History
After the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps from about 590 and the establishment of the Carantanian principality in the 7th century, the area had fallen under Bavarian suzerainty, when about 740 Prince Boruth asked Duke Odilo for help against invading Avar forces. Incorporated into the Carolingian Empire by Charlemagne, Frankish manoralism was introduced and the northwestern areas were resettled by Bavarian peasants. The population was Christianized by the Archbishops of Salzburg. However, large parts of former Carantania were again lost during the invasion of Hungarian troops culminating in the East Frankish defeat in the 907 Battle of Pressburg.
King Otto I of Germany ended the Hungarian invasions in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. In the aftermath, the former Carantanian lands were reconquered up to the Lafnitz River in the east. When in 976 King Otto II separated the Duchy of Carinthia from the Bavarian stem duchy, it included the marches of Verona, Istria, Carniola, and the marchia Carantana (Styria), comprising the adjacent eastern territory beyond the Koralpe range on to the Mur, Mürz and Enns rivers. In 1042/43 further territory east of the Mur up to Pitten and the Leitha river was conquered by King Henry III of Germany, who finally defeated the Hungarian forces in the 1044 Battle of Ménfő.
The Carantanian lands were largely settled by Germans and Christianized by the Archbishops of Salzburg. In 1004, the Bavarian count palatines of the Aribonid dynasty founded the Benedictine nunnery of Göss, which was elevated to an Imperial abbey by Emperor Henry II in 1020. Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg established Admont Abbey in 1074, and St. Lambrecht's Abbey was founded as a proprietary monastery of the noble House of Eppenstein two years later. Further cloister foundations included the Cistercian abbey of Rein in 1129, Seckau Abbey in 1140, Spital am Semmering in 1160, the Augustinian monastery of Vorau in 1163, and the charterhouse of Seitz (Žiče) in 1164.
The first margraves from the House of Eppenstein appear in the late 10th century. Margrave Adalbero was also enfeoffed with the Duchy of Carinthia in 1011/12, but was deposed for alleged high treason by Emperor Conrad II in 1035. In 1053/54, the margravial lands were pillaged by the forces of the deposed Bavarian duke Conrad I and Duke Welf of Carinthia. From 1056 onwards, the march was ruled by the Chiemgau count Ottokar I and his descendants of the Otakar dynasty, who were first mentioned as "Margraves of Steyr" in 1074. In 1122, they also inherited the allodial possessions of their Eppenstein predecessors in Upper Styria.
Once the political turmoils of the fierce Investiture Controversy had ended, Margrave Leopold the Strong (1122–1129) and his son Ottokar III (1129–1164) gradually gained independence from the Carinthian dukes and were able to acquire large territories along the Savinja river down to the Windic March. Leopold had the town and castle of Hartberg laid out. Margrave Ottokar III extended his influence down the Mur river into the Mark an der Sann territory (Lower Styria) and moved his residence to Graz; he already began to call himself princeps . In 1180, his son and successor Margrave Ottokar IV was finally elevated to the rank of Duke of Styria by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
However, Ottokar IV was also the last Otakar duke. The line became extinct upon his death in 1192, whereafter the Styrian lands were inherited by the Babenberg dukes of Austria according to the 1186 Georgenberg Pact.
The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria (Štajerska) from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present. This mountainous and scenic region, which became a centre for mountaineering in the 19th century, is often called the "Green March", because half of the area is covered with forests and one quarter with meadows, grasslands, vineyards and orchards. Styria is also rich in minerals, soft coal and iron, which has been mined at Erzberg since the time of the Romans. The Slovene Hills is a famous wine-producing district, stretching between Slovenia and Austria. Styria was for long the most densely populated and productive mountain region in Europe.
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State after the original German stem duchies.
Ottokar II was Margrave of Styria.
Ottokar IV, a member of the Otakar dynasty, was Margrave of Styria from 1164 and Duke from 1180, when Styria, previously a margraviate subordinated to the stem duchy of Bavaria, was raised to the status of an independent duchy.
Ottokar III was Margrave of Styria from 1129 until 1164.
Leopold I of Styria, known as "the Brave" or "the Strong", served as the Margrave of Styria from 1122 until his death in 1129.
Adalbero, a member of the Otakar dynasty, was Margrave of Styria from 1075 until 1082.
Ottokar I, also Otakar was count in the Bavarian Chiemgau and Margrave of Styria from 1056 until his death. He became progenitor of the dynasty of the Otakars.
The Otakars were a medieval dynasty ruling the Imperial March of Styria from 1056 to 1192.
Adalbero of Eppenstein was Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 1011 or 1012 until 1035.
Conrad II, called the Younger, a member of the Salian dynasty, was the duke of Carinthia and margrave of Verona from 1035 until his death.
The Marchof Carniola was a southeastern state of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages, the predecessor of the Duchy of Carniola. It corresponded roughly to the central Carniolan region of present-day Slovenia. At the time of its creation, the march served as a frontier defense against the Kingdoms of Hungary and Croatia.
The March of Verona and Aquileia was a vast march of the Holy Roman Empire in the northeastern Italian region during the Middle Ages, centered on the cities of Verona and Aquileia. Seized by King Otto I of Germany in 952, it was held by the Dukes of Bavaria; from 976 in personal union with the Duchy of Carinthia. The margravial regime ended with the advent of the Lombard League in 1167.
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 March of Carinthia was a frontier district (march) of the Carolingian Empire created in 889. Before it was a march, it had been a principality or duchy ruled by native-born Slavic princes at first independently and then under Bavarian and subsequently Frankish suzerainty. The realm was divided into counties which, after the succession of the Carinthian duke to the East Frankish throne, were united in the hands of a single authority. When the march of Carinthia was raised into a Duchy in 976, a new Carinthian march was created. It became the later March of Styria.
The Margraviate of Austria was a medieval frontier march, centered along the river Danube, between the river Enns and the Vienna Woods, within the territory of modern Austrian provinces of Upper Austria and Lower Austria. It existed from c. 970 to 1156.
The Duchy of Styria was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 and a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution in 1918.
Burgruine Eppenstein is a ruined medieval castle overlooking Eppenstein in the Austrian state of Styria. It was built about 1000 AD as the ancestral seat of the Eppenstein dynasty, whose members served as Margraves of Styria and were enfeoffed with the Duchy of Carinthia in the 11th and 12th century.
Liutold of Eppenstein was Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 1077 until his death.
The Mark an der Drau was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire and its predecessors during the Middle Ages. It came into being during the second half of the 10th century, covering an area from the eastern border of the Carolingian Carantanian Gaugrafschaft of Jauntal to Pettau in the territory of Friedau (Ormož). After 1147 it was attached to the Mark an der Mur forming the March of Styria/Carantania, which later gave rise to the Duchy of Styria. Other designations for the territory include Mark Pettau, Mark hinter dem Drauwald, Grafschaft hinter dem Drauwald, Marchia transsilvana/transsylvana, Pitouiensis, and untere Karantaner Mark.
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