Conrad I (died 18 February 1159) was the

Duke of Merania The Duchy of Merania, it, Ducato di Merania, sl, Vojvodina Meranija, hr, Vojvodina Meranije was a fiefdom of the Holy Roman Empire from 1152 until 1248. The dukes of Merania were recognised as princes of the Empire enjoying imperial immediacy ...

from 1152 until his death. Thitherto he had been the

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

of St Andreas at

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Is ...

since 1150 and Count of Dachau (as Conrad II) from 1152.

Origin

Conrad was the elder of two sons of , a member of the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

. His younger brother was Arnold III of Dachau. Their father Conrad I of Dachau was a son of Arnold I of

Scheyern Scheyern is a municipality in the district of Pfaffenhofen in Bavaria in Germany. The Scheyern Abbey Scheyern Abbey, formerly also Scheyern Priory (german: Kloster Scheyern), is a house of the Benedictine Order in Scheyern in Bavaria. First ...

, who was the youngest son of

Otto I, Count of Scheyern Otto I, Count of Scheyern (some authors call him ''Otto II of Scheyern''; – before 4 December 1072) was the earliest known ancestor of the House of Wittelsbach whose relation with the House can be properly verified. Life Most historians b ...

Life

Conrad inherited Dachau from his father and lands in Dalmatia which had formerly been the

March of Carniola The March (or Margraviate) of Carniola ( sl, Kranjska krajina; german: Mark Krain) was a southeastern Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages, the predecessor of the Duchy of Carniola. It corresponded roughly to the c ...

from his mother, Willibirg, who had inherited them from Adelaide, daughter of

Poppo II of Carniola Poppo II (died 1098), Count of Weimar-Orlamünde, was margrave of Carniola from 1070 and of Istria from 1096 to his death. Life Poppo was the son of Margrave Ulric I of Carniola, whom he succeeded upon his death in 1070. His mother Sophia was a ...

. Conrad married Adelaide, daughter of

Henry, Duke of Lower Lorraine Henry I ( – c. 1119) was the count of Limburg and Arlon from 1082 to his death and duke of Lower Lorraine between 1101 and 1106. His mother was Jutta, daughter of Frederick, Duke of Lower Lorraine, and his father is uncertain, but possibly nam ...

, sometime before 1140. They had no children and Conrad remarried after her death (before 1146). His second wife, Matilda of Falkenstein, gave him one son,

Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

, who inherited Merania and, in 1172, Dachau. Conrad was in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

in February 1152, when King Conrad III died there. In late June or early July 1152, the

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

granted Conrad the title of duke for his lands around the

Kvarner Gulf The Kvarner Gulf (, or , la, Sinus Flanaticus or ), sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal wa ...

, possibly as a reward for helping Frederick secure the throne after the king's death. He used the title ''dux Meranus'' to refer to his coastal territory, but Bishop Otto I of Freising, in his history of Frederick's reign, calls him "Duke of Dalmatia and Croatia". He was also sometimes called "Duke of Dachau", but he was still officially a count there.Benjamin Arnold (1991), ''Princes and Territories in Medieval Germany'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). In 1156, Conrad gave Dachau to his younger brother Arnold. Conrad died in battle at

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

and was buried in

References

External links

{{Authority control 1159 deaths Dukes of Merania Military personnel killed in action Year of birth unknown House of Wittelsbach