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.
The Imperial County of Ortenburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in present-day Lower Bavaria, Germany. It was located on the lands around Ortenburg Castle, about 10 km (6 mi) west of Passau. Though the Counts of Ortenburg—formerly Ortenberg—emerged in the 12th century as a cadet branch of the Rhenish House of Sponheim (Spanheim) who then ruled over the Duchy of Carinthia, an affiliation with the Carinthian Ortenburger comital family is unverifiable.
Saint Paul's Abbey in Lavanttal is a Benedictine monastery established in 1091 near the present-day market town of Sankt Paul im Lavanttal in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The premises centered on the Romanesque monastery church were largely rebuilt in a Baroque style in the 17th century.
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.
Lurnfeld is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau in the Austrian state of Carinthia. The municipality consists of the two Katastralgemeinden: Möllbrücke and Pusarnitz, comprising several small villages.
Oberdrauburg is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau at the western rim of the Austrian state of Carinthia.
Obervellach is a market town in the district of Spittal an der Drau, in the Austrian state of Carinthia.
The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a medieval German noble family, which originated in Rhenish Franconia. They were immediate Counts of Sponheim until 1437 and Dukes of Carinthia from 1122 until 1269. Its cadet branches ruled in the Imperial County of Ortenburg-Neuortenburg and various Sayn-Wittgenstein states until 1806.
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.
Millstatt Abbey is a former monastery in Millstatt, Austria. Established by Benedictine monks about 1070, it ranks among the most important Romanesque buildings in the state of Carinthia. The Benedictines were succeeded by the knightly Order of Saint George in 1469 and the Society of Jesus in 1598.
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.
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.
Sommeregg is a medieval castle near Seeboden in the Austrian state of Carinthia, Austria. It is situated in the foothills of the Nock Mountains at an altitude of 749 m.
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.
John II of Gorizia was the penultimate Count of Gorizia. He ruled the County of Gorizia from 1454 until his death.
Ulrich III was the Lord in the March of Carniola from c. 1249 and Duke of Carinthia from 1256 until his death, the last ruler from the House of Sponheim. His rule had long-lasting consequences. In Carniola, he acquired the former Meranian possessions, thus becoming the first undisputed princeps terrae, provincial lord or landgrave, creating the power and legal basis of the future Duchy of Carniola. The center of his original Carniolan possessions, Ljubljana, became the new administrative center and thus the provincial capital, as well as the center of Ulrich's power. In Carinthia, which he took over after his father's death, his seal became the coat of arms of Carinthia up to today. Despite his attempts to secure the vast Babenberg inheritance through two marriages, first to Agnes of Merania, widow of the last Babenberg duke Frederick II of Austria, and then to Frederick's niece Agnes of Baden, Ulrich remained childless. After a short interregnum by his younger brother Philip of Spanheim, patriarch of Aquileia, the House of Spanheim went extinct, and all of Ulrich's possessions were inherited by his cousin Ottokar II of Bohemia.
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.
