Henry of Eppenstein (usually numbered Henry III; – 4 December 1122) was

Duke of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (german: Herzogtum Kärnten; sl, Vojvodina Koroška) 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 Sta ...

and

Margrave of Verona The March of Verona and Aquileia was a vast Marches, march (frontier district) of the Holy Roman Empire in the northeastern Italian peninsula during the Middle Ages, centered on the cities of Verona and Aquileia. Seized by King Otto I, Holy Roman ...

from 1090 to 1122. He was the last duke from the House of Eppenstein. He was the son of Count Markwart of Eppenstein (d. 1076) and his wife Liutbirg of Plain, the younger brother of

Liutold of Eppenstein Liutold of Eppenstein ( – 12 May 1090) was Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 1077 until his death. Biography He was the second son of Markwart, Count of Eppenstein (d. 1076) and his wife Liutbirg, daughter of Count Liutold of Pl ...

, who was enfeoffed with the Carinthian duchy after the deposition of the Zähringen duke

Berthold Berthold or Berchtold is a Germanic given name and surname. It is derived from two elements, ''berht'' meaning "bright" and ''wald'' meaning "(to) rule". It may refer to: *Bertholdt Hoover, a fictional List_of_Attack_on_Titan_characters, character ...

by King Henry IV of Germany in 1077. Both brothers had been loyal allies of the king during the fierce

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monast ...

and the

Walk to Canossa The Humiliation of Canossa ( it, L'umiliazione di Canossa), sometimes called the Walk to Canossa (german: Gang nach Canossa/''Kanossa'') or the Road to Canossa, was the ritual submission of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV to Pope Gregory VII a ...

. When the

princes A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in some Euro ...

elected Rudolf of Rheinfelden anti-king, the Eppensteins ensured King Henry's safe passage back to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In or shortly after 1077, Henry IV granted the marches of

Carniola Carniola ( sl, Kranjska; , german: Krain; it, Carniola; hu, Krajna) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region sti ...

and

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

to Henry of Eppenstein. When Duke Liutold died childless in 1090, Henry IV vested him with Carinthia and the Veronese march, but transferred Carniola to the Patriarchate of Aquileia and Istria to Poppo of Weimar-Orlamümde. Duke Henry served as ''

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

'' (bailiff) of the patriarchate under his brother Patriarch Ulrich I. With Ulrich he backed King

Henry V of Germany Henry V (german: Heinrich V.; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125, in Utrecht) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-r ...

when he enforced the abdication of his father Emperor Henry IV in 1105. In the course of the ongoing Investiture Controversy he entered into an armed conflict with Prince-Archbishop

Conrad I of Salzburg Conrad I f Abenberg(german: Konrad von Abenberg, c. 1075 – 9 April 1147) was Archbishop of Salzburg, Austria, in the first half of the 12th century. Born into the Abenberg- Frensdorf nobility, Conrad was raised for a clerical career at the co ...

in 1121. With Henry's death in 1122, the Eppenstein line became extinct. The Carinthian duchy was taken over by his godson Henry from the rising House of Sponheim.

References

*Florin Curta. ''Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250''. Cambridge University Press, 2002. pg. 255 *John Eldevik. ''Episcopal Power and Ecclesiastical Reform in the German Empire: Tithes, Lordship, and Community, 950–1150''. Cambridge University Press, 2012. pg. 261 *I. S. Robinson. ''Henry IV of Germany, 1056–1106''. Cambridge University Press, 2003. pg. 289 {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry 02, Duke of Carinthia Dukes of Carinthia 1050s births 1122 deaths 11th century in Croatia 12th century in Croatia