Bishopric of Würzburg

Who rules

Name

Conrad of Querfurt

Title

Bishop (elect) of Würzburg, holder of the see's ducal rights in East Franconia; chancellor of the royal court (imperialis aule cancellarius) of King Philip

Since

Elected to Würzburg while still in the Holy Land, in late 1197 or early 1198 (month not pinned); back in Germany by mid-1198, when Philip confirmed him as chancellor. Bishop of Hildesheim from autumn 1194 (some sources say November 1194 or 1195); chancellor since 1194 or March 1195.

Born

about 1160

Family

House of Querfurt, burgraves of Magdeburg. Father Burchard II, burgrave of Magdeburg; mother Mathilde, daughter of Count Lambert I of Gleichen (Tonna). Brothers Burchard III and Gebhard IV, burgraves of Magdeburg, and Wilhelm, provost of Goslar and Aachen. Sister Adelheid, wife of Count Adolf III of Holstein (Schauenburg). Nephew Burchard IV, burgrave of Magdeburg.

Confidence

high

NDB and ADB (deutsche-biographie.de) and de/en Wikipedia. The NDB and ADB give the dated steps of his quarrel with Rome; the exact day of his excommunication is not given in what we read.

Overlord

The king for the regalia (Philip of Swabia, whose chancellor he is); the archbishop of Mainz as metropolitan; the pope, who has excommunicated him.

What the realm holds

• The city of Würzburg, the bishop's castle on the Marienberg across the Main, the cathedral and the Main bridge
• The ducal high justice (the right to judge crimes of blood) in the diocese and the 'duchy' of East Franconia, by Barbarossa's privilege of 10 July 1168
• The see's manors, castles and advocacies along the Main (Karlburg, the lands round Würzburg), in the Steigerwald (Gerolzhofen, Iphofen) and in the Grabfeld and the Rhön (Meiningen, Mellrichstadt, Bischofsheim, the Salzburg at Neustadt): held as manors and castle districts, not as a closed territory
• Overlordship of the fiefs of the counts of Henneberg (the burgraviate), Castell, Wertheim and Rieneck and of many free lords and ministeriales in the diocese
• The bishop's mint at Würzburg
• His claim to Hildesheim, which the pope ordered to elect anew on 6 May 1199; he gives it up in February or March 1200

How it was acquired

The see was founded by Boniface in 741-42. The bishops gathered most of the counties within the diocese in the 10th and 11th centuries; Barbarossa's privilege of 1168 confirmed the bishop's ducal justice. Conrad's election came while he was overseas (late 1197 or early 1198), after the death of Bishop Gottfried (of Hohenlohe, according to the usual lists; not checked here).

Allies and rivals

Ally and master: King Philip. Kin: the Querfurt burgraves of Magdeburg; Count Adolf III of Holstein is his brother-in-law. Rivals: the pope, who has banned him; the counts of Rieneck on the lower Main, against whom he is building Karlstadt; the cathedral ministeriales of the Ravensburg family, whom he has punished (his Schultheiss Eckard was killed by members of that family; the date is not pinned and may be later than 1 January 1200), and who are related by marriage to Philip's marshal Henry of Kalden; the counts of Henneberg, whose burgraviate the bishops are squeezing.

The realm that morning

Conrad holds Würzburg in fact and sits at Philip's side as chancellor; he backs Philip (STAUFEN, firm for that winter: he signed the princes' protest of Speyer on 28 May 1199, styled bishop of Hildesheim and chancellor, and stays Philip's chancellor until at least 20 September 1201). He is excommunicated; Hildesheim has been ordered to elect a new bishop. Where he spent Christmas 1199 is not pinned; as chancellor he was probably with Philip at Magdeburg, but we have not seen his name in a witness list there.

Wealth

Wine of the Main valley, the bishop's tolls and mint at Würzburg, the Main crossing and bridge, rents of a large but scattered domain, and the fees of the high justice.

Military

The castle on the Marienberg; the see's ministeriales (unfree knights who owed the bishop service) and its vassal counts; new fortified towns on the frontier with Rieneck (Karlstadt). No figures survive.

Threats

• The papal ban: an excommunicated bishop cannot be obeyed in good conscience, and the pope could set up a rival
• Conrad's own ministeriales, the Ravensburg brothers above all, who will murder him in December 1202
• The counts of Rieneck on the lower Main
• A Welf push into Franconia if the throne war turns

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 5 February 1200King Philip is at Würzburg and issues a charter there (witnessed by Lupold of Gründlach).Depends on: Philip's movements after Christmas at Magdeburg Stopped by: war keeping Philip in Saxony or on the Rhine
2. February 1200 (ADB) or late March 1200 (NDB)Conrad lays down both Hildesheim and Würzburg and goes to Rome to submit to Innocent III.Depends on: Conrad choosing submission rather than open defiance; Philip letting his chancellor go Stopped by: Philip forbidding the journey, Conrad refusing to submit, or capture on the road through Lombardy
3. Late March or April 1200; 9 April 1200In Rome the pope lifts the Church's penalties; on 9 April 1200 Innocent upholds the loss of Hildesheim but leaves the way open for him to have Würzburg again.Depends on: his submission Stopped by: a refusal to resign Hildesheim
4. around 1200 (year only; not pinned)Foundation of Karlstadt on the Main beside the see's old castle of Karlburg, as a bulwark against the counts of Rieneck.Depends on: Conrad's control of the see's lands and money Stopped by: war with Rieneck or his fall
5. 1201 (beyond 1200)The chapter postulates him again and the pope confirms him (early or summer 1201); on 8 September 1201 Philip gives up the Würzburg church fiefs; Conrad last appears as Philip's chancellor on 20 September 1201; in 1202 he breaks with Philip, fortifies the Marienberg and is murdered on 3 (or 4 or 6) December 1202 by Bodo of Ravensburg and Heinrich (Hund) of Falkenberg.Depends on: the course of the throne war and the feud with the ministeriales Stopped by: anything that keeps him on Philip's side or reconciles the Ravensburgs

Places of note

• Marienberg castle: The bishop's castle above the Main, opposite the city
• Karlburg and Karlstadt: Old castle and manor of the see; the new town of Karlstadt is founded about 1200 against Rieneck
• Meiningen: Manor of the see in the upper Werra valley (given by Henry II in 1008, from our own knowledge; not checked here)

Where the sources disagree

• campaign notes say Conrad is excommunicated for keeping Hildesheim as well as Würzburg. The NDB and ADB agree: on 6 May 1199 Innocent ordered Hildesheim to elect anew, and Conrad gave up both sees only in February or March 1200. So on 1 January 1200 he is still under the ban and still styles himself bishop; the absolution falls in March or April 1200, as part of the likely course.
• The de and en Wikipedia articles put Karlstadt's foundation in 1200 and say he went over to Otto after his absolution; the NDB has him break with Philip only in September or October 1202, and he stayed Philip's chancellor until at least September 1201. We follow the NDB: on 1 January 1200 he is Philip's man.

Evidence: Conrad is one of the best documented men of the reign: charters, papal letters, chronicles. The see's lands in 1200 are less clear, because the territory took shape only in the 13th century.

On the map: The see's own lands in 1200 were scattered manors, castles and rights, not a block; the bishop's high justice ran across the whole diocese, over the lands of the counts too. Only the main concentrations are drawn; the ground between them belongs to the counts, free lords and abbeys in their own records.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online