Editing Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

===Imperial coronation===
[[File:Weltliche Schatzkammer Wien (190)2.JPG|thumb|220px|The [[Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire]]. Conrad was crowned as Emperor on 26 March 1027, by [[Pope John XIX]].]]

On 26 March 1027, [[Pope John XIX]] crowned Conrad and his wife Gisela as [[Holy Roman Emperor|emperor]] and empress, respectively, in [[Old Saint Peter's Basilica]] in [[Rome]].{{sfn|Wolfram|2006|p=102}} The event lasted seven days and was attended by Conrad's son and heir [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry]]; [[Cnut the Great]], King of England, Denmark and Norway; [[Rudolph III of Burgundy]] and around 70 senior clerics, including the Archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, Trier, Magdeburg, Salzburg, Milan and Ravenna.{{sfn|Heer|1968|p=51}} Rudolph of Burgundy's attendance suggested surprisingly good relations between Burgundy and the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. During the festivities, a power struggle between the archbishops of Milan and Ravenna ensued and was settled in favour of Milan. Subsequently, Conrad left Rome and toured south to receive [[Homage (feudal)|homage]] from the Southern Italian principalities of [[Principality of Capua|Capua]] and [[Principality of Salerno|Salerno]] and the [[Duchy of Benevento]].{{sfn|Weinfurter|1999|p=28–}}

After his coronation, Conrad issued decrees reorganising the monasteries and dioceses of Italy, with the explicit objective of bringing the [[Patriarchate of Venice]] under imperial control (see the ''[[Schism of the Three Chapters]]''). On 6 April 1027, at a [[synod]] held in the [[Lateran Basilica]] with [[Pope John XIX]], the emperor addressed the matter by declaring the [[Patriarchate of Aquileia]] superior to the [[Patriarchate of Grado]], an ally of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. The Aquileian [[Poppo of Treffen|Poppo]] had been a loyal supporter of Emperor Henry II, who had appointed him patriarch in 1020. Conrad's action placed the patriarchate at Grado under Poppo's authority, securing Poppo's loyalty by making him the Emperor's top official in northern Italy. The synod also limited the political autonomy of Venice. In so doing, Conrad broke with the policies of his predecessors and revoked Venice's privileged trading status.{{sfn|Schutz|2010|pp=115–}}

In May 1027 Conrad returned to Germany in order to attend the funeral of Duke [[Henry V of Bavaria]] at [[Regensburg]]. Conrad asserted his right to appoint the new [[Duchy of Bavaria|Duke of Bavaria]]. He made the unprecedented decision of choosing his 10-year-old son [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry]], ignoring several suitable candidates who held valid claims to the fief.

The young prince assumed Bavarian rule on 24 June 1027. Following Henry's appointment, Conrad held court at Regensburg and decreed that all imperial property in the duchy must be documented. This required the various counts and bishops to report all imperial property in their domains, castles and abbeys. Even the [[dowager empress]] [[Cunigunde of Luxembourg]] was required to report to Conrad, who even claimed that Cunegonde's ''[[wittum]]'' (money and property she had inherited from her deceased husband Emperor Henry II) belonged to him. These dubious claims to property and the excessive promotion of imperial authority over ducal and clerical affairs throughout Bavaria caused, unsurprisingly, new tension between him and the German aristocracy.<ref name=brit/>{{sfn|Wolfram|2006|p=114}}