Solomon III was the Bishop of Constance from 890 to his death. In 885, the Emperor Charles III made him archchancellor

Archchancellor

An archchancellor or chief chancellor was a title given to the highest dignitary of the Holy Roman Empire, and also used occasionally during the Middle Ages to denote an official who supervised the work of chancellors or notaries....

 of the Empire, for Konstanz was then the greatest diocese in Swabia

Swabia

Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...

, which had been Charles' original kingdom and was still his home most of the time. As well as bishop, he was also abbot of Reichenau

Reichenau Island

Reichenau Island lies in Lake Constance in southern Germany, at approximately . It lies between Gnadensee and Untersee, two parts of Lake Constance, almost due west of the city of Konstanz. The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway that was completed in 1838...

 and Saint Gall

Abbey of St. Gall

The Abbey of Saint Gall is a religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland. The Carolingian-era Abbey has existed since 719 and became an independent principality during the 13th century, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was...

, immensely powerful abbeys in Swabia and the Rhineland

Rhineland

Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....

. Solomon founded a church in honour of Saint Magnus

Magnus of Füssen

Saint Magnus of Füssen, otherwise Magnoald or Mang, was a missionary saint in southern Germany, also known as the Apostle of the Allgäu. He is believed to have been a contemporary either of Saint Gall or of Saint Boniface and is venerated as the founder of St. Mang's Abbey, Füssen.-Life:There is...

 at Saint Gall.

Solomon was a warlike prelate, originally an ally of both King Louis the Child

Louis the Child

Louis the Child , sometimes called Louis IV or Louis III, was the last Carolingian ruler of East Francia....

 and Count Palatine Erchanger in the wars for the Swabian dukeship against the Burchards. He was influential in the execution of Burchard I

Burchard I, Duke of Swabia

Burchard I was the duke of Alamannia from 909 to his death and margrave of Rhaetia, as well as count in the Thurgau and Baar. Born between 855 and 860, he was the son of Adalbert II, count in the Thurgau. He himself married Liutgard of Saxony.By 900, Burchard was already the most powerful man in...

 in 911, but he left his alliance with Erchanger when the latter allied with King Conrad I

Conrad I of Germany

Conrad I , called the Younger, was Duke of Franconia from 906 and King of Germany from 911 to 918, the only king of the Conradine dynasty...

. Erchanger even imprisoned Solomon in 914. Conrad, however, supported the bishop and freed him.