Hermann III (c.994/995 - April 1, 1012) was a member of the Conradine dynasty. He was Duke of Swabia from 1003 until 1012.

Life

Hermann was the son of

Herman II, Duke of Swabia Herman II (also ''Hermann'') (died 4 May 1003) was a member of the Conradine dynasty. He was Duke of Swabia from 997 to his death. In 1002, Herman unsuccessfully attempted to become king of Germany. Life Herman II was the son of Conrad I. There ...

and his wife

Gerberga of Burgundy Gerberga of Burgundy (c. 965/966 – 7 July 1018/1019) was a member of the Elder House of Welf. She was married firstly to Herman I, count of Werl and secondly to Herman II, Duke of Swabia. Life and Issue Gerberga was born in Arles. She was the ...

, daughter of

Conrad I of Burgundy Conrad I, called the Peaceful (french: Conrad le Pacifique; german: Konrad der Friedfertige; – 19 October 993), a member of the Elder House of Welf, was King of Burgundy from 937 until his death. Life He was the son of King Rudolph II, the fi ...

. He had many illustrious relatives. Through his father, Hermann was descended from Henry the Fowler; through his mother from

Louis IV of France Louis IV (September 920 / September 921 – 10 September 954), called ''d'Outremer'' or ''Transmarinus'' (both meaning "from overseas"), reigned as King of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son of ...

, Alfred the Great and

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

. Hermann's sister,

Gisela of Swabia Gisela of Swabia ( 990 – 15 February 1043), was queen of Germany from 1024 to 1039 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with Emperor Conrad II. She was the mother of Emperor Henry III. She was regent of ...

, married

Emperor 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 ...

Inheritance and regency

In 1003, when Hermann was about nine years old, his father died and Hermann inherited the duchy of Swabia. Since he was a minor, Hermann's reign as duke was effectively controlled by his cousin, the

King of Germany 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 Emp ...

, Henry II, who was his guardian. Henry II was mistrustful of the Conradines. Herman III's father, Herman II, had opposed the election of Henry II as king of Germany in 1002, and promoted himself as a rival candidate for the throne. Henry II thus used his position as Hermann's guardian to limit the power of the dukes of Swabia. He took control of key places in Swabia himself (including

Hohentwiel Hohentwiel is an extinct volcano in the Hegau region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany The mountain is west of the city of Singen and 20 miles (30 km) from Lake Constance. Hohentwiel began forming, along with the chain of vol ...

Breisach Breisach (formerly Altbreisach; Low Alemannic: ''Alt-Brisach'') is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about halfway ...

and

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

), and replaced the ducal mint with a royal mint. He separated

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

from the duchy of Swabia and gave control of Alsace to one of his relatives, Count Gerhard.Weinfurter, ''Heinrich II'', p. 63. Henry's control over Swabia was still present when Hermann died, aged about eighteen, in 1012. Hermann III did not marry and had no heirs. The male line of the Conradines of Swabia came to an end with his death. Henry III selected

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People * Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor * Ernest, ...

to succeed him; two years later, Ernest married Hermann's sister

Notes

Sources

* *S.Weinfurter, ''Heinrich II. (1002-1024) Herrscher am Ende der Zeiten'' *

External links

Hermann III, Herzog von Schwaben
(in German) 1012 deaths Dukes of Swabia Medieval child rulers Conradines Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain {{Germany-duke-stub