Ulric I (german: Ulrich I.), also ''Odalric'' or ''Udalrich'' (died 6 March 1070), Count of

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

Orlamünde Orlamünde () is a small town in the Saale-Holzland district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is part of the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' ("collective municipality") Südliches Saaletal. Geography The town centre stretches along the steep banks of the ...

, was

margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...

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 ...

from 1045 and of

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 ...

from 1060 to his death.

Life

Ulric was the son of Margrave

Poppo I of Carniola Poppo I (also ''Boppo''; died 13 July, before 1044), Count of Weimar-Orlamünde, was margrave of Istria from 1012 and of Carniola from 1040 to his death. Poppo was the scion of a comital family from the Imperial Landgraviate of Thuringia. His fath ...

, whom he succeeded upon his death before 1044, and Hadamut, daughter of Count Werigand of Friuli and Istria. Ulric married Sophia, the daughter of King

Béla I of Hungary Béla I the Boxer or the Wisent ( hu, I. Bajnok or Bölény Béla, sk, Belo I.; – 11 September 1063) was King of Hungary from 1060 until his death. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. Béla's baptismal name was A ...

and his first wife, Richeza, sister of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

duke

Casimir I the Restorer Casimir I the Restorer (; 25 July 1016 – 28 November 1058), a member of the Piast dynasty, was the duke of Poland from 1040 until his death. Casimir was the son of Mieszko II Lambert and Richeza of Lotharingia. He is known as the Restorer becau ...

. Alternatively, it has been suggested that she was the daughter of Béla and his second wife, Tuta of

Formbach Formbach is a small river of Hesse, Germany. It flows into the Osterbach near Unter-Ostern. See also *List of rivers of Hesse A list of rivers of Hesse, Germany: A * Aar, tributary of the Dill * Aar, tributary of the Lahn * Aar, tributary ...

, and thereby a sister of King

Ladislaus I of Hungary Ladislaus I ( hu, László, hr, Ladislav, sk, Ladislav, pl, Władysław; 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and ...

. Another alternative hypothesis makes her the daughter of Tuta and King

Peter of Hungary Peter Orseolo, or Peter the Venetian ( hu, Velencei Péter; 1010 or 1011 – 1046, or late 1050s), was the King of Hungary twice. He first succeeded his uncle, King Stephen I, in 1038. His favoritism towards his foreign courtiers caused an u ...

, but that seems highly unlikely. Sophia had been betrothed to Margrave William of Meissen, but upon his early death in 1062 married his nephew Ulric instead. She gave her first husband four children: * Poppo II (d. 1098), his successor as Margrave of Carniola, Margrave of Istria from 1096, married Richgard, daughter of Count Engelbert of

Sponheim Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. History Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim. Sponheim Abbey There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Step ...

* Ulric II (d. 1112), his brother's successor, married Adelaide, daughter of Landgrave

Louis the Springer Louis the Springer (german: Ludwig der Springer), sometimes called Louis the Jumper or Louis the Leaper (died 8 May 1123), was a German nobleman and count in Thuringia from 1056 until his death. Little is known about him, although he is mentioned ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

*Richgard, married Count Eckhard I of Scheyern or his brother Count

Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy. ...

*Adelaide, married firstly Frederick, ''

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 ...

'' of

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, and secondly Udalschalk, Count in the Lurngau On 31 July 1064, King

Henry IV of Germany Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son o ...

donated land ('in the country of Istria ... in the county of Margrave Ulric') to ('the prefect Ulric, margrave'). Again on 5 March 1067, Henry donated land ('in the country of Istria in the march of Margrave Ulric'), this time to the church in

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Is ...

. Ulric was recorded as ('Ulric, margrave of the Carinthians') on his death. A loyal supporter of the Imperial

Salian dynasty The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125). After the death of the la ...

and backed by his Hungarian brothers-in-law, Ulric was able to enlarge his margraviate down to

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

, against the resistance of the

Patriarchs of Aquileia The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certain ...

and the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

References

Medieval Lands Project: Nobility of Northern Italy (900–1100).
{{Margraves of Istria 1070 deaths Margraves of Istria Margraves of Carniola Year of birth unknown 11th-century military history of Croatia