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 F ...

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

Conrad I of Germany Conrad I (; c. 881 – 23 December 918), called the Younger, was the king of East Francia from 911 to 918. He was the first king not of the Carolingian dynasty, the first to be elected by the nobility and the first to be anointed. He was chosen as ...

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 in ...

region. His sons are mentioned in 861 as ''propinqui'' (close relatives) of Adalard the Seneschal, 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 Aqui ...

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

. 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 Louis the Child (893 – 20/24 September 911), sometimes called Louis III or Louis IV, was the king of East Francia from 899 until his death and was also recognized as king of Lotharingia after 900. He was the last East Frankish ruler of the Car ...

, 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 Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a me ...

, 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 The Dukes of Swabia were the rulers of the Duchy of Swabia during the Middle Ages. Swabia was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German kingdom, and its dukes were thus among the most powerful magnates of Germany. The most notable famil ...

, Bavaria and Lorraine, Conrad, on his deathbed in December 918, persuaded his brother Eberhard, 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 the Fowler (german: Heinrich der Vogler or '; la, Henricus Auceps) (c. 876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non- Frankish king of East Francia, ...

(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 Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

became king and emperor, Eberhard unwisely joined Arnulf of Bavaria 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 (d. 879) # Udo, Count in the Lahngau ## Conrad, Duke of Thuringia (d. 906) ###

(d. 918), Duke of

from 906, first German king from 911 ### Eberhard (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 (d. 948), Count in the Niederlahngau ###Gebhard (d. after 947), Count in the Ufgau ###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 Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

, Count in the

Nahegau The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Worms ...

, 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 ...

Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine Gebhard of Lahngau ( 860/868 – 22 June 910), of the Conradine dynasty, son of Odo (died 879), count of Lahngau, and Judith, was himself count of Wetterau (909–910) and Rheingau (897–906) and then duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine). In 903, ...

(d. 910) ### Herman I, Duke of Swabia (d. 949) ###

Odo Odo or ODO may refer to: People * Odo, a given name; includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Franklin Odo (born 1939), Japanese-American historian * Seikichi Odo (1927–2002), Japanese karateka * Yuya Odo (born 1990 ...

(d. 949), Count in the

Wetterau The Wetterau is a fertile undulating tract, watered by the Wetter, a tributary of the Nidda River, in the western German state of Hesse, between the hilly province Oberhessen and the north-western Taunus mountains. Bettina von Arnim writes of ...

, 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 Godfrey I (died 1002), called the Prisoner or the Captive (''le Captif''), sometimes the Old (''le Vieux''), was the count of Bidgau and Methingau from 959 and the sovereign count of Verdun 963 to his death. In 969, he obtained the Margraviate o ...

## 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. Würzbur ...

#Waldo, Abbot of St. Maximin's at Trier 868/879 # Bertulf, Archbishop 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 ...

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 Arnulf of Carinthia

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 Conr ...

(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 ...

# Herman II, Duke of Swabia (d. 1003), married Gerberga, daughter of King Conrad of Burgundy ## Matilda (988–1032), married Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia, secondly Frederick II, Duke of Upper Lorraine ## Gisela (989–1043), married Brun I, Count of Brunswick, secondly

Ernest I, Duke of Swabia Ernest I (died 31 March or 31 May 1015) was the Duke of Swabia (1012–1015). He was a younger son of Leopold I of Austria (Babenberg), Leopold I, the Babenberg Margrave of Austria. His mother was called Richardis of Sualafeldgau. Life and f ...

, 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 kingdom ...

##Beatrix (d. after 1025), married Adalbero, Duke of Carinthia ##

Hermann III, Duke of Swabia Hermann III (c.994/995 - April 1, 1012) was a member of the Conradine dynasty. He was Duke of Swabia 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 ...

(d. 1012) #''a daughter'' (?), married Grand Prince

Vladimir I of Kiev Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...

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