Ottokar II was 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...

 of Styria. He was the son of Ottokar I

Ottokar I of Styria

Ottokar I, Count of Steyr was the founder of the dynasty of the Otakars. From 1056 to 1064, he was margrave of the Carantanian March, later to be known as Styria . The margraves Adalbero and Ottokar II were his sons. He ended the war against Hungary....

 and grandfather of 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....

, from the dynasty of 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...

. In the investiture dispute, he sided with the pope, which resulted in a battle with his brother Adalbero

Adalbero of Styria

Adalbero 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....

, who sided with the emperor, but died in 1086 or 1087.
After the Eppensteiner dynasty was extinct, Ottokar inherited their possessions in the Mur and 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....

 valley. He founded the Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 in Garsten

Garsten

Garsten is a municipality in the district of Steyr-Land in Upper Austria, Austria....

 (Upper Austria

Upper Austria

Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...

) in 1108.

Family and children

Ottokar II was married 1090 with Elisabeth, daughter of Leopold II of Austria and Ida of Formbach-Ratelnberg

Ida of Formbach-Ratelnberg

Ida of Austria , daughter of Rapoto IV of Cham, also known as Itha, was the wife of Leopold II of Austria, and the mother of Leopold III. She was known as one of the great beauties of her day....

 and had three children:

1. 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....
   
   .
2. Kunigunde (died 28 July 1161), married to Bernhard, Count of Sponheim-Marburg.
3. Willibirg (died 18 January 1145), married to Ekbert II, Count of Formbach-Pitten.

External links

• Ottokar II of Styria