notable ruler of his time.

[Sidenote: Conrad III.]

Lothair hoped to leave in his son-in-law a successor with irresistible
claims. But the very influence to which Lothair owed his own election
was now to be cast into the scale against the representative of his
family; while the grounds of objection to the succession of Frederick
of Hohenstaufen to Henry V now held good against Henry of Bavaria,
Saxony, and Tuscany. The Pope and the German nobles were equally
afraid of a ruler whose insolent demeanour had already won him the
title of "the Proud." They took as their candidate the lately rejected
Hohenstaufen Conrad, whose behaviour since his submission had gained
him favour in proportion as the conduct of Henry of Bavaria had
alienated the other nobles. Conrad was crowned at Aachen by the papal
legate, and Henry made his submission. But Conrad, like Lothair, felt
himself insecure with so powerful a subject. Accordingly he took away
from him the duchy of Saxony, and gave it to the heir of the old dukes
in the female line. When Henry refused to accept the decision Conrad
put him to the ban of the Empire and deprived him of Bavaria also,
which he proceeded to confer upon a relative of his own. But Conrad's
obvious attempt to advance his own family offended the nobles, and the
death of Henry the Proud in 1139 opened the way for a compromise.
Saxony was made over to Henry's youthful son, known in history as
Henry the Lion, while Bavaria was to be the wedding portion of Henry
the Proud's widow if she married Conrad's relative, who was already
Margrave of Austria.

[Sidenote: Arnold of Brescia.]