Conrad of Querfurt
CONRAD OF QUERFURT
Bishop of Hildesheim and Würzburg, chancellor of Emperor Henry VI and Philip of Swabia; d. Würzburg, Dec. 3?, 1202. Son of the burgrave of Magdeburg, he was educated probably at Paris, becoming canon at Magdeburg (1182); royal chaplain (1188); provost at Goslar (1188), at Magdeburg (1190), and at Aachen (1193); and, finally, bishop of Hildesheim (1194). At this same time (1194) he was made imperial chancellor. As imperial legate for all Italy, Conrad led the so-called German Crusade of 1197 and on March 5, 1198, raised the Teutonic Order of St. Mary's Hospital at Jerusalem to the rank of knights (see teutonic knights). When appointed bishop of Würzburg, he tried to retain the See of Hildesheim also, but was excommunicated and deprived of both sees by Innocent III. He regained Würzburg, however, in 1201 after seeking papal pardon in Rome. When Philip of Swabia incurred papal disapprobation, Conrad shifted his allegiance to the Guelf Emperor Otto IV (November 1202). He was killed by one of his own household.
Bibliography: l. von borch, Geschichte des kaiserlichen Kanzlers Konrad … (2d ed. Innsbruck 1882). t. mÜnster, Konrad von Querfurt (Leipzig 1890). a. franzen, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912–) 13: 498–499.
[m. f. mccarthy]