Gebhard III, called Gebhard ''of Franconia'' or ''von Hohenlohe'', was the

bishop of Regensburg The Bishops of Regensburg (Ratisbon) are bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany.

(or Ratisbon) from 1036 to 2 December 1060. He succeeded Gebhard II. As the son of

Adelaide of Metz Adelaide of Metz (970 – 19 May 1046) was a French noblewoman. Adelaide was born in 970 in Egisheim. She was a member of the Matfriding dynasty, descending from Matfrid. Her parents are unknown but she was a sister of Adalbert and Gerhard. She ...

, he was an uncle of the

Emperor Henry III Henry III (28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. Henry was raised by ...

and an ally of the emperor in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, where he fell into conflict with the Duke Conrad I. Gebhard came from the Frankish noble family of the Hohenlohe and was a stepbrother of Kaiser Konrad II through his mother (of whom he was a son of her second marriage). It was said that their relationship was neither openly hostile, nor particularly warm. It was Gebhard who, as bishop, recommended the young Gebhard be appointed to the vacant see of Eichstädt. This younger Gebhard would later be

Pope Victor II Pope Victor II (c. 1018 – 28 July 1057), born Gebhard of Dollnstein-Hirschberg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 April 1055 until his death in 1057. Victor II was one of a series of German-born popes w ...

. Henry also showed his favour to the Bavarian see with the grant to Gebhard of the

abbey of Kempten The Princely Abbey of Kempten (german: Fürststift Kempten or Fürstabtei Kempten) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries until it was annexed to the Electorate of Bavaria in the course of the German mediatizatio ...

. During his episcopate likewise were founded the collegiate chapter of

Öhringen Öhringen (East Franconian: ''Ähringe'') is the largest town in Hohenlohe (district) in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany, near Heilbronn. Öhringen is on the railline to Schwäbisch Hall and Crailsheim. With a population o ...

and the

Geisenfeld convent Geisenfeld Abbey (german: Kloster Geisenfeld) was a convent in Bavaria, Germany, in the town of Geisenfeld. It was founded in 1037 and dissolved in 1804. At one time it was one of the most prosperous convents in Bavaria. Foundation Count Eberhar ...

. When Henry III was on his deathbed in 1056, he appointed Gebhard, Gotebald, and

to determine the regency for his young son Henry IV. On his death, Gebhard was succeeded by Otto of Ritenberg. He was buried in Öhringen Abbey (founded by him and his mother Adelheid in 1037).

References

11th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bavaria 1060 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of Regensburg Year of birth unknown {{Germany-RC-bishop-stub