Conrad of Querfurt

Conrad of Querfurt (c. 1160 – 3 December 1202 in Würzburg ) was a prince of the Church of the late 12th century. He was Bishop of Hildesheim (1194–1199) and Bishop of Würzburg (1198–1202) and served two kings as Chancellor (1194-1201).

Rise and origin

Conrad was a son of the Magdeburg Burggrave Burchard II of Querfurt and Matilda of Gleichen, a daughter of Count Lambert I zu Tonna.

Conrad attended the Cathedral School in Hildesheim and later studied with Lothar of Segni in Paris, who later became Pope Innocent III. In 1182, he received a Canon position in Magdeburg. In 1188, he became a member of the royal chapel and a Provost in Goslar. In 1190, he became Provost in Magdeburg and then in 1194 in St Mary's Cathedral in Aachen.

Chancellor of Henry VI

On the Sicilian expedition of Henry VI in 1194, the Chancellor Sigelo had died and Conrad, once one of the educators of the Emperor, was appointed as his successor. The following year, Conrad was elected as Bishop of Hildesheim.

In 1196, the Emperor appointed him General Legate for Apulia, Italy and Sicily. In the enforcement of Hohenstaufen rule in Southern Italy and Sicily, he played a key role. At Conrad's instigation, Peter of Eboli wrote his Liber ad honorem Augusti, that illustrated verse epic in which represented the events and appropriately recognized the merits of Conrad.

Crusade

In 1197, Conrad was with Emperor Henry's Imperial Marshal, Henry of Kalden, one of the leaders of the German Crusade of 1197. He influenced King Amalrich of Cyprus to marry Isabella I of Jerusalem and take the crown of Jerusalem. Then during the siege of Toron, Conrad received news of the Emperor's and Pope Celestine III's deaths. He broke the siege, fearing the throne was disputed because of the young age of Henry's son, Frederick.

Before leaving, Conrad was involved in the transformation of the hospital cooperative in the camp of Acre on 5 March 1198, into the Teutonic Order. Pope Innocent III gave this transformation of the Hospital cooperative his consent in 1198.

External links

• Literature by and about Konrad von Querfurt in the German National Library catalogue
• Kurzbiografie (genealogie-mittelalter.de)
• http://www.gebrochene-schwingen.de/chronik.html