Conrad IV. (HRR)

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Seal of Conrad IV.

Konrad (born April 25, 1228 in Andria , Apulia ; † May 21, 1254 in the army camp near Lavello ) comes from the noble family of the Hohenstaufen . He was Duke of Swabia (from 1235), King of the Holy Roman Empire (from 1237), King of Sicily (from 1250) and King of Jerusalem (from 1228).

Life

youth

Konrad was the only son of Emperor Frederick II with his second wife Isabella von Brienne , Queen of Jerusalem. His mother died a few days after giving birth, presumably of puerperal fever ; from her Conrad inherited the claim to the throne of Jerusalem, which his father used to crown himself king of Jerusalem on the Fifth Crusade in Jerusalem in 1229 . Konrad lived in Italy until 1235; this year he traveled to Germany for the first time.

After the uprising and dismissal of his son Heinrich (VII.) , Konrad's half-brother 17 years older, Friedrich tried to establish Konrad as the new successor to the king. However, this initially failed because the princes who had gathered at the Mainzer Hoftag in 1235 did not want to elect Konrad, who was appointed Duke of Swabia , as king.

The eight-year-old was finally elected in February 1237 during a court day in Vienna : the electoral act, which the Pope did not recognize, included not only the title of Roman-German King , but also the future successor as Roman-German Emperor . Since Konrad was elected king, but not crowned, he carried the title “in romanorum regem electus” (“the one elected king of the Romans”).

Royal time in the German part of the Empire

Document by Konrad IV of July 25, 1240, the oldest German-language royal document. The king announced the comparison between Volkmar II von Kemnat and the city of Kaufbeuren . Munich, Bavarian Main State Archives , Kaiserselekt 766

While Friedrich II turned back to his arguments with the Pope and the Italian cities after Konrad's election in 1237, Konrad stayed in Germany to formally represent his father there. He was initially supported by the Archbishop of Mainz Siegfried III as Reich procurators . , the Thuringian Landgrave Heinrich Raspe and King Wenzel I of Bohemia . After Heinrich Raspe appeared as the counter-king, Konrad began to intervene more actively in imperial politics and to solicit support for his father from the princes.

On September 1, 1246, Conrad IV married Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria , daughter of Duke Otto II the Illustrious, in Vohburg on the Danube . Through this marriage, the Wittelsbachers became the most important German allies of the Hohenstaufen during the final dynastic phase. The marriage resulted in son Konrad, better known as Konradin , in 1252 .

Konrad's position in the German part of the empire became increasingly problematic after his father's renewed excommunication in 1239. As early as 1241, the archbishops of Cologne and Mainz turned against the young king. After Pope Innocent IV had declared Friedrich II deposed in 1245, Heinrich Raspe was elected in Germany in 1246 and, after his death in 1247, Wilhelm of Holland was elected the opposing king. Konrad's troops, which were not particularly numerous, were defeated by Heinrich Raspe's troops on August 5, 1246 near Frankfurt am Main . Konrad was now mainly in the areas close to the king in the south-west and carried out only limited military actions on the Rhine in 1249 and 1250; at Christmas 1250 he almost fell victim to an assassination attempt. Frederick II died on December 13, 1250. In his will he appointed Conrad IV as the universal heir and expressly designated him as the official successor in the empire, in Sicily and Jerusalem. Innocent, however, did not recognize this regulation. In April 1251, Konrad was excommunicated by the Pope.

Italian move and rule in the Kingdom of Sicily

Despite or precisely because of the difficult situation in Germany, Konrad decided in 1251 to leave for Italy and to take up his inheritance in the Kingdom of Sicily. Before that, he had escaped an assassination attempt by Konrad von Hohenfels (II.) And other ministerials on behalf of Bishop Albert on the night of December 28th to 29th, 1250 in the monastery of Sankt Emmeram . Not only the important Sicilian heritage was the reason for the departure, but, as already mentioned above, perhaps also its unsafe position in the German part of the empire and certainly the prospect of gaining control over imperial Italy . Konrad left his pregnant wife Elisabeth in the German part of the empire and moved to Italy in October 1251; He had pledged several goods to finance the Italian move. At the beginning of November 1251 he was in the Verona area . He was in contact with several imperial supporters in imperial Italy and also maintained connections as far as the eastern Mediterranean. Two of Konrad's closest confidants during his stay in Italy were Margrave Berthold von Hohenburg and Walter von Ocra, the latter had already been in the service of Frederick II.

Konrad reached the Kingdom of Sicily, which also included southern Italy, via detours at the beginning of 1252. There Naples and Capua initially refused to obey him, and his relationship with his half-brother Manfred , who had ruled the kingdom since Frederick's death, deteriorated. After the death of Frederick II, there were unrest in parts of the Kingdom of Sicily and several cities tried to evade royal control. Konrad was therefore forced to take military action against the revolts. On October 10, 1253, his troops captured Naples.

Gradually Konrad succeeded in consolidating his position in the kingdom. An important new source for Konrad's governmental actions is the collection found in the Innsbruck University Library in the summer of 2005 with 130 previously unknown letters, mandates and diplomas from Frederick II and, above all, from Konrad IV Predecessor) also meddled in ecclesiastical and economic affairs in the Kingdom of Sicily. The bureaucratic apparatus continued to function and was quite effective. In 1252, during the Court Day in Foggia, Konrad issued constitutions based on the well-known models from the Norman and Staufer times. Furthermore, as the new sources show, Konrad tried to reach a reconciliation with the Pope, but no agreement was reached. On April 9, 1254, Konrad was excommunicated again.

Unlike his kingship in Germany, Konrad's rule in the Kingdom of Sicily was unchallenged. After a difficult start, he had apparently succeeded in consolidating his position. In the light of the new sources found, Konrad's rule in the Kingdom of Sicily is therefore to be assessed more positively than was the case in older research.

death

Konrad died on May 21, 1254 in an army camp in Lavello . Some sources suspect poison as the cause of death, but Konrad had previously suffered from a fever; several other companions also died of fever. His body was supposed to be buried in Palermo, but it was destroyed in a fire in Messina. His son Konradin , whom Konrad had never seen, was still under the age of majority, so that Konrad appointed his confidante Berthold von Hohenburg as regent. Although Konrad was overshadowed by his father for a long time and his only brief reign did not make any notable impression, the sources document a committed ruler who was also culturally interested and promoted several poets (according to Konrad von Winterstetten ).

Konrad's widow Elisabeth married Meinhard II , Count of Görz and Tirol in 1259 , who became Duke of Carinthia in 1286, long after her death . Konrad's half-brother Manfred fell in 1266. Konrad's legitimate son Konradin was executed in 1268 after his defeat by Karl von Anjou . Another illegitimate son, also called Konradin, was executed in 1269 after Lucera's surrender . With that the Hohenstaufen became extinct.

swell

  • Rosaria Pilone, Bartolommeo Capasso (ed.): Historia diplomatica Regni Siciliae from anno 1250 to annum 1266. Ristampa riveduta, corretta ed ampliata dell'edizione del 1874. Laveglia & Carlone, Battipaglia 2009, ISBN 978-88-88773-43-8 ( Technical discussion )

literature

Web links

Commons : Konrad IV.  - Collection of pictures

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cf. generally Martin Kaufhold : Konrad IV. - Royal action in a time of change. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, pp. 10-25.
  2. ^ Regesta Imperii V, 1,2, No. 4869b.
  3. ↑ Martin Kaufhold: Konrad IV. - Royal action in a time of change. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 19f.
  4. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, pp. 86–110.
  5. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, p. 90f.
  6. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 88f.
  7. ^ Regesta Imperii V, 1,2, No. 4563b.
  8. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 99f.
  9. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 98.
  10. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 89.
  11. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 91f.
  12. ^ Regesta Imperii V, 1,2, no.4605a.
  13. ↑ Josef Riedmann: Unknown letters from Emperor Frederick II and Conrad IV in a manuscript from the Innsbruck University Library: research report and preliminary analysis. In: German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages , Volume 62, 2006, pp. 135–200.
  14. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 96.
  15. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 97f.
  16. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 101f.
  17. ^ Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV. As king of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 102.
  18. ↑ Regesta Imperii V, 1,2, No. 4632a.
  19. ↑ See also Josef Riedmann: Konrad IV as King of the Regnum Siciliae. In: Karl-Heinz Rueß (Ed.): Konrad IV. (1228–1254). Germany's last Hohenstaufen king. Göppingen 2012, here p. 92.
  20. ↑ Regesta Imperii V, 1,2, No. 4632a.
predecessor Office successor
Frederick II Roman-German king
1237–1254 		William of Holland
Frederick II King of Sicily
1250–1254 		Konradin
Isabella II King of Jerusalem
1228–1254 		Konradin
Henry (VII.) Duke of Swabia
1235–1254 		Konradin
personal data
SURNAME Conrad IV.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Konrad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Swabia, Roman-German King, King of Sicily and King of Jerusalem (1228–1254)
DATE OF BIRTH April 25, 1228
PLACE OF BIRTH Andria
DATE OF DEATH May 21, 1254
PLACE OF DEATH Lavello