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Rh from Wipo of the Emperor standing oftentime thigh-deep in the morass, fighting himself and encouraging his men to battle. The punishment, meted out to the prisoners captured in this exploit, leaves an indelible stain on the otherwise upright character of the Emperor. In their heathen fanaticism they had sacrilegiously mutilated the figure of Christ on a crucifix; Conrad avenged the outrage in like fashion. Drawn up before the cross they had dishonoured, their eyes put out, their hands and feet hacked off; they were left to die miserably. The second attack, of which the details are not recorded, appears to have been decisive; the Wends submitted, and had to pay the penalty for their revolt at the price of an increased tribute.

The wisdom of Conrad's diplomacy is perhaps most evident in his relations with his powerful northern neighbour Knut, King of England, Denmark, and, in 1030, Norway. Had Conrad permitted the hostility which had existed under his predecessor to continue, he would have found in Knut a formidable opponent always ready to disturb the stability of the imperial authority on the north-eastern border of Germany. His policy towards Poland, Bohemia, and more especially the Wendish country across the Elbe, could scarcely have met with so large a measure of success. The rulers of Poland and Denmark were closely related; both countries were at enmity with Germany; an alliance between them seemed natural and inevitable. Thus Conrad lost no time in bringing about, through the mediation of Unwan, Archbishop of Bremen, friendly relations with Knut (1025). This alliance was drawn closer some ten years later by the marriage of their children, Henry and Gunnhild, and by the cession to the Danish king of the March and the town of Schleswig. Though the German frontier was thereby brought back to the Eider, the gain outweighed the loss. Knut was zealous for the advancement of the Christian religion; he kept in close touch with the metropolitans of Bremen, Unwan and his successors, and promoted their efforts towards the conversion of the heathen. From Germany he drew churchmen to fill high positions in his English kingdom, as for instance Duduco, Bishop of Wells, and Wichmann, Abbot of Ramsey. Unfortunately, this powerful and useful ally of the Empire survived the treaty of 1035 but a few months: he died in November of the same year, and the Danish ascendancy soon crumbled away under the rule of his successors.

We have already noticed how the death of the Emperor Henry II had been the signal in Italy for a general revolt against the imperial authority; for this movement, which found its expression in the burning of the royal palace at Pavia and in the offer of the Lombard crown to a