Ascent to Archbishop Konrad was appointed
canon in Mainz in 1396. In 1414, he became
provost of
Frankfurt Cathedral and governor of the
Eichsfeld (an
exclave of the Bishopric of Mainz). The residence of the governor was
Rustenberg Castle, near
Heiligenstadt. On 10 October 1419, he was elected archbishop of Mainz, and his election was confirmed by
Pope Martin V on 15 December 1419. In this period, the residence of the Archbishops of Mainz was
Ehrenfels Castle, now in
Hesse, because the citizens of Mainz, which was a
free imperial city, were hostile to the
clergy.
Imperial politics In August 1421, Conrad, together with Archbishop
Dietrich II of
Cologne and Elector Palatine
Louis III, joined the
Second anti-Hussite Crusade. They travelled to
Bohemia via
Cheb and participated in the siege of
Žatec. However, the siege ended on 2 October when the imperial army fled after rumours spread that a large Hussite relief army was approaching. Emperor
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor appointed Conrad as
imperial vicar during the
Imperial Diet in
Nuremberg on 25 August 1422. However, Elector Palatine Louis III objected to this appointment, on the grounds that the
Golden Bull of 1356 had given the position of imperial vicar to the Elector Palatine for the areas where Franconian law was in force, and to the Elector of Saxony for the areas where Saxon law was in force. Conrad resigned in May 1423. In 1424, Conrad was a founding member of the
League of Bingen, which opposed Emperor Sigismund. In 1429, Conrad travelled to
Bratislava, where he participated in his capacity as
Archchancellor in the negotiations between Emperor Sigismund and the Hussite leaders.
Struggle with Hesse The archbishops of Mainz had been struggling with the
Landgraviate of Hesse over territorial dominance in the area for two centuries. In 1427, Conrad once again declared war on Hesse, about a sum of money due from the mortgage on the
County of Waldeck, and also to support his close friend co-adjutor Herman II of Buchenau in a conflict with Prince-abbot
John I of
Fulda monastery. An army of 600 cavalry and additional infantry led by Count Gottfried of Leiningen (a younger relative of the cathedral dean of the same name), attacked northern Hesse from Fritzlar, an exclave of Mainz, and devastated the area around
Gudensberg,
Felsberg and
Melsungen. However, they were defeated by Landgrave
Louis I in a battle between the village of
Großenenglis and nearby Holzheim (now an
abandoned village), a few kilometers south of Fritzlar. Louis I defeated Gottfried again in pursuit engagements at Jesberg, Felsberg, and Fritzlar. Gottfried retreated to
Fulda, where Conrad was ready with a second army. However, the city and monastery of Fulda refused Gottfried the protection of their city walls, and his army was decisively defeated on August 10. On 8 December 1427, a peace treaty between Hesse and Mainz was signed in Frankfurt. Mainz had to accept almost all of its possession in Upper and Lower Hesse as Hessian fiefs, only
Fritzlar,
Naumburg,
Amöneburg and
Neustadt remained as
allodial Mainzer possessions in the area. This spelled the end of Mainz's territorial aspirations in northern Hesse.
Dispute with Mainz Only a few years later, there were violent clashes between the
patricians and the
guilds in Mainz. There were also tensions between the citizens and the clergy. In 1430, the patricians angrily left the city. In 1432, the city attempted to tax the clergy, and they left the city in 1433. Conrad
excommunicated the city on 14 May 1434. == Death ==