Conrad's parents were Duke
Conrad I of Carinthia and his wife
Matilda, a daughter of the
Conradine duke
Herman II of Swabia. His father died in 1011, when Conrad the Younger was still a minor, and King
Henry II vested
Adalbero of Eppenstein with the Carinthian duchy. Instead Conrad succeeded his father as count in the Salian home territories of
Nahegau,
Speyergau, and
Wormsgau. In the conflict over the heritage of Duke Herman II of Swabia he allied with his Salian cousin
Conrad the Elder (the son of his paternal uncle
Henry of Speyer) against Duke Adalbero of Carinthia, whom they defeated in a 1019 battle near
Ulm. When Emperor Henry II died in 1024, Conrad the Younger, like his father Conrad I and his grandfather
Otto I in 1002, was a candidate for the
German kingship. Nevertheless, through the agency of Court Chaplain
Wipo of Burgundy, he renounced in favour of his cousin Conrad the Elder, who was
elected king. In compensation, Conrad the Younger may have been promised the succession in the Carinthian duchy. Nevertheless, while Conrad the Elder proceeded to his
coronation in
Rome in 1027, an open conflict arose between the cousins until Conrad the Younger finally submitted in September. In May 1035, Duke Adalbero of Carinthia rebelled against Salian rule and was deprived of his duchy. Conrad the Younger was chosen to replace him and finally received Carinthia, though without the
Carantanian march. In 1036-37 he accompanied the emperor on his expedition to
Italy and acceded the custody of the arrested Archbishop
Aribert of Milan, who however soon escaped. Conrad did not live long thereafter, dying in 1039. He was buried alongside his father and mother Matilda in
Worms Cathedral. On his death, his natural heir was the Salian king
Henry III, son and successor of Conrad the Elder. No marriage is recorded of Conrad, though a son, named Cuno, appears in 1056, selling
Bruchsal to King
Henry IV. However, it is more likely that Cuno was the 'son of' Bishop
Conrad of Speyer since Bruchsal was in the church's hands by this time. ==Sources==