Conrad II largely continued the political course, the "Renovatio regni Francorum" of his Ottonian predecessor Henry II regarding the role and organisation of the Church and the status and affairs of Italy. He proceeded to evolve the Proprietary church as a basis for imperial power, preferring to appoint clerics over secular lords for important offices throughout the empire. Like Henry II before him, he insisted on his feudal claim ("Honor Imperii"), yet granted Italy a high degree of self-governance, near complete economic autonomy and recognized and respected the political importance and influence of the city of Rome and its curia in particular. His reign marked a high point of medieval imperial rule during a relatively peaceful period for the empire. Upon the death of the childless King Rudolph III of Burgundy in 1032, Conrad claimed dominion over the "Kingdom of the Two Burgundies", conquered it and incorporated it into the empire. The three kingdoms (Germany, Italy, and Burgundy) formed the basis of the empire as the "royal triad" ("regna tria").