Adalbero, Duke of Carinthia

Who was Adalbero, Duke of Carinthia?

Adalbero of Eppenstein was Duke of Carinthia from 1011 or 1012 until 1035. He succeeded Duke Conrad I from the Salian dynasty.

Adalbero was the son of Count Markward of Eppenstein, margrave of Styria, where he succeeded his father about 1000. He was married to Beatrix, probably a daughter of Duke Hermann II of Swabia from the Conradine dynasty and sister-in-law of the Salian Emperor Conrad II.

In 1011/12 the German king Henry II enfeoffed Adalbero with the Carinthian duchy, including the rule over the March of Verona. The Salian Conrad II the Younger, son of his predecessor Conrad I, was a minor when his father died and therefore was not taken into account, becoming a bitter rival.

After political altercations with the Salians and an unsuccessful rebellion against Emperor Conrad II, Adalbero in 1035 was forced to renounce all his offices and fiefdoms, but Bishop Egilbert of Freising, a councillor to Emperor Conrad's son King Henry III, advised the princes of Germany and Henry himself, who had been elected king, to not recognise the deposition. Conrad was required to perform much begging before Henry consented to the act and Adalbero was removed and finally succeeded by Conrad the Younger. He died in exile at Bavarian Ebersberg in 1039.