Salian Dynasty

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): the term 'Salic dynasty' also applies to the Holy Roman Empire as a separate term.

After the death of the last Saxon of the Ottonian Dynasty in 1024, first the elected German King 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 German King 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. They achieved the development of a permanent administrative system based on a class of public officials answerable to the crown.