The Conradines or Conradiner were a dynasty of

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...

n counts and dukes in the 8th to 11th Century, named after Duke Conrad the Elder and his son King Conrad I of Germany.

History

The family is first mentioned in 832, with Count Gebhard in the lower

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

region. His sons are mentioned in 861 as ''propinqui'' (close relatives) of

Adalard the Seneschal Adalard, also known as Adalhard or Alard, and called ''the Seneschal'', was a Frankish nobleman of the 9th century. He served as warden of the Norman march from 861 to 865, and was Lord Chancellor of France under Louis the Pious. He was a son of ...

, who had served

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqu ...

. But the clan's rise to prominence began with Oda, wife of Emperor

Arnulf of Carinthia Arnulf of Carinthia ( 850 – 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 emperor from ...

, 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 of

Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its ...

. 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 of

Fritzlar Fritzlar () is a small town (pop. 15,000) in the 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. Thirty-eight meters (125& ...

, 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 of

East Francia East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...

in 911, Conrad was elected king as Conrad I -- instead of the West Francian (and Carolingian) king Charles 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 the dukes of Swabia, Bavaria and Lorraine, Conrad, on his deathbed in December 918, persuaded his brother

Eberhard Eberhard is an old Germanic name meaning the strength or courage of a wild boar. People First name *Eberhard of Friuli (815–866), Duke and key figure in the Carolingian Empire * Eberhard of Béthune (died 1212), Flemish grammarian *Eberhard I, D ...

, 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 of

in 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 son Otto the Great became king and emperor, Eberhard unwisely joined

Arnulf of Bavaria Arnulf II (birth unknown; died 14 July 937), also known as the Bad (german: der Schlimme), the Evil (''der Böse'') or the Wicked, a member of the Luitpolding dynasty, held the title of Duke of Bavaria from about 907 until his death in 937. He ...

and Thankmar, 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 Gebhard (died 879) was a mid-9th-century count in the Lahngau and the first documented ancestor of the dynasty later known as the Conradines. He was a "leading man of the astFranks" and a brother-in-law of Ernest, margrave of the Bavarian Nordgau. ...

(d. 879) # Udo, Count in the Lahngau ##

Conrad, Duke of Thuringia 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� ...

(d. 906) ### Conrad I of Germany (d. 918), Duke of

from 906, first German king from 911 ###

(c. 885 – 939), Duke of Franconia from 918 ###Otto (d. after 918), Count in the Ruhrgau ##Eberhard (d. about 903), Count in the Niederlahngau ###

Conrad Kurzbold Conrad (* ca. 885–890; † probably June 30th 948), called Conrad Kurzbold (literally "short-bold") in order to distinguish him from other members of the Conradine dynasty, was Count of Lower Lahngau ( Limburg Basin and surrounding areas) and ...

(d. 948), Count in the Niederlahngau ###Gebhard (d. after 947), Count in the

Ufgau Ufgau (Old High German ''Ufgowe'', ''Uffgau''; ''Usgau, Osgau''; ''pagus auciacensis'') was a historical county ('' gowe'') of the duchy of Franconia, along the Oos River and the lower Murg, delimited to the south by the counties of Albgau and O ...

###Eberhard (d. 944), Count in the

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

gau ###''a daughter'', married Werner, Count in the Nahegau, progenitor of the

Salian dynasty The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125). After the death of the la ...

## Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine (d. 910) ### Herman I, Duke of Swabia (d. 949) ### Odo (d. 949), Count in the Wetterau, married Cunigunda, daughter of Herbert I, Count of Vermandois #### Heribert, Count in the Wetterau (925–992) #####Ermentrude (972–1015), married Count Frederick of Luxembourg #####Otto of Hammerstein (975–1036), Count of Zutphen, married Ermengarde, daughter of Godfrey I, Count of Verdun ## Rudolph (d. 908), Bishop 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 ...

#Waldo, Abbot of St. Maximin's at Trier 868/879 # Bertulf, Archbishop of Trier from 869 until 883 # Berengar (d. after 879), Count in the

Hessengau Hessengau is an historical region of modern-day Germany located between Beverungen and Marburg in the north and Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Hero ...

## Oda, wife of

Younger line

Conrad I, Duke of Swabia Conrad I (also Konrad) (born 915/920 - died 20 August 997) was Duke of Swabia from 983 until 997. His appointment as duke marked the return of Conradine rule over Swabia for the first time since 948. Life There is considerable confusion about Conra ...

(d. 997), also ''Kuno of Öhningen'', descent uncertain, probably a grandson of Count Gebhard in the Ufgau; married Richlint, a scion of the royal

Ottonian dynasty The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after th ...

# Herman II, Duke of Swabia (d. 1003), married Gerberga, daughter of King

Conrad 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 fir ...

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

(988–1032), married

Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia Conrad I ( – 12 or 15 December 1011), a member of the Salian dynasty, was Duke of Carinthia from 1004 until his death. Biography He was the third son of Duke Otto I of Carinthia (d. 1004), who at the time of his birth ruled the Wormsgau in Rhe ...

, secondly Frederick II, Duke of Upper Lorraine ## Gisela (989–1043), married Brun I, Count of Brunswick, secondly Ernest I, Duke of Swabia, thirdly

Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor 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 ...

##Beatrix (d. after 1025), married

Adalbero, Duke of Carinthia Adalbero of Eppenstein ( – 28 November 1039) was Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 1011 or 1012 until 1035. Biography Adalbero was the son of the Bavarian count Markward of Eppenstein, who around 970 had married Hadmud, a daughter ...

## Hermann III, Duke of Swabia (d. 1012) #''a daughter'' (?), married Grand Prince Vladimir I of Kiev

Sources

*Reuter, Timothy (trans.)
The Annals of Fulda
'. (Manchester Medieval series, Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II.) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992. {{Royal houses of Germany

History

Genealogy

Elder line

Younger line

See also

Sources