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Konrad III

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Konrad of Marburg

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emperor of the Germans, the founder of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, eminent among the Crusaders, was the son of Frederick of Suabia, and was born in 1093. He was elected successor to Lothaire by the princes of Germany at Aix-la-Chapelle, Feb. 21, 1136, to prevent the increasing preponderance of the Gulf party. For his quarrels with Henry the Proud, duke of Bavaria and Saxony, and head of the Guelf party in Germany, etc., (See GUELFS AND GHIBELLINES).

When St. Bernard of Clairvaux commenced to preach a new crusade, Konrad, seized with the general infatuation, set out for Palestine at the head of a large army, (See CRUSADES), in company with his old enemy, Guelf of Bavaria, who proved treacherous, however, returned to Germany before Konrad, and with his nephew, Henry the Lion, renewed, though unsuccessfully, the former attempt to gain possession of Bavaria. Konrad took sides with the pope and the northern Italians against Roger of Sicily, but, while preparing for an expedition against the latter, he was poisoned, Feb. 15, 1152, at Bamberg. Konrad was largely endowed with the virtues necessary for a great monarch, and, though himself unlearned, was a warm patron of science and letters. His marriage with a Greek princess was symbolized by the two-headed eagle which figured on the arms of the emperor of Germany, and now appears on the arms of the sovereign of Austria. (See GERMANY).