Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III
King Conrad III (Cunradus rex) in a miniature from the Chronica sancti Pantaleonis, c. 1240
King of Germany (formally King of the Romans)
Reign	7 March 1138 – 15 February 1152
Coronation	13 March 1138, Aachen
Predecessor	Lothair III
Successor	Frederick I
King of Italy
Reign	1128–1135
Coronation	29 June 1128, Milan
Predecessor	Henry V
Successor	Frederick I
Born	1093 or 1094
Died	15 February 1152 (aged 59–60) Bamberg, Bavaria
Burial	Bamberg Cathedral
Spouse	Gertrude of Comburg Gertrude of Sulzbach
Issue	Henry Berengar Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia
House	Hohenstaufen
Father	Frederick I, Duke of Swabia
Mother	Agnes of Germany

Conrad III (German: Konrad; Italian: Corrado; 1093 or 1094 – 15 February 1152) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was from 1116 to 1120 Duke of Franconia, from 1127 to 1135 anti-king of his predecessor Lothair III, and from 1138 until his death in 1152 King of the Romans in the Holy Roman Empire. He was the son of Duke Frederick I of Swabia and Agnes,^[1] a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.^[2][3]

His reign saw the start of the conflicts between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. He was involved in the failed Second Crusade with Louis VII, where he would fight and lose at Doryleum and would later fall ill and return to Constantinople. After recuperating, he went to Jerusalem but would experience a string of failed sieges. Later returning from the Crusade, he was entangled in some conflicts with Welf VI's claim to the Duchy of Bavaria. On his deathbed, he designated his nephew Frederick Barbarossa as his successor instead of his son, Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia.