Conrad of Hohenstaufen ( – 8 November 1195) was the first hereditary
Count Palatine of the Rhine.
His parents were
Frederick II of Swabia (1090–1147), Duke of
Swabia
Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...
, and his second wife Agnes of Saarbrücken, daughter of
Frederick, Count of Saarbrücken
Frederick, Count of Saarbrücken (died 1135) was a German nobleman. He was the first to style himself '' Count of Saarbrücken''.
Life
His father, Siegbert, was a count in the Saargau; his mother may have been a daughter of the Lord of Eppenste ...
. Young Conrad, the only half-brother of
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
, received the family's possessions around Franconia and Rhineland, particularly those of his mother's ancestry.
In 1156 on the occasion of the ''
Reichstag'' at
Worms, Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
conferred upon his half-brother the dignity of ''
Pfalzgraf'' (Count Palatine, of the Rhine), as well as the ''
Vogtei'' of
Schönau Abbey and of the
chapter of Worms Cathedral, besides the Staufen family estates in the regions of
Speyer and Worms. From about 1160 Conrad was married to Irmengard of
Henneberg (d. 1197) as his second wife, daughter of Count Bertold I of
Henneberg, ''
Burggraf'' of
Würzburg. This brought him the possession of the ''Vogtei'' of
Lorsch Abbey. His endeavours to extend his area of influence brought him into conflict with the Bishops of
Trier and
Cologne.
Conrad and both his wives were buried in Schönau Abbey near
Heidelberg. His two sons did not survive to continue the family. His inheritance passed to his daughter
Agnes and her husband
Henry V, of the House of Brunswick. (Their heiress would, in turn, pass the inheritance to the
Wittelsbach dynasty who thereby became the well-known lords of the
Palatinate and Electors Palatine.)
Personal life
Conrad married firstly a daughter, whose name is not known, of Count
Gottfried I of Sponheim, who probably died in 1159 or 1160 and was buried in Schönau Abbey. They had:
*
Gottfried of Staufen (died probably in 1187 or 1188)
He married secondly
Irmengard of Henneberg, by whom he had three children:
* Frederick (died 3 September before 1189)
* Conrad (died probably in 1186), buried in Schönau Abbey
*
Agnes (died 9 May 1204), buried in St. Marien in
Stade
Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...
; married late 1193 at
Burg Stahleck Henry V, Duke of Brunswick (died 28 April 1227), Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1195 to 1212
References
Sources
*
External links
*
genealogie-mittelalter.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad of Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen
1130s births
1195 deaths
Burials at Schönau Abbey
Counts Palatine of the Rhine