Konrad von Marburg (sometimes Anglicised as Conrad of Marburg) was a 13th century German inquisitor. He was commissioned by the Pope to combat the Albigensians, who the Roman Catholic Church considered to be heretics. He is known for the extreme methods he employed, and for the early death that these methods brought him. Anglicisation (CwE) or Anglicization (NAE) is a process of making something English. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... An official in an Inquisition, an Inquisitor is literally one who searches out or inquires (Latin inquirere < quaerere, to seek). The Grand Inquisitor, or Inquisitor Generalis, was the chief Inquisitor of an Inquisition. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Albigensians are the inhabitants of Albi, France. ... The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian body in the world. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the ‘catholic’ or orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ...

Konrad's early life is not well known, but he was described by contemporary church sources as being well educated and highly knowledgeable. It is possible that he received a university education. He was also noted for his strong asceticism and his zeal in defending the church. Much of his early work within the church was related to the suppression of heresy, and he took an active part in the Albigensian Crusade in southern France. Pope Innocent III, who championed the Crusade and the accompanying Medieval Inquisition, was one of Konrad's early supporters. A professor giving a lecture at the Helsinki University of Technology A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... Asceticism is a word used to denote an abstinent life which is characterised by austerity. ... The Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229) was a brutal 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the religion practiced by the Cathars of Languedoc, which the Roman Catholic hierarchy considered heretical. ... Innocent III, né Lotario de Conti (Anagni, 1161–Perugia, June 16, 1216), was Pope from January 8, 1198 until his death. ... Pedro Berruguete. ...

Eventually, however, Konrad returned to Germany, the land of his birth. He gradually acquired a position of considerable influence at the court of Ludwig IV, Landgrave of Thuringia. In particular, Konrad gained considerable power over Ludwig's wife, Elisabeth of Hungary, to whom Konrad acted as religious advisor and confessor. In this role, Konrad's treatment of Elisabeth was extremely harsh, and he held her to standards of behaviour which were almost impossible to meet. Among the punishments he is alleged to have ordered were physical beatings and separation from her three children. In 1231, possibly because of Konrad's treatment of her, Elisabeth died. She was soon elevated to Sainthood as St. Elisabeth, and became one of the two or three most eminent female saints of medieval times (and beyond). In modern scholarly literature, generally a strongly sadistic element has been diagnosed in Konrad's behavior towards Elizabeth. Graf is a German noble title equal in rank to a count or an earl. ... The Free State of Thuringia (German Freistaat Thüringen) lies in central Germany and is among the smaller of the countrys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states), with an area of 16,200 sq. ... Elisabeth of Hungary St. ... The title confessor is used in the Christian Church in two separate ways. ... Events Ardengus becomes bishop of Florence. ... General definition of saint In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ... Flogging demonstration at Folsom Street Fair 2004. ...

Konrad also set to work seeking out heresy in both Thuringia and Hesse, and quickly gained a reputation for being unreasonable and unjust. According to most accounts, Konrad accepted almost any accusation as being true, and regarded suspects as guilty until proven innocent. Those accused of being heretics were quickly sought out by Konrad's mobs, and told to repent or else be burnt at the stake. Those accused of heresy were also encouraged to falsely denounce others, with the implication that their life might be spared if they did so. Konrad included commoners, nobles, and priests in his inquisition - Heinrich Minnike, Provost of Goslar, was one of Konrad's first targets, and was burnt at the stake. In 1227, Pope Gregory IX commissioned Konrad to eliminate heresy throughout the whole of Germany, granting him permission to ignore standard church procedure for the investigation of heresy. According to many sources, news that Konrad was to pass through an area almost invariably caused widespread panic. With an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants, Hesse (German: Hessen) is one of Germanys sixteen federal states (Bundesländer). ... Burning of two sodomites at the stake outside Zürich, 1482 (Spiezer Schilling) Execution by burning is capital punishment by fire. ... Provost (through O. Fr. ... Events Henry III of England declares himself of age and assumes power Births September 30 - Pope Nicholas IV Deaths March 18 - Pope Honorius III (b. ... Gregory IX, né Ugolino di Conti ( 1143–August 22, 1241), pope from 1227 to 1241, the successor of Honorius III, fully inherited the traditions of Gregory VII and of his uncle Innocent III, and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy. ...

In 1233, Konrad accused Heinrich II, Count of Sayn, of taking part in "satanic orgies". Heinrich, however, appealed to an assembly of bishops in Mainz, and was declared innocent. Konrad refused to accept the decision, and demanded that the verdict be reversed, but eventually left Mainz to return to Marburg. On the road, he was attacked by several knights, who killed both Konrad and his assistant. The knights may or may not have been in the service of Heinrich. Henry II (? - 1246, Count of Sayn 1202 - 1246) was the Count of Sayn, a County located near the Sieg River in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. ... A count is a nobleman in most European countries, equivalent in rank to a British earl, whose wife is still a countess (for lack of an Anglo-Saxon term). ... Sayn was a medieval German County located in the Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. ... Map of Germany showing Mainz Mainz (French: Mayence) is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ...

After Konrad's death, Pope Gregory declared Konrad to have been an upholder of the Christian faith, and ordered his killers punished. Perceptions in Germany, however, were markedly less favourable, and the memory of Konrad was enough to turn opinion against the inquisition for many years.

Not only locally, and not diminishing over the centuries, the name of Konrad von Marburg became a byword for sadism and the dark side of Catholicism. The place where Konrad was killed, Hof Kapelle near Marburg, is marked with a stone (within the premises of a private farm); it was locally long believed to be haunted and is allegedly today on certain days the site of black rites. A fountain on the lower Steinweg, one of Marburg's main lanes, close to St. Elizabeth Church, which in some neo-gothic restoration attempt was topped with the effigy of a generic monk that was locally believed to represent Konrad, was continuously stoned by the students of the University of Marburg, and after many attempts of replacement had to be substituted with an architectural ornament. The University of Marburg, officially called Philipps-Universität Marburg after its founder, the Landgrave Philipp I of Hesse (usually called the Magnanimous), was founded in 1527 and is the worlds first and oldest Protestant university. ...

Konrad appears in a work by the English novelist Charles Kingsley, who wrote his Saint's Tragedy about Elisabeth. Charles Kingsley (July 12, 1819 - January 23, 1875) was an English novelist, particularly associated with the West Country. ...