The Historians' History of the World 07

This was a very drastic measure, and greatly increased the popularity of the king. From Aachen Conrad proceeded to Saxony to dispose the minds of the Saxons favourably to himself. There he was obliged to have recourse to very different means. The Saxons were by this time accustomed to the unity of the German state, but they were still apprehensive of restrictions upon their national laws, and their first and most pressing demand was for the confirmation of the same. These consisted of the harsh regulations of serfdom which had come down from primitive times, the strict prohibition of unequal marriages, etc., and thus redounded to the advantage of the nobility alone.

[1024-1026 A.D.]

Conrad, however, could not afford to anger the great Saxon nobles, and he therefore confirmed “the so cruel laws of the Saxons,” as Wipoc phrases it. Having thus secured his recognition by the North Germans, he next collected the tribute due from the border Slavs who were subjects of the empire, that by this means he might provide himself with material resources for carrying out his designs; and then proceeded by way of Franconia to Bavaria and Swabia. On this progress Conrad established himself firmly in the popular esteem, and by the time it was finished his position seemed much stronger than before.

In Italy fresh troubles had arisen, for a party among the Lombards were desirous of overthrowing the German supremacy, and wished to transfer their allegiance to France for that purpose. On the other hand, Heribert, archbishop of Milan, was well disposed towards the Germans, and therefore journeyed to visit Conrad II, who was at that time in Constance, in which place he had likewise resided during the first year of his reign. The king received him very graciously, and lent a favourable ear to the bishop’s request that he should make a military expedition into Italy. An embassy from the opposition party, and from the city of Pavia in particular, had also made its appearance at Constance, but was harshly received by Conrad; and it is probable that he would at that time have undertaken a campaign beyond the Alps if he had not been busy with matters nearer home. The consummation of the national unity of the German race was obviously an admirable means of enhancing the power of the crown, but a considerable portion of German territory was still alienated from the empire. Part of Switzerland on the German side of the Jura belonged to Burgundy, which was ruled by an independent king.

A quarrel over the succession, to which we have previously referred, had already taken place between this monarch and Henry II, and had resulted in the conclusion of a treaty by which after the death of the childless king Rudolf the succession to his dominions was assured to the head of the German Empire.

When Henry was dead, however, the king of Burgundy tried to put a different construction on the treaty, declaring that he had bestowed the succession on Conrad’s predecessor merely as his sister’s son, and not as king of the Germans. But Conrad II being bent, as Wipoc observes, on the aggrandisement and not the diminution of the empire, forthwith took up arms against Rudolf and occupied the city of Bâle, which at that time belonged to Burgundy.

By this he incurred the violent enmity of Duke Ernst of Swabia, who was the “natural” heir of Rudolf, and of Gisela by her first marriage, and thus stepson to Conrad II; and as many German nobles secretly sided with the duke, while at the same time a Slavonic prince, Boleslaw by name, rebelled against the empire, and while the affairs of Italy seemed imperatively to demand the king’s presence, the latter postponed the acquisition of the rest of Burgundy to a more favourable opportunity. He first marched to Saxony to reduce Boleslaw to submission; but the Slavonic prince died before his arrival, and a civil war broke out between his sons which exhausted the forces of both.

CONRAD IN ITALY AND GERMANY (1026-1039 A.D.)

[1026-1030 A.D.]