The
Salian dynasty was a
dynasty in the
High Middle Ages of four
German Kings (1024-1125), also known as the
Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of
Franconia. All of these kings were also crowned
Holy Roman Emperor (1027-1125), to which entity, the term
'Salic dynasty' also refers, as a separate term.
After the death of the last Saxon of the Ottonian Dynasty in 1024, first the elected crown of 'King of Germany' and then three years later the elected position of 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 King of Germany in 1024 and crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 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. Their main accomplishment was the development of a permanent administrative system based on a class of public officials answerable to the crown.
The ancestral dynasty was founded by Werner of Worms and his son Duke Conrad the Red of Lorraine, who died in 955. Conrad the Red was married to Luitgard, a daughter of Emperor Otto I, their son was Otto I, Duke of Carinthia (ruled 978-1004).
