Conrad IV of Germany

Conrad IV redirects here. There was also a Conrad IV of Swabia and a Conrad IV, Count of Fürstenberg-Wolfach.

Conrad of Swabia
King of Germany
Reign	May 1237 – 21 May 1254
Predecessor	Henry (VII)
Successor	William
King of Sicily
Reign	13 December 1250 – 21 May 1254
Predecessor	Frederick I
Successor	Conrad II
King of Jerusalem
Reign	25 April 1228 – 21 May 1254
Predecessor	Isabella II and Frederick I
Successor	Conrad III
Spouse	Elisabeth of Bavaria
Issue
Conrad II of Sicily and Jerusalem
Father	Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Isabella II of Jerusalem
Born	25 April 1228(1228-04-25) Andria, Italy
Died	21 May 1254(1254-05-21) (aged 26) Lavello, Basilicata

Conrad IV (25 April 1228 – 21 May 1254) was king of Jerusalem (as Conrad II; 1228–1254), of Germany (1237–1254), and of Sicily (as Conrad I; 1250–1254).

Biography

He was a son of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II and the queen regnant of Jerusalem, Isabella II (Yolanda). Born in Andria, Conrad was the second but only surviving child of Frederick and Isabella II, who died while giving birth to him. Conrad lived in Italy until 1235, when he first visited Germany. During this period his kingdom of Jerusalem, ruled by his father as regent through proxies, was racked by the War of the Lombards until Conrad declared his majority and his father's regency lost its validity.

When Frederick II deposed his eldest son, Conrad's rebellious older brother Henry, in 1237 had Conrad elected King of the Romans in diet in Vienna. This title presumed a future as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Archbishop Siegfried III of Mainz acted as German regent until 1242, when Frederick chose Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia, and Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, to assume this function. Conrad intervened directly in German politics from around 1240.

However, when Pope Innocent IV imposed a papal ban on Frederick in 1245 and declared Conrad deposed, Henry Raspe supported the pope and was in turn elected as anti-king of Germany on 22 May 1246. Henry Raspe defeated Conrad in the battle of Nidda in August 1246, but died several months later. He was succeeded as anti-king by William of Holland.

Also in 1246, Conrad married Elisabeth of Bavaria, a daughter of Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria. They had a son, Conradin, in 1252. In 1250 Conrad settled momentarily the situation in Germany by defeating William of Holland and his Rhenish allies.

When Frederick II died in the same year, he passed Sicily and Germany, as well as the title of Jerusalem, to Conrad, but the struggle with the pope continued. Having been defeated by William in 1251, Conrad decided to invade Italy in the hope to regain the rich reign of his father, and where his brother Manfred acted as vicar. In January 1252 he invaded Apulia with a Venetian fleet and successfully managed to restrain Manfred and to exercise control of the country. In October 1253 his troops conquered Naples.

Conrad was however not able to subdue the pope's supporters, and the pope in turn offered Sicily to Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III of England (1253). Conrad was excommunicated in 1254 and died of malaria in the same year at Lavello in Basilicata. Manfred first, and later his infant son Conradin, continued the struggle with the Papacy, although unsuccessfully.

Conrad's widow Elisabeth married secondly Meinhard II, Count of Tirol, who in 1286 became Duke of Carinthia.

With Conrad's death in 1254 began the "Interregnum", during which no ruler managed to gain undisputed control of Germany. It would only be ended with the election of Rudolph of Habsburg as King of the Romans in 1273.^[1]

Ancestors

See also

• Kings of Germany family tree. He was related to every other king of Germany.

References

1. ^ Judith Bennet and Clive Hollister, Medieval Europe, a Short History - p. 260.

Conrad IV of Germany House of Hohenstaufen Born: 1228 Died: 1254
German royalty
Regnal titles
Preceded by Isabella II and Frederick	King of Jerusalem 25 April 1228 – 21 May 1254	Succeeded by Conradin
Preceded by Frederick I	King of Sicily 13 December 1250 – 21 May 1254
Preceded by Henry (VII)	King of Germany (formally King of the Romans) May 1237 – 21 May 1254	Succeeded by William of Holland as anti-king since 1247

Persondata
Name	Conrad IV of Germany
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	25 April 1228
Place of birth	Andria, Italy
Date of death	21 May 1254
Place of death	Lavello, Basilicata