König Konrad III. (1138-1152). Hof, Urkunden und Politik

The study deals with the basics of the first staufian king s reign. Focussing on the persons present at his court. Their relationship with the king ist examined to gain insight into who the follows and confidents of the king were. This ist high significance for a ruler of the high middle ages who acted and reigned in cooperation with players round him. Measures of reigning were set in accordance with their interests, because the king depended on the participation of these main political groups. The criteria for examination a person in this study was an appearance at court for at least four times. The intention of this study of sources was to determine those abbots, archbishops, bishops, dukes, counts palatines, margraves, counts, nobles and ministerials, who were not only summoned to appeal at court, but who acted as actual advisors of the king. In a first step the results of this study of sources are put in relation with further influential political representatives of the Regnum Theutonicum as well as the Regnum Arelatense in order to outline the basis of Conrads III. reign. The emphasis in this context lies on Franconia, East Franconia and Swabia as well as the Lorrainese area and Bavaria. In the course of working in this thesis it became evident that Conrad III. also tried to establish contacts in Burgundy, but was barely succsesful. Nothwithstanding the fact that episcopacy in Saxony was quite royalist, it can be confirmed that this dukedom acted in latent opposition to the king. Austria, Carinthia, Styria and the Tyrol only were border territories whose representatives scarcely fulfilled their duties as the kings followers or vassals respectively. In contrast to the situation und Lothar III. many "ministerials regni" were closely assosciated with the kings court.