CONRADIN (k6n'ra-den) OF SWABIA (1252-68). The son of Conrad 1V., and the last descendant of the imperial house of Hohenstaufen (q.v.). At his father's death he was only two years old. innocent IV. immediately seized upon the young Prince's Italian possessions, on the plea that the son of a prince who died excommu nicated had no hereditary rights; and other ene mies of the House of Hohenstaufen were only too glad to follow the Pope's example. Conradin was not left, however, totally friendless. His uncle Manfred took up arms in his behalf, drove the Papal forces from Naples and Sicily, and, in order to consolidate his nephew's authority, declared himself King till the young prince came of age. This antagonism between the Papacy and the Hohenstaufen induced Clement IV. to offer the crown of the Two Sicilics to Charles of Anjou (q.v.), an able warrior and politician. Charles immediately invaded Italy,
and met his antagonists in the plain of Gran della. where the defeat and death of Manfred, in 1266, gave him undisturbed possession of the kingdom. The Neapolitans, however, detested their new master, and sent deputies to Bavaria to invite Conradin, then in his fifteenth year, to come and assert his hereditary rights. Conradin accordingly made his appearance in Italy, and, being joined by the Neapolitans in large num bers, gained several victories over theFrench,but was finally defeated, and, together with his rela tive. Frederick of Baden, taken prisoner near Tagliaeozzo. August 23, 1268. The two unfortu nate princes were executed in the market-place of Naples, on October 29. Consult Schirrmacber, Die letzten Hohenstaufen (Gottingen, 1871).