his third wife Constance d'Arles [Provence] ([end 1009/May 1010]-Palais de Vitry-aux-Loges, forêt d’Orléans, Loiret 4 Aug 1060, bur église de l'Abbaye royale de Saint-Denis). 

References

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