German royal dynasties | |||
Salian dynasty | |||
Chronology | |||
Conrad II | 1024 – 1039 | ||
Henry III | 1039 – 1056 | ||
Henry IV | 1056 – 1105 | ||
Henry V | 1105 – 1125 | ||
Family | |||
Family tree of the German monarchs |
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Succession | |||
Preceded by Ottonian dynasty |
Followed by Süpplingenburg dynasty |
The Salian dynasty (German: Salier; also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and position as dukes of Franconia) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four German Kings (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor (1027–1125); as such, the term Salic dynasty is also used to refer to the Holy Roman Empire of the time as a separate term.
After the death of the last Saxon of the Ottonian Dynasty in 1024, the elective titles of King of the Germans and then three years later Holy Roman Emperor both passed to the first monarch of the Salian dynasty in the person of Conrad II, the only son of Count Henry of Speyer and Adelheid of Alsace (both territories in the Franconia of the day). He was elected German King in 1024 and crowned Holy Roman Emperor on 26 March 1027.
The four Salian kings of the dynasty—Conrad II, Henry III, Henry IV, and Henry V—ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1125, and firmly established their monarchy as a major European power. They achieved the development of a permanent administrative system based on a class of public officials answerable to the crown.
Werner of Worms and his son Duke Conrad the Red of Lorraine, who died in 955, founded the ancestral dynasty. Conrad the Red married Liutgarde, a daughter of Emperor Otto I. Their son Otto I, Duke of Carinthia ruled Carinthia from 978 to 1004.