Germany: Lothair III (1075-1137), 20th Holy Roman emperor, from the book Romanorvm imperatorvm effigies: elogijs ex diuersis scriptoribus per Thomam Treteru S. Mariae Transtyberim canonicum collectis, 1583

Lothair III (1075-1137), sometimes numbered Lothair II, was the son of Saxon count Gebhard of Supplinburg, who joined the Saxon Rebellion against the Salian dynasty and died in 1075. Lothair was born posthumously and worked his way up the political ladder, purchasing lands and making marriage alliances throughout Saxony. In exchange for aiding Henry V in overthrowing his father, Emperor Henry IV, Lothair was made Duke of Saxony in 1106. He revolted against Henry V afterwards, but was defeated and pardoned in 1112.

Lothair subsequently rose against the emperor again in 1115, joining rebelling Saxon forces that defeated the emperor in various battles in Cologne. When Henry died in 1125, Lothair was elected as King of Germany by the nobility, thinking him easy to manipulate. Duke Frederick II, a member of the rising Hohenstaufen house, had aspirations to become Holy Roman emperor and waged a civil war against Lothair but was eventually defeated in 1134.

Lothair waged a partially successful campaign against King Roger II of Sicily in 1136, but the revolt of his German troops, refusing to campaign in the hot summer, prevented him from a complete conquest of Sicily. Lothair died while crossing the Alps in 1137. He was the first and last member of the Supplinburg dynasty, and the crown went to his former enemies, the Hohenstaufens, after his death, dashing his hopes of a Welf hereditary monachy.

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