Conradines

"Conradine" redirects here. For the Hohenstaufen prince, seeConradin.

Conradines
Country	East Francia, Kingdom of Germany
Founded	9th century -Gebhard, Count of the Lahngau
Titles	King of Germany Duke of Franconia Duke of Lotharingia Duke of Swabia
Dissolution	1012 -Herman III, Duke of Swabiadied without issue
Cadet branches	Salian dynasty

TheConradinesorConradinerwere a dynasty ofFranconiancounts and dukes in the 8th to 11th Century, named after DukeConrad the Elderand his son KingConrad I of Germany.

History

The family is first mentioned in 832, withCount Gebhardin the lowerLahnregion. His sons are mentioned in 861 aspropinqui(close relatives) ofAdalard the Seneschal,who had servedLouis the Pious.But the clan's rise to prominence began with Oda, wife of EmperorArnulf of Carinthia,who was a member of the family. In view of his family relationship with Oda, Conrad the Elder was frequently referred to as nepos (nephew, grandson, descendant) of the Emperor. He and his brothers apparently were in fact Arnulf's closest relatives, and he relied heavily on their support in his feud with the counts ofBabenberg.Arnulf rewarded them by helping them gain territories, beyond their original realm in Hesse, in Thuringia and the Frankish regions along the Main river.

After Arnulf's death, the Conradines were the only blood relatives of the new king,Louis the Child,and thus the dominant family in the kingdom. Conrad's brother Gebhard became duke of Lorraine in 903. In 906, Conrad the Elder and his son Conrad the Younger decisively defeated the rival counts of Babenberg in the battle ofFritzlar,thereby attaining supremacy in Franconia. Conrad the Elder died in the battle, but his son became duke of Franconia.

Five years later, after the death of the last Carolingian wearing the crown ofEast Franciain 911, Conrad was elected king as Conrad I -- instead of the West Francian (and Carolingian) kingCharles the Simple,thus ending Carolingian rule in East Francia.

Conrad I had no children. Having largely failed to secure unity and order in the Empire in the face of obstinate resistance from thedukes of Swabia,Bavaria and Lorraine, Conrad, on his deathbed in December 918, persuaded his brotherEberhard,margrave and subsequently duke of Franconia, to forgo any aspiration for the crown for himself and to recommend to the Frankish nobles the election of the powerful duke of Saxony,Henry the Fowler(Henry I), as next king in order to ensure unity among the German tribes and preserve the Empire. Eberhard honored this request, and Henry was duly elected at the Reichstag ofFritzlarin 919.

With this, the Conradines reverted to the status of local princes. Conrad's brother Eberhard, the new duke of Franconia, remained loyal to the new (Saxon) king Henry and for a while (926-928) even held the troubled duchy of Lorraine in order to restore order. However, when Henry's sonOtto the Greatbecame king and emperor, Eberhard unwisely joinedArnulf of BavariaandThankmar,Henry's son from his first marriage, in a rebellion which ended in defeat and Eberhard's death at the battle of Andernach in 939 and the family's loss of the Franconian duchy.

In 982 the family temporarily regained the duchy of Swabia, which they had inherited in 926 but then lost again, but they held it only until 1012. In 1036, the last Conradine count died and the family (in the male line) became extinct.

Genealogy

Elder line

Gebhard, Count of the Lahngau(d. 879)

1. Udo,Count in the Lahngau
   1. Conrad, Duke of Thuringia(d. 906)
      1. Conrad I of Germany(d. 918), Duke ofFranconiafrom 906, firstGerman kingfrom 911
      2. Eberhard(c. 885 – 939), Duke of Franconia from 918
      3. Otto (d. after 918), Count in theRuhrgau
   2. Eberhard (d. about 903), Count in the Niederlahngau
      1. Conrad Kurzbold(d. 948), Count in the Niederlahngau
      2. Gebhard (d. after 947), Count in theUfgau
      3. Eberhard (d. 944), Count in theBonngau
      4. a daughter,marriedWerner,Count in theNahegau,progenitor of theSalian dynasty
   3. Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine(d. 910)
      1. Herman I, Duke of Swabia(d. 949)
      2. Odo(d. 949), Count in theWetterau,married Cunigunda, daughter ofHerbert I, Count of Vermandois
         1. Heribert,Count in the Wetterau (925–992)
            1. Ermentrude (972–1015), married CountFrederick of Luxembourg
            2. Otto of Hammerstein (975–1036),Count of Zutphen,married Ermengarde, daughter ofGodfrey I, Count of Verdun
   4. Rudolph(d. 908), Bishop ofWürzburg
2. Waldo, Abbot ofSt. Maximin's at Trier868/879
3. Bertulf,Archbishop ofTrierfrom 869 until 883
4. Berengar(d. after 879), Count in theHessengau
   1. Oda,wife ofArnulf of Carinthia

Younger line

Conrad I, Duke of Swabia(d. 997), alsoKuno ofÖhningen,descent uncertain, probably a grandson of Count Gebhard in the Ufgau; married Richlint, a scion of the royalOttonian dynasty

1. Herman II, Duke of Swabia(d. 1003), married Gerberga, daughter of KingConrad of Burgundy
   1. Matilda(988–1032), marriedConrad I, Duke of Carinthia,secondlyFrederick II, Duke of Upper Lorraine
   2. Gisela(989–1043), marriedBrun I, Count of Brunswick,secondlyErnest I, Duke of Swabia,thirdlyConrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
   3. Beatrix (d. after 1025), marriedAdalbero, Duke of Carinthia
   4. Hermann III, Duke of Swabia(d. 1012)
2. a daughter(?), married Grand PrinceVladimir I of Kiev

See also

• Conrad I of Germany

Sources

• Reuter, Timothy (trans.)The Annals of Fulda.(Manchester Medieval series, Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II.) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992.