In 1105, Henry IV,
Holy Roman Emperor since 1084, was overthrown by his son
Henry V, Conrad's uncle. Emperor since 1111, Henry V prepared for his second campaign to
Italy upon the death of Margravine
Matilda of Tuscany, and in 1116 he appointed Conrad as
Duke of Franconia. Conrad was marked out to act as regent for Germany, together with his elder brother, Duke Frederick II of Swabia. At the death of Henry V in 1125, Conrad unsuccessfully supported Frederick II for the kingship of Germany. Frederick was placed under a ban and Conrad was deprived of Franconia and the
Kingdom of Burgundy, of which he was
rector. With the support of the
imperial cities, Swabia, and the
Margraviate of Austria, Conrad was elected
anti-king at
Nuremberg in December 1127. Conrad quickly crossed the
Alps to be crowned
King of Italy by
Anselmo della Pusterla, Archbishop of Milan, in the village of Monza. Over the next two years, he failed to achieve anything in Italy, however, and returned to Germany in 1130, after
Nuremberg and
Speyer, two strong cities that supported him, fell to
Lothair in 1129. Conrad continued in Lothair's opposition, but he and Frederick were forced to acknowledge Lothair as emperor in 1135, during which time Conrad relinquished his title as King of Italy. After this they were pardoned and could take again possession of their lands. After Lothair's death (December 1137), Conrad was elected king at
Coblenz on 7 March 1138, in the presence of the papal legate
Theodwin. Conrad was crowned at
Aachen six days later (13 March) and was acknowledged in
Bamberg by several princes of southern Germany. As
Henry the Proud, son-in-law and heir of Lothair and the most powerful prince in Germany, who had been passed over in the election, refused to do the same, Conrad deprived him of all his territories, giving the
Duchy of Saxony to
Albert the Bear and that of
Bavaria to
Leopold IV, Margrave of Austria. Henry, however, retained the loyalty of his subjects. The civil war that broke out is considered the first act of the struggle between
Guelphs and Ghibellines, which later extended southwards to Italy. After Henry's death (October 1139), the war was continued by his son
Henry the Lion, supported by the Saxons, and by his brother
Welf VI. Conrad, after a
long siege, defeated the latter at
Weinsberg in December 1140, and in May 1142 a peace agreement was reached in
Frankfurt. Before leaving, he had the nobles elect and crown his son
Henry Berengar king. The succession secured in the event of his death, Conrad set out. His army of 20,000 men went overland, via
Hungary, causing disruptions in the
Byzantine territories through which they passed. They arrived at
Constantinople by September 1147, ahead of the French army. Rather than taking the coastal road around
Anatolia through Christian-held territory, by which he sent most of his noncombatants, Conrad took his army across Anatolia. On 25 October 1147, they were defeated by the
Seljuk Turks at the
Battle of Dorylaeum. Conrad and most of the knights escaped, but most of the foot soldiers were killed or captured. The remaining 2,000 men of the German army limped on to
Nicaea, where many of the survivors deserted and tried to return home. Conrad and his adherents had to be escorted to
Lopadium by the French, where they joined the main French army under Louis. Conrad fell seriously ill at
Ephesus and was sent to recuperate in Constantinople, where his host the
Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus acted as his personal physician. After recovering, Conrad sailed to
Acre, and from there reached
Jerusalem. He participated in the ill-fated
Siege of Damascus and after that failure, grew disaffected with his allies. Another attempt to attack
Ascalon failed when Conrad's allies did not appear as promised, then Conrad returned to Germany, In 1150, Conrad and Henry Berengar defeated Welf VI and his son
Welf VII at the
Battle of Flochberg. Henry Berengar died later that year and the succession was thrown open. The Welfs and Hohenstaufen made peace in 1152 and the peaceful succession of one of Conrad's family was secured. Conrad was never crowned emperor and continued to style himself "
King of the Romans" until his death. On his deathbed, in the presence of only two witnesses, his nephew
Frederick Barbarossa and the
Bishop of Bamberg, he allegedly designated Frederick his successor, rather than his own surviving six-year-old son
Frederick. Frederick Barbarossa, who had accompanied his uncle on the unfortunate crusade, forcefully pursued his advantage and was duly elected king in
Cologne a few weeks later. The young son of the late king was given the Duchy of Swabia. Conrad left no male heirs by his first wife,
Gertrude von Komburg. In 1136, he married
Gertrude of Sulzbach, who was a daughter of
Berengar II of Sulzbach, and whose sister
Bertha was married to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I. Gertrude was the mother of Conrad's children and the link which cemented his alliance with Byzantium. ==See also==