Werner V (c. 899 – c. 935) was a

Rhenish Franconia Rhenish Franconia (german: Rheinfranken) or Western Franconia () denotes the western half of the central German stem duchy of Franconia in the 10th and 11th century, with its residence at the city of Worms. The territory located on the banks of Rh ...

n count in the

Nahegau The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Worms ...

Speyergau Speyergau was a medieval county in the East Frankish ( German) stem duchy of Franconia. It was centred around the administrative centre of Speyer and roughly covered the former Roman administrative area of Civitas Nemetum, which is today the south- ...

and

Wormsgau The Wormsgau ( la, pagus wormatiensis) was a medieval Gau (territory), county in the East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) stem duchy of Duchy of Franconia, Franconia, comprising the surroundings of the city of Worms, Germany, Wo ...

. He is one of the earliest documented ancestors of the

Salian dynasty The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125). After the death of the la ...

that provided

German kings This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the collapse of the German Empir ...

and emperors of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

from 1024 to 1125. Werner's origins have not been conclusively established: his ancestor presumably was Werner IV (also called ''Walaho''), who appeared as a count in the Wormsgau about 840 and was married to Oda, a daughter of the

Robertian The Robertians (sometimes called the Robertines in modern scholarship) are the proposed Frankish family which was ancestral to the Capetian dynasty, and thus to the royal families of France and of many other countries. The Capetians appear first ...

count

Robert III of Worms Robert III (800–834), also called Rutpert, was the Count of Worms and Rheingau of a noble Frankish family called the Robertians. It has been proposed that he was the son of Robert of Hesbaye. Biography By his wife, Waldrada, he had, Robert th ...

. He inherited the Worms estates, after Oda's brother,

Robert the Strong Robert the Strong (french: Robert le Fort; c. 830 – 866) was the father of two kings of West Francia: Odo (or Eudes) and Robert I of France. His family is named after him and called the Robertians. In 853, he was named ''missus dominicus'' ...

, left his home and rose to power in

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

. His daughter Wiltrud married the

Conradine The Conradines or Conradiner were a dynasty of Franconian counts and dukes in the 8th to 11th Century, named after Duke Conrad, Duke of Thuringia, Conrad the Elder and his son King Conrad I of Germany. History The family is first mentioned in 83 ...

noble Eberhard (d. 902/03), a count in the

Niederlahngau The Lahngau was a medieval territory comprising the middle and lower Lahn River valley in the current German states of Hesse and (partially) Rhineland-Palatinate. The traditional names of the Gau are ''Loganahe Pagus'' or ''Pagus Logenensis''. The ...

and brother of Conrad the Elder; she thereby became the aunt of future king

Conrad I of Germany Conrad I (; c. 881 – 23 December 918), called the Younger, was the king of East Francia from 911 to 918. He was the first king not of the Carolingian dynasty, the first to be elected by the nobility and the first to be anointed. He was chosen as ...

. Werner V first appeared as a count in 906; as he was related to the most powerful Franconian dynasties, he quickly assumed a leading position in the

stem duchy A stem duchy (german: Stammesherzogtum, from '' Stamm'', meaning "tribe", in reference to the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians and Swabians) was a constituent duchy of the German Empire at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty (death o ...

, particularly after Conrad I had become duke and was elected king in 911. According to the contemporary chronicles by

Flodoard Flodoard of Reims (; 893/4 – 28 March 966) was a Frankish chronicler and priest of the cathedral church of Reims in the West Frankish kingdom during the decades following the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire. His historical writings are m ...

, he had the

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

ecclesiastical lands in the Palatinate confiscated and the

Bishop of Speyer The Bishop of Speyer is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer, which is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Bamberg.Burchard II of Swabia and his wife Regilinde of Zurich. Their only son was

Conrad the Red Conrad ( – 10 August 955), called the Red (german: Konrad der Rote), was Duke of Lorraine from 944 until 953. He became the progenitor of the Imperial Salian dynasty. Life He was the son of Werner V (died about 935), a Franconian count in the ...

, who was appointed

Duke of Lotharingia The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of t ...

in 944.

Further reading