Hermann III (c.994/995 - April 1, 1012) was a member of the
Conradine dynasty. He was
Duke of Swabia
The Dukes of Swabia were the rulers of the Duchy of Swabia during the Middle Ages. Swabia was one of the five stem duchy, stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most no ...
from 1003 until 1012.
Life
Hermann was the son of
Herman II, Duke of Swabia and his wife
Gerberga of Burgundy, daughter of
Conrad I of Burgundy. He had many illustrious relatives. Through his father, Hermann was descended from
Henry the Fowler; through his mother from
Louis IV of France,
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...
and
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
. Hermann's sister,
Gisela of Swabia, married
Emperor Conrad II.
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 (), from Treaty of Verdun, the division of the Francia, Frankish Empire in 843 and Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in ...
,
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,
Breisach and
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
), and replaced the ducal mint with a royal mint. He separated
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
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 II selected
Ernest
Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie.
Notable people and fictional characters with the name include:
People
*Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), ...
to succeed him; two years later, Ernest married Hermann's sister
Gisela of Swabia.
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 monarchs
Conradines
Year of birth unknown
Year of birth uncertain
Dukes of the Holy Roman Empire
{{Germany-duke-stub