Conrad of Wittelsbach

Who was Conrad of Wittelsbach?

Conrad of Wittelsbach was the Archbishop of Mainz and Archchancellor of Germany from 20 June 1161 to 1165 and again from 1183 to his death. He was also a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

The son of Otto IV, Count of Wittelsbach, and brother of Otto I of Bavaria, he studied in Salzburg and Paris. At the Council of Lodi in 1161, Frederick Barbarossa appointed him archbishop of Mainz to end a schism between Rudolf of Zähringen and Christian von Buch in that see. At that same council, Barbarossa appointed Victor IV antipope in opposition to Pope Alexander III. After Victor's death in 1164, Rainald of Dassel, the archbishop of Cologne, chose as antipope Paschal III at Lucca. Conrad refused to support the new antipope and consequently fell out with Barbarossa. He fled to France and then Rome in 1165 and his see was bestowed on Christian von Buch, though Alexander III still recognised him as legal archbishop. On 18 December, the pope made him cardinal priest of San Marcello al Corso and then cardinal bishop of Sabina. The pope later created him bishop of Sora in Campania. Conrad fled before Christian took Rome with an imperial army.