General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> " King Of Germany
Event: Ruled BET. 1024 - 1039 King of Germany 1
Event: Ruled BET. 1027 - 1039 Holy Roman Emperor 1
Event: Crowned 8 SEP 1024 King of Germany at Mainz, German
Event: Crowned 1026 King of Italy at Milan by Archbishop Ariberto 1
Event: Crowned 1027 Holy Roman Emperor at Rome by Pope John XIX 1
Note:
Conrad II (b. c. 990--d. June 4, 1039, Utrecht, Ger., Holy Roman Empire), German king (1024-39) and Holy Roman emperor (1027-39), founder of the Salian dynasty. During his reign, he proved that the German monarchy had become a viable institution. Since the survival of the monarchy was no longer primarily dependent on a compact between sovereign and territorial nobles, it was henceforth invulnerable to prolonged rebellion on their part.
Conrad was the son of Count Henry of Speyer, who had been passed over in his inheritances in favour of a younger brother. Henry was descended, through the marriage of his great-grandfather Conrad the Red to a daughter of Emperor Otto, from the Saxon house. Left poor, Conrad was brought up by the Bishop of Worms and did not receive much of a formal education; but, conscious of the deprivations suffered by him and his father, he matured early. Prudent and firm, he often displayed great chivalry as well as a strong sense of justice, and he was determined to gain the status that fortune had denied him. In 1016 he married Gisela, the widowed duchess of Swabia and a descendant of Charlemagne. Conrad, however, was distantly related to Gisela. When strict canonists took exception to the marriage, Emperor Henry II, who was jealous of the growth of Conrad's personal influence, used their findings as an excuse for forcing Conrad into temporary exile. The two men later became reconciled, and, by the time Henry II died, in 1024, Conrad presented himself to the electoral assembly of the princes at Kamba on the Rhine as a candidate for the succession. After prolonged debates, the majority voted for him, and he was crowned king in Mainz on Sept. 8, 1024.
Intelligent and genial, Conrad was also fortunate. Soon after his election, even the minority opposition was persuaded to pay their homage. Early in the following year, the sudden death of Boleslaw I the Brave of Poland, a tributary to the German monarchy who had styled himself an independent king, spared Conrad the necessity of military interference. In Germany a rebellion fomented by nobles and relatives of Conrad was joined by many lay princes of Lombardy; and, although the Italian bishops paid homage at a court in Constance in June 1025, the lay princes sought to elect William of Aquitaine as antiking. But, when the King of France refused his support, the rebellion collapsed. Early in 1026, Conrad was able to go to Milan, where Archbishop Ariberto crowned him king of Italy. After brief fighting, Conrad overcame the opposition of some towns and nobles and managed to reach Rome, where he was crowned emperor by Pope John XIX on Easter 1027. When a renewed rebellion in Germany forced him to return, he subdued the rebels and imposed severe penalties on them, not sparing members of his own family.
Conrad not only showed strength and incorruptible justice in maintaining his power but also displayed enterprise in legislation. He formally confirmed the popular legal traditions of Saxony and issued a new set of feudal constitutions for Lombardy. On Easter Sunday 1028, at an imperial court in Aachen, he had his son Henry elected and anointed king. In 1036 Henry was married to Kunigunde, the daughter of King Canute of England. Eventually, he became inseparable from his father and acted as his chief counsellor. Thus, the succession was virtually assured, and the future of the new house looked bright.
In the meantime, Conrad had been compelled, after all, to campaign against Poland in 1028. After severe fighting, Mieszko--Boleslaw's son and heir--was forced to make peace and surrender lands that Conrad's predecessor had lost. Even