Conrad I ( – 8 January 1152) was

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

of Zähringen from 1122 until his death and from 1127 also Rector of

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

. He spent most of his life stemming the growing power of the

House of Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...

and to this end, allied himself with the

House of Guelph The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse- ...

Life

Conrad I was a son of Duke Berthold II and his wife, Agnes of Rheinfelden. In 1120, Conrad I and his elder brother Berthold III granted city rights to

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

. In 1122, Conrad I succeeded Berthold III as Duke of Zähringen. In 1127, he came into conflict with Count Reginald III of Burgundy, because both men claimed the inheritance of Conrad's murdered nephew William III. In this situation, he benefitted from the situation Emperor Lothar III found himself in. Lothar urgently needed support against his Hohenstaufen rivals, and he supported Conrad's claim. He rejected Reginald's claim, with the dubious argument that Reginald had failed to comply with his duty to attend the emperor's court. Conrad received the title rector of Burgundy, which denoted, as least theoretically, a kind of representative of the emperor in the

Kingdom of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various successive Monarchy, kingdoms centered in the historical region of Burgundy during the Middle Ages. The heartland of historical Burgundy correlates with the border area between France and Switze ...

. In 1138, King

Conrad III of Germany Conrad III (; ; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III, and from 1138 until his death in 1152 King of the Romans in t ...

grabbed power and the power conflict between the Guelphs and the Hohenstaufen relaxed. Until the late 1150s, the dukes of Zähringen were among the Hohenstaufen's most loyal supporters. Conrad I died in 1152 in

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

and was buried in the family vault in the Abbey of Saint Peter in the Black Forest.

Marriage and issue

Conrad was married to Clementia of Namur, daughter of

Godfrey I, Count of Namur Godfrey of Namur (attested in 1080; died 19 August 1139) was a Lotharingian nobleman. He was Count ''jure uxoris'' of Porcéan from 1097 until his death. From 1102, he was also Count of Namur. He was the oldest son of Count Albert III and his ...

and had at least five children: * Berthold IV, duke of Zähringen * Adalbert I, founder of the line

Dukes of Teck Duke of Teck () is a title which was created twice in Germanic lands. It was first borne from 1187 to 1439 by the head of a cadet line of the German ducal House of Zähringen, known as the "first House of Teck". The seat of this territory was Cas ...

Clementia In Roman mythology and ancient religion, Clementia is the goddess of clemency, leniency, mercy, forgiveness, penance, redemption, absolution, acquittal, and salvation. Description She was defined as a celebrated virtue of Julius Caesar, who w ...

, married

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195), also known as Henry III, Duke of Saxony (ruled 1142-1180) and Henry XII, Duke of Bavaria (ruled 1156-1180), was a member of the Welf dynasty. Henry was one of the most powerful German princes of ...

* Rudolf,

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

* Hugh, Duke of Ullenburg

Notes

References

Sources

* * * Eberhard Holz and Wolfgang Huschner (eds.): ''Deutsche Fürsten des Mittelalters'', Edition Leipzig, Leipzig, 1995, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad 01 Zahringen Dukes of Zähringen 1090s births Year of birth unknown 1152 deaths People of the Wendish Crusade