Conrad needed to address the longstanding "Gandersheim Conflict" as he had assumed the German throne. The decade-old unsettled dispute on who controls Gandersheim Abbey and its estates dated back to the reign of Emperor Otto III. Both the Archbishop of Mainz and the Bishop of Hildesheim claimed authority over the Abbey, that also included the right to invest and anoint the Abbey's nuns. Though Otto III had once eased the tensions among the warring parties by declaring that both bishops would be entitled to anoint the Abbess and her sisters, the conflict still lingered. Archbishop Aribo of Mainz, the new Primate of Germany, counted on Conrad, who was indebted to Aribo for his support during the royal election. In January 1027, the king summoned a synod at Frankfurt to end the dispute, but a conclusion could not be reached. He called another synod in September 1028, which also failed. Only a third synod in 1030 solved the conflict when Bishop Gotthard of Hildesheim renounced his claims in favor of Aribo.