Conrad of Hohenstaufen ( – 8 November 1195) was the first hereditary

Count Palatine of the Rhine The counts palatine of Lotharingia /counts palatine of the Rhine /electors of the Palatinate (german: Kurfürst von der Pfalz) ruled some part of Rhine area in the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire from 915 to 1803. The title was a kind ...

. His parents were Frederick II of Swabia (1090–1147), Duke of

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

, and his second wife Agnes of Saarbrücken, daughter of Frederick, Count of Saarbrücken. Young Conrad, the only half-brother of

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt ...

, received the family's possessions around Franconia and Rhineland, particularly those of his mother's ancestry. In 1156 on the occasion of the '' Reichstag'' at

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...

, Emperor

conferred upon his half-brother the dignity of ''

Pfalzgraf A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an ord ...

'' (Count Palatine, of the Rhine), as well as the ''

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

ei'' of Schönau Abbey and of the chapter of Worms Cathedral, besides the Staufen family estates in the regions of

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lie ...

and Worms. From about 1160 Conrad was married to Irmengard of Henneberg (d. 1197) as his second wife, daughter of Count Bertold I of Henneberg, '' Burggraf'' of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

. This brought him the possession of the ''Vogtei'' of

Lorsch Abbey Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (german: Reichsabtei Lorsch; la, Laureshamense Monasterium or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries ...

. His endeavours to extend his area of influence brought him into conflict with the Bishops of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. Conrad and both his wives were buried in Schönau Abbey near

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

. His two sons did not survive to continue the family. His inheritance passed to his daughter Agnes and her husband Henry V, of the House of Brunswick. (Their heiress would, in turn, pass the inheritance to the

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

dynasty who thereby became the well-known lords of the Palatinate and Electors Palatine.)

Personal life

Conrad married firstly a daughter, whose name is not known, of Count

Gottfried I of Sponheim Gottfried is a masculine German given name. It is derived from the Old High German name , recorded since the 7th century. The name is composed of the elements (conflated from the etyma for 'God' and 'good', and possibly further conflated with ) a ...

, who probably died in 1159 or 1160 and was buried in Schönau Abbey. They had: *

Gottfried of Staufen Gottfried is a masculine German given name. It is derived from the Old High German name , recorded since the 7th century. The name is composed of the elements (conflated from the etyma for 'God' and 'good', and possibly further conflated with ) a ...

(died probably in 1187 or 1188) He married secondly

Irmengard of Henneberg Irmingard of Henneberg was the daughter of Berthold I of Henneberg and Bertha of Putelendorf. She was born between 1134 and 1136. She was the older sister of Poppo VI von Henneberg (1140-1191), Lukardis von Henneberg (1142-1220), and Otto IV Count ...

, by whom he had three children: * Frederick (died 3 September before 1189) * Conrad (died probably in 1186), buried in Schönau Abbey * Agnes (died 9 May 1204), buried in St. Marien in

Stade Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

; married late 1193 at

Burg Stahleck Stahleck Castle () is a 12th-century fortified castle in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley at Bacharach in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It stands on a crag approximately above sea level and the Four Valley Region, which consisted of the settleme ...

Henry V, Duke of Brunswick (died 28 April 1227), Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1195 to 1212

References

Sources

External links

*
genealogie-mittelalter.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad of Hohenstaufen Hohenstaufen 1130s births 1195 deaths Burials at Schönau Abbey Counts Palatine of the Rhine