Editing House of Babenberg (section)

===Babenberg Feud===
The leaders of the Babenbergs were the sons of Duke Henry, who called themselves after their castle of Babenburg on the upper [[Main (river)|Main river]], around which their possessions centered. The city of Bamberg was built around the ancestral castle of the family.<ref name="EB1911"/> The Conradines were led by Conrad the Elder and his brothers [[Rudolf I (bishop of Würzburg)|Rudolf]] and [[Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine|Gebhard]], probably the sons of Count [[Udo of Neustria]].

The rivalry between the Babenberg and Conradine families was intensified by their efforts to extend their authority in the region of the middle Main, and this quarrel, known as the "Babenberg feud", came to a first head in 892, when King Arnulf deposed Poppo II as Thuringian ruler, appointing Conrad the Elder instead, and installed Conrad's brother Rudolf as [[Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg|Bishop of Würzburg]]. The struggle intensified at the beginning of the 10th century during the troubled reign of Arnulf's son King [[Louis the Child]]. Clashes of arms occurred in 902, when the Conradine laid siege to Babenburg Castle and arrested [[Adalhard of Babenberg]]. The next year, Adalhard was executed at the ''[[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Reichstag]]'' of [[Forchheim]]; in return, the Babenbergs occupied the city of [[Würzburg]] and expelled Bishop Rudolf.

Meanwhile, Rudolf's brother Gebhard was appointed [[List of kings and dukes of Lorraine|Duke of Lotharingia]] in 903,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VUy1RFS01yIC&q=Gebhard+was+appointed+Duke+of+Lotharingia+in+903&pg=PT373|title=The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000|last=Wickham|first=Chris|date=2009-07-30|publisher=Penguin|isbn=9781101105184|language=en}}</ref> and had to cope both with revolting nobles and the continuing attacks by Babenberg forces.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}} Both sides met in the battle of [[Fritzlar]] on 27 February 906, where the Conradines won a decisive victory, although Conrad the Elder fell in the battle.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__EdBgAAQBAJ&q=battle+of+Fritzlar+on+27+February+906&pg=PA32|title=Deeds of the Saxons|last=Widukind (of Corvey)|date=2014|publisher=CUA Press|isbn=9780813226934|pages=32|language=en}}</ref> Two of the Babenberg brothers were also killed. The third, [[Adalbert of Babenberg|Adalbert]], was summoned before the imperial court by the regent Archbishop [[Hatto I (archbishop of Mainz)|Hatto I of Mainz]], a partisan of the Conradines. He refused to appear, held his own for a time in his castle at [[Theres]] against the king's forces, but surrendered in 906, and in spite of a promise of safe-conduct by Hatto was [[Decapitation|beheaded]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

[[Conrad I of Germany|Conrad the Younger]] became Duke of Franconia in 906 and [[List of German monarchs|King of East Francia]] (as Conrad I) in 911, while the Babenbergs lost their influence in Franconia.