Conrad of Krosigk
He supported Duke Philip of Swabia over Count Otto of Poitou in the German succession war that began in 1198.
Afterwards he fulfilled his vow to go to the Holy Land and exercised episcopal authority in the see of Tyre during the archbishop's six-month absence.
In 1209, he commissioned the extension of the Deeds of the Bishops of Halberstadt down to the end of his own pontificate, including an important account of the Fourth Crusade based in part on his eyewitness testimony.
His earliest appearance in any document dates to 1184, when a Cunradus de Crozuch is mentioned as a canon of Halberstadt Cathedral.
His election highlights the close relationship between the diocese of Halberstadt, the Krosigk and Hertbeke families and the reigning Staufer dynasty.
[7] In this situation, Ludolf of Kroppenstedt, archbishop of Magdeburg, came to Halberstadt to oversee the election and perhaps to assure the selection of a pro-Philip candidate.
[8] Still excommunicated, Conrad joined the Fourth Crusade on Palm Sunday, 7 April 1202, publicising his vow in a sermon he gave at his sister's abbey of Quedlinburg.
[9][10] Conrad gained two immediate practical benefits from this act: Papal protection of his property and the right of essoin (the suspension of judicial proceedings against him).
[9] Conrad received a gift of 500 marks from Albert, dean of Magdeburg Cathedral, to help defray the costs of his expedition.
[11] Conrad left Constantinople loaded with relics on 17 August 1204 to complete his vow to pilgrimage in the Holy Land.
[14] In Rome, Conrad presented a letter he had drafted in Constantinople and signed by King Aimery in Acre, which reads in part: Surely among our venerable pontiffs, Lord Halberstadt seemed deservedly praiseworthy as one who had both practical advice and extraordinary solicitude in these matters.
[15] Despite Innocent III's insistence, Conrad refused to abandon his support for Philip, which would have broken his oath to the king.
[17] On 26 June 1205, Innocent addressed a Papal bull to the people and clergy of Halberstadt informing them that Conrad had been formally readmitted to communion.
He also had relics attributed to John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, Andrew, Simon, Philip, Barnabas, James the Just, Stephen, Clement, Lawrence, Cosmas and Damian.
[20] In 1205, Conrad completed an unfinished work that Bishop Gardolf begun in 1199 when he set up some Cistercian nuns in the hospice and church of Saint Jacob in the city.
These included one or two holy thorns, a lock of the Virgin Mary's hair, the finger of St Nicholas and relics of the apostles Bartholomew, Simon, Thomas and Paul.
[24] For defying apostolic authority and retiring to a monastery, Conrad went to Rome to seek the pope's absolution in person.
[25] In the 19th century, Julius Otto Opel identified the "my dear [old] hermit" (mîn guoter [alter] klôsenaere) who is mentioned in three anti-Papal songs of the poet Walther von der Vogelweide with the retired Conrad.
On 21 April 1211, the pope sent Conrad and the abbot of Sittichenbach to Duke Władysław Spindleshanks of Greater Poland, who had seized the treasure of the archdiocese of Gniezno.
[26] In 1213, Conrad mediated a dispute over tithes between Duke Henry the Bearded of Silesia and Bishop Wawrzyniec of Wrocław.
In 1212, Abbot Gernot charged Duke Albert I of Saxony and the abbey's own advocate, Count Henry I of Anhalt, with damages to abbatial properties and animals.
Innocent III first sent Bishop Dietrich of Merseburg to deal with it, but after his failure he sent Conrad to order the parties to send procurators to Rome.
Henry refused to comply and the dispute remained open on 9 March 1218, when Honorius authorized Conrad and two co-delegates (Abbot William of Cella and Master Conrad of Marburg) to resolve the dispute if they could, otherwise to summon procurators to appear in Rome and if the defendants failed to comply to issue a default judgement in favour of Nienburg.
[29] On 17 June 1220, Pope Honorius III sent Conrad along with Bishops Engelhard of Naumburg and Eckard of Merseburg to investigate the claim of the abbey of Gandersheim to the land on which the castle of Asseburg had been built.
The case was actually heard and decided by Cardinal Raniero Capocci, but Conrad was charged with holding the Stift (church property) in the interim.
[31] In 1223, Conrad was part of the panel that confirmed Master Oliver's election as bishop of Paderborn, a judgement upheld on papal appeal in 1225.
[34] In 1214, according to the Chronica Montis Sereni, a picture of a crucifix in the market church at Halle was claimed by a local priest named Peter to have healing powers.
While the chronicler regarded the entire affair, which generated money for the church, as a fraud, he notes that Conrad testified to the authenticity of the miracles in his public preaching.
[36] Between March 1217 and the summer of 1218, Conrad served as vicar of Naumburg on behalf of Bishop Engelhard, who was absent on the crusade.
During this time, the title he used was "by the grace of God, bishop and monk in Sichem and legate of the Holy Cross", indicating that his vicariate was an extension of legatine crusade mission.
