| Conrad
IV
King of the Romans
(1228-54)
Other Titles
King of Sicily, 1250-54†
Conrad II, King of Jerusalem, 1228-54†
Duke of Swabia, 1235
Main Events
Conrad was chosen king of the Romans, or German king, at Vienna, in place
of his half-brother Henry, an election which was subsequently confirmed
by the diet at Spires. After spending some time in Italy he returned
to Germany and began to take part in the quarrel which had arisen between
the emperor and the pope.
In 1240, he called an assembly to Eger, where many of the princes
declared openly against the pope, and was soon in arms against Siegfried,
archbishop of Mainz, the leader of the papal party in Germany. Although
defeated near Frankfort in August 1246 by the anti-king, Henry Raspe,
landgrave of Thuringia, he obtained help from the towns and from his father-in-law
Otto II, duke of Bavaria, and drove Henry Raspe to Thuringia. He was carrying
on the struggle against Henry Raspe’s successor, William II, count of
Holland, when the emperor died in December 1250, and a few days later
Conrad narrowly escaped assassination at Regensburg.
In September 1246, he married Elizabeth (d. 1273), daughter of Otto of
Bavaria, by whom he left a son, Conradin, whom he had never seen.
Having assumed the title of emperor in 1250, the Guelphs and Pope
Innocent IV favoured William of Holland, so he, as leader of the Ghibellines,
was excommunicated.
Assuming the title of king of Jerusalem and Sicily, he raised an
army by pledging his Swabian estates and marched to Italy in 1251, where
with the help of his illegitimate half-brother, Manfred, he overran Apulia
and took Capua and Naples. He was preparing to return to Germany at the
head of a large army when he died on the 21st of May 1254.
Place of birth: Andria, Apulia
Place of death: Lavello
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Sources
1. J.E. Morby. Dynasties of the World: A Chronological and Genealogical
Handbook. Oxford, etc.: Oxford University Press, 1989.
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018.
3. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature
and General Information, 11th edn, vol. 6. New York: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Co., 1911.
4. Thomas, J. The Universal Dictionary of Biography and Mythology,
vol. 1 [part 2]. London: J.S. Virtue & Co., Limited, 1887.
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