Conrad (died 27 February 906), called the Old or the Elder, was the Duke of Thuringia briefly in 892–93. He was the namesake of the Conradiner family and son of Udo of Neustria. His mother (probably) was a daughter of Conrad I of Logenahe (832–860). He was the count of the Oberlahngau (886), Hessengau (897), (903),

Wetterau The Wetterau (, ) is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter (river), Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda (river), Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mounta ...

(905), and

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

gau (906). He united all of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

under his political control and under his heirs this territory became the

Duchy of Franconia The Duchy of Franconia () was one of the five stem duchies of East Francia and the medieval Kingdom of Germany emerging in the early 10th century. The word Franconia, first used in a Latin charter of 1053, was applied like the words Francia, Fr ...

. Early in his career, Conrad feuded with the Babenbergs Henry of Franconia and Adalbert. Conrad's chief residence was Friedeslar in

. He was a ''

comes ''Comes'' (plural ''comites''), translated as count, was a Roman title, generally linked to a comitatus or comital office. The word ''comes'' originally meant "companion" or "follower", deriving from "''com-''" ("with") and "''ire''" ("go"). Th ...

'' (count) and ''

ministerialis The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and ...

'' of Arnulf of Germany in 891. In 892, Duke Poppo was deposed from his offices and replaced in Thuringia and the Sorbian March by Conrad. He only held the dukedom briefly before he was replaced by Burchard. The reason for his appointment probably represent a change in Arnulf's policy in favour of the Conradines over the Babenbergs; but Conrad's short tenure may reflect his lack of support in Thuringia or an unwillingness on his part to be confined there.Reuter, ''Germany'', 123. Around 880, Conrad married Glismod (also spelled Glismuot or Glismut). She may have been a daughter of

Arnulf of Carinthia Arnulf of Carinthia ( – 8 December 899) was the duke of Carinthia who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia from 887, the disputed king of Italy from 894, and the disputed Holy Roman Emperor, ...

, or else a relative of the earlier Thuringian dukes (perhaps a daughter of Thachulf), thus giving her husband a hereditary claim to Thuringia. They had four children: Conrad the Younger, the future king of Germany; Eberhard, future duke of Franconia; Otto (also Udo or Odo), future count in the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

gau and the middle

Lahn The Lahn () is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the States of Germany, federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). ...

, who died in 918; and a daughter, name unknown. In 906, as a result of a feud with the Babenbergs, Conrad was killed in battle near

Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the Schwalm-Eder-Kreis, Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. The town has a medieval center ringed by a wall with numerous watch towers. high ...

and was buried in the church of Saint Martin at Weilburg. His eldest son was also old enough to participate in this war. His widow, Glismod, died in 26 April 924 and was buried next to him.

Sources

* Reuter, Timothy. ''Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056''. New York: Longman, 1991. *Reuter, Timothy (trans.)
The Annals of Fulda
'. (Manchester Medieval series, Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II.) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992. *Bernhardt, John W. ''Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, c. 936–1075''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Notes

{{Authority control Dukes of Thuringia Military personnel killed in action Conradines 10th-century dukes in Europe 9th-century dukes in Europe 9th-century births 906 deaths Year of birth unknown