Herman IV of Swabia
Duke of Swabia
Herman IV (c. 1015 – July 1038) was the Duke of Swabia (1030–1038). He was the second son of Ernest I and Gisela of Swabia. He was one of the Babenberg dukes of Swabia.
Herman became duke in 1030 following the death of his older brother Ernest II. At the time he was still a minor.
Seven years later, his stepfather, the Emperor Conrad II, married him to Adelaide of Susa, the marchioness of Turin, in January 1037. Herman was then invested as margrave of Turin. In July of the next year, while campaigning with Conrad in Southern Italy, he was struck down by an epidemic near Naples. Conrad then transferred rule of the duchy of Swabia to his own son, Henry I, while Adelaide remarried to Henry of Montferrat.
He was buried in Trento Cathedral on 28 July 1038, because the summer heat made it impossible to bring his corpse back to Germany.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Herman IV of Swabia” is duke of Swabia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Herman, Swabia and Duke, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “duke of Swabia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q64318. VIAF identifies the subject as 80312523. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1015, 1038, 1030 and 1037.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Herman IV of Swabia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Herman IV of Swabia primary sources, Herman IV of Swabia archive and Herman research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Herman IV of Swabia”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Herman IV of Swabia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.