History of Austria - Babenberg Austria

Babenberg Austria

After the defeat of the Hungarians by Emperor Otto the Great in the Battle of Lechfeld (955), new marches were established in what is today Austria. The one known as the marchia orientalis was to become the core territory of Austria and was given to Leopold of Babenberg in 976 after the revolt of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria.

The marches were overseen by a comes or dux as appointed by the emperor. These titles are usually translated as count or duke, but these terms conveyed very different meanings in the Early Middle Ages, so the Latin versions are to be preferred. In lumbardi-speaking countries, the title was eventually regularized to margrave (German: markgraf) i.e. "count of the mark".

The first recorded instance of the name Austria appeared in 996, written as Ostarrîchi, referring to the territory of the Babenberg March. The term Ostmark is not historically certain and appears to be a translation of marchia orientalis that came up only much later.

The following centuries were characterized first by the settlement of the country, when forests were cleared and towns and monasteries were founded. In 1156 the Privilegium Minus elevated Austria to the status of a duchy. In 1192, the Babenbergs also acquired the Duchy of Styria through the Georgenberg Pact. At that time, the Babenberg Dukes came to be one of the most influential ruling families in the region, peaking in the reign of Leopold VI (1198–1230).

However, with the slaughter of his son Frederick II in 1246, the line went extinct, which resulted in the interregnum, a period of several decades during which the status of the country was disputed. Otakar II Přemysl of Bohemia effectively controlled the duchies of Austria, Styria and Carinthia. His reign came to an end with his defeat in the battle of Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen at the hand of Rudolf of Habsburg in 1278.

Following the extinction of the Babenbergs in the 13th century, Austria came briefly under the rule of the Czech King Ottokar II of Bohemia. Contesting the election of Rudolf I of Habsburg as emperor, Ottokar was defeated and killed by Rudolf, who took Austria with the assistance of King Ladislaus IV of Hungary.