Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III (1093 or 1094–1152) was the first Hohenstaufen King of the Romans. Younger son of Duke Frederick I of Swabia and Agnes, he became Duke of Franconia in 1116 and was elected anti-king in 1127, submitting to Lothair II in 1135.

Elected king in 1138, he dispossessed Henry the Proud, opening the Guelph–Ghibelline struggle. Before joining the Second Crusade he had his son Henry Berengar crowned king, but was routed at Dorylaeum in 1147. He died at Bamberg in 1152, and was succeeded by his nephew Frederick Barbarossa.