Conrad ('the Red'), duke of Lorraine

Conrad, called the Red, was Duke of Lorraine from 944 until 953. He became the progenitor of the Imperial Salian dynasty.

Lotharingia was a historical region and an early medieval polity that existed during the late Carolingian and early Ottonian era, from the middle of the 9th to the middle of the 10th century. It was established in 855 by the Treaty of Prüm, as a distinctive kingdom within the Carolingian Empire, but abolished already in 869-870 when it was divided by the Treaty of Meerssen. It was territorially reunited in 880 by the Treaty of Ribemont, and reestablished as a kingdom from 895 to 900. Since 903, it was organized as a duchy, that existed up to 959, when it was divided in two distinctive duchies: the Upper Lotharingia, and the Lower Lotharingia. The regional name Lotharingia means, approximately, "the land of Lothair", and was derived from the name of its first ruler, king Lothair II, who received this territory as his share of the Kingdom of Middle Francia. The region comprised present-day Lorraine (France), Luxembourg, parts of modern Germany west of the Rhine, most of Belgium, and Netherlands.