March of Styria
Encyclopedia
Duchy of Carinthia
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, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
before 970 as a buffer zone against the Magyars. Originally it was known as the Carantanian march (marchia Carantana), after the former Slavic principality of Carantania, a predecessor of the Carinthian duchy. During the 11th century it evolved to be called Styria, so named for the town of Steyr
Steyr
Steyr is a town, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. The town is situated at the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and simultaneously the 3rd largest town in Upper Austria....
, then the residence of the margrave
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
s.
The area was formerly part of the larger March of Carinthia
March of Carinthia
The March of Carinthia was a frontier district 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...
, itself a frontier march
Marches
A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....
of the Duchy of Bavaria
History of Bavaria
The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland of the modern Federal Republic of...
. In 976 Emperor Otto II
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto II , called the Red, was the third ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty, the son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.-Early years and co-ruler with Otto I:...
separated Carinthia from the Bavarian stem duchy and raised it to the status of a duchy
Duchy of Carinthia
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, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
in its own right. The adjacent territory in the east up to the Mur, Mürz
Mürz
The Mürz is a river in Austria.It begins north of the Schneealpe in Lower Austria, flows into Styria, and meets the Mur River after 98 km in Bruck an der Mur. Its headwaters end at Mürzzuschlag. Along its course are the tracks of the Southern Railway as well as the Semmering Highway....
and Enns rivers, that had been annexed by King Otto I
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
after the 955 Battle of Lechfeld
Battle of Lechfeld
The Battle of Lechfeld , often seen as the defining event for holding off the incursions of the Hungarians into Western Europe, was a decisive victory by Otto I the Great, King of the Germans, over the Hungarian leaders, the harka Bulcsú and the chieftains Lél and Súr...
, was similarly converted into the marchia Carantana of the new Carinthian duchy.
The first margraves of Styria appear in the early 11th century. The dynasty ruling from 1056 was called the Otakars
Otakars
The Otakars were a mediæval dynasty ruling the March of Styria from 1056 to 1192.The dynasty began with Otakar I, probably a son-in-law of Aribo , margrave of Pannonia. Otakar was Count of Steyr in the Traungau, in what is today Upper Austria. Together with Margrave Luitpold, he may have been...
. Margrave Leopold the Strong
Leopold of Styria
Leopold the Strong was Margrave of Styria from 1122 to 1129. He was the son of Margrave Ottokar II of Styria and Elisabeth of Austria from the Babenberg family. His wife was Sophie of Bavaria. He was succeeded by his son Margrave Ottokar III of Styria....
(1122–1129) and his son Ottokar III
Ottokar III of Styria
Ottokar III was Margrave of Styria from 1129 until 1164. He was the son of Leopold the Strong and father of Ottokar IV, the last of the dynasty of the Otakars. His wife was Kunigunde of Chamb-Vohburg....
(1129–1164) acquired large territories along the Savinja
Savinja
The Savinja is a river in northeast Slovenia which flows mostly in the Upper and Lower Savinja valley and through the cities of Celje and Laško. The Savinja is the main river of the Savinja Alps . It flows into Sava River at the town of Zidani Most. It has often flooded, such as in the 1960s,...
river down to the Windic March
Windic march
The Windic march or marca Vindica was a province of the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages, corresponding more or less to modern Lower Carniola in Slovenia. In Medieval German language, the term "Windisch" was a common name for some Slavic peoples The Windic march or marca Vindica was a...
and moved their residence to Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
. In 1180, the march was converted into the Duchy of Styria
Duchy of Styria
The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...
.
Margraves of Styria
- Markward of EppensteinEppensteinEppenstein is a municipality in the district of Judenburg in Styria, Austria....
(until c. 1000) - Adalbero of EppensteinAdalbero, Duke of CarinthiaAdalbero of Eppenstein was Duke of Carinthia from 1011 or 1012 until 1035. He succeeded Duke Conrad I from the Salian dynasty....
(c. 1000-1035), son, also Duke of CarinthiaDuchy of CarinthiaThe 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, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
and Margrave of VeronaMarch of VeronaThe March of Verona and Aquileia was a vast march in northeastern Italy during the Middle Ages, centered on the cities of Verona and Aquileia. Except for Venice, it included the territories of the modern-day regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia as well as Istria and Trentino up to the Adige...
1011-1035, deposed - Arnold of Wels-Lambach (1035–1055)
- Godfrey of PittenPittenPitten is a town in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria....
(1042–1050), son, co-margrave, assassinated
Otakars
Otakars
The Otakars were a mediæval dynasty ruling the March of Styria from 1056 to 1192.The dynasty began with Otakar I, probably a son-in-law of Aribo , margrave of Pannonia. Otakar was Count of Steyr in the Traungau, in what is today Upper Austria. Together with Margrave Luitpold, he may have been...
:
- Ottokar I (1055–1064), Count in the ChiemgauChiemgauChiemgau is the common name of a geographic area in Upper Bavaria. It refers to the foothills of the Alps between the rivers Inn and Traun, with lake Chiemsee at its center. The political districts that contain the Chiemgau are Rosenheim and Traunstein...
- AdalberoAdalbero of StyriaAdalbero was Margrave of Styria from 1064 until 1082. He sided with the Emperor in the investiture dispute, which led to a confrontation with his younger brother Ottokar II, who sided with the Pope and replaced him in 1082....
(1064–1086), son, assassinated - Ottokar IIOttokar II of StyriaOttokar II was Margrave of Styria. He was the son of Ottokar I and grandfather of Ottokar III, from the dynasty of the Otakars...
(1086–1122), brother of Adalbero - Leopold the StrongLeopold of StyriaLeopold the Strong was Margrave of Styria from 1122 to 1129. He was the son of Margrave Ottokar II of Styria and Elisabeth of Austria from the Babenberg family. His wife was Sophie of Bavaria. He was succeeded by his son Margrave Ottokar III of Styria....
(1122–1129), son of Ottokar II - Ottokar IIIOttokar III of StyriaOttokar III was Margrave of Styria from 1129 until 1164. He was the son of Leopold the Strong and father of Ottokar IV, the last of the dynasty of the Otakars. His wife was Kunigunde of Chamb-Vohburg....
(1129–1164), son - Ottokar IV (1164–1180), son, first Duke of StyriaDuchy of StyriaThe history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...
until 1192
Sources
- Semple, Ellen Churchill. "The Barrier Boundary of the Mediterranean Basin and Its Northern Breaches as Factors in History." Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 5. (1915), pp 27–59.
- Thompson, James WestfallJames Westfall ThompsonJames Westfall Thompson was an American historian specializing in the history of medieval and early modern Europe, particularly of the Holy Roman Empire and France...
. Feudal Germany, Volume II. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.