Conrad, Count Palatine of the Rhine

Who was Conrad, Count Palatine of the Rhine?

Conrad of Hohenstaufen was the first hereditary Count Palatine of the Rhine.

His parents were Frederick II of Swabia, Duke of Swabia, and his second wife Agnes of Saarbrücken. Young Conrad, the only half-brother of Frederick Barbarossa, received the family's possessions around Franconia and Rhineland, particularly those of his mother's ancestry.

In 1156 on the occasion of the Reichstag at Worms, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa conferred upon his half-brother the dignity of Pfalzgraf, as well as the Vogtei of Schönau Abbey and of the chapter of Worms Cathedral, besides the Staufen family estates in the regions of Speyer and Worms. From about 1160 Conrad was married to Irmengard of Henneberg as his second wife, daughter of Count Bertold I of Henneberg, Burggraf of Würzburg. This brought him the possession of the Vogtei of Lorsch Abbey. His endeavours to extend his area of influence brought him into conflict with the Bishops of Trier and Cologne.

Conrad and both his wives were buried in Schönau Abbey near Heidelberg. His two sons did not survive to continue the family. His inheritance passed to his daughter Agnes and her husband Henry V, of the House of Brunswick.