General Notes

Lothair II (sometimes called Lothair III), b. 1075, d. Dec. 4, 1137, was
German king (1125-37) and Holy Roman emperor (1133-37). The son of Gebhard,
count of Supplinburg, Lothair was made duke of Saxony by Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V in 1106. When Henry died in 1125, the electors chose Lothair as his
successor rather than Henry's nephew. Lothair had led the opposition against
Henry, and his election thus represented a victory of princely independence
over heredity. He encouraged the eastward expansion of Germany
and the spread of Christianity. Compliant toward the church and his
advisor Bernard of Clairvaux, Lothair supported Innocent II after the disputed
papal election of 1130. Until 1135 he battled the Hohenstaufens and
strengthened his son-in-law, Henry the Proud of Bavaria, by grants of Italian
and Saxon lands. On his deathbed, Lothair designated Henry as his successor,
but the princes chose instead his former rival Conrad III of Hohenstaufen.