The Counts of Celje or the Counts of Cilli were the most influential late medieval noble dynasty on the territory of present-day Slovenia. Risen as vassals of the Habsburg dukes of Styria in the early 14th century, they ruled the County of Cilli as immediate counts (Reichsgrafen) from 1341. They soon acquired a large number of feudal possessions also in today's Croatia and Bosnia. They rose to Princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1436. The dynasty reached its peak with Ulrich II of Cilli, but with his death in 1456 they also died out, and after a war of succession, the Habsburgs inherited their domains.
Spittal an der Drau is a town in the western part of the Austrian federal state of Carinthia. It is the administrative centre of Spittal an der Drau District, Austria's second largest district (Bezirk) by area.
Seeboden am Millstätter See is a market town in Spittal an der Drau District in Carinthia, Austria.
Ulrich II, or Ulrich of Celje, was the last Princely Count of Celje. At the time of his death, he was captain general and de facto regent of Hungary, ban (governor) of Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia and feudal lord of vast areas in present-day Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Austria, and Slovakia. He was also a claimant to the Bosnian throne. He was killed by agents of the Hunyadi clan under unknown circumstances, which plunged Hungary into civil unrest that was resolved a year later by the sudden death of king Ladislas the Posthumous and the election of Matthias Corvinus, the son of John Hunyadi and Ulrich's son-in-law, as king. Ulrich's possessions in the Holy Roman Empire were inherited by Emperor Frederick III, while his possessions in Hungary were reverted to the crown.
The Counts of Ortenburg were a comital family in the mediaeval Duchy of Carinthia. Though they had roots in Bavarian nobility, an affiliation with the Imperial Counts of Ortenburg, a branch line of the Rhenish Franconian House of Sponheim, is not established.
Leonhard was the last count of Gorizia from the Meinhardiner dynasty. He ruled at Lienz and Gorizia (Görz) from 1454 until his death. He also held the title and rights as a count palatine of Carinthia.
Niederfalkenstein Castle is a medieval castle near Obervellach in Carinthia, Austria. It is part of the larger Falkenstein fortification complex; while the main fortress of Oberfalkenstein today is a ruin, the lower barbican of Niederfalkenstein is largely preserved.
Landskron Castle is a medieval hill castle northeast of Villach in the state of Carinthia, Austria. Dating to the early 14th century, the castle ruins are located on a rock cone of the Ossiach Tauern range, at an elevation of 658 metres (2,159 ft) above sea level. Today Landskron Castle, its falconry centre conducting regular flying demonstrations, and the nearby macaque enclosure are major tourist destinations.
Ortenburg Castle is a ruined mediaeval castle located in Baldramsdorf, in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located on the northern slope of Mt. Goldeck, part of the Gailtal Alps, above the Drava valley at a height of 740 m (2,430 ft).
Prägrad Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Carinthia, Austria. It is located near Feldkirchen on a hillside above the road to Lake Ossiach.
Rothenthurn is a castle in the municipality of Spittal an der Drau in Carinthia, Austria.
Virgil von Graben, also Virgil vom Graben, was an Austrian noble, politician and diplomat. He was one of the most important noblemen and officials in the County of Gorizia and in the Habsburg Empire of Frederick III. and Maximilian I.
Andreas von Graben zu Sommeregg was a Carinthian knight and nobleman residing at Sommeregg Castle. He served as a burgrave and castellan governor in the Ortenburg estates, held by the Counts of Celje until 1456. With the extinction of the Cillier family, Von Graben lost the post of captain of the County of Ortenburg under the Habsburgs, their successors as Ortenburg sovereign.
Rosina von Graben von Rain, also called Rosina von Rain, was an Austrian noble woman, a member of the Graben von Stein family and heiress of the burgraviate of Sommeregg Castle in Carinthia.
Herren von Graben, also named von (dem) Graben, vom Graben, Grabner, Grabner zu Rosenburg, Graben zu Kornberg, Graben zu Sommeregg, Graben von (zum) Stein, and ab dem Graben was the name of an old (Uradel) Austrian noble family.
The House of Khevenhüller is the name of an old and important Carinthian noble family, documented there since 1356, with its ancestral seat at Landskron Castle. In the 16th century, the family split into the two branches of Khevenhüller-Frankenburg, Imperial Counts from 1593, and Khevenhüller-Hochosterwitz, raised to Imperial Counts in 1725 and, as Khevenhüller-Metsch, to princely rank (Fürsten) in 1763. The family belongs to high nobility.
John II of Gorizia was the penultimate Count of Gorizia. He ruled the County of Gorizia from 1454 until his death.
Frederick I of Celje, also Frederick I of Cilli, was a Styrian free noble who became the first Count of Celje, founding a noble house that would dominate Slovenian and Croatian history in the first half of the 15th century.
The Rainer zu Rain family is an old Lower Bavarian noble family. The family represented a branch of the Vitztum von Straubing and held the hereditary rank of chief chamberlain in the Duchy of Bavaria. The line from Rain zu Sommeregg, which immigrated to Carinthia at the beginning of the 16th century, was raised to the rank of baron as heirs of von Graben to burgraves and lords of Sommeregg.
Lukas von Graben zum Stein, lord of Stein, Schwarzenegg and Weidenburg, pledger of Heinfels, was a Carinthian-Gorizian nobleman and military leader of the Counts of Gorizia and the Habsburgs. In the succession dispute over the princely County of Gorizia at the end of the 15th century, Von Graben acted as deputy of his father Virgil von Graben, administrator of Gorizia, and defender of the rights of the Habsburgs against the aspirations of the Republic of Venice. In 1518 he was one of 70 representatives in the first Austrian general parliament of Emperor Maximilian I in Innsbruck.
