Burgruine Eppenstein is a ruined

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

castle overlooking

Eppenstein Eppenstein is a former municipality in the district of Murtal (district), Murtal in the Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Weißkirchen in Steiermark. Eppenstein lies in the ...

in the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n state of Styria. It was built about 1000 AD as the ancestral seat of the Eppenstein dynasty, whose members served as

Margraves of Styria 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 Em ...

and were enfeoffed with the Duchy of Carinthia in the 11th and 12th century.

History

The former

spur castle A spur castle is a type of medieval fortification that is sited on a spur of a hill or mountain for defensive purposes. Ideally, it would be protected on three sides by steep hillsides; the only vulnerable side being that where the spur joins the ...

is situated in the mountainous

Upper Styria Upper Styria (german: Obersteiermark), in the Austrian usage of the term, refers exclusively to the northwestern, generally mountainous and well-wooded half of the federal state of Styria. The southwestern half of the state around the capital of ...

region, at a height of aA. It stood above an important trade route running from the upper Mur valley across the Seetal Alps and Obdach Saddle down to the Carinthian Lavant valley. The ''castrum'' was first mentioned in an 1160 deed, while the progenitors of the Bavarian Eppenstein family are documented as Styrian margraves since about 970. Margrave

Adalbero Adalbero or Adalberon (french: Adalbéron) is a masculine given name, a variant of Adalbert (given name), Adalbert, derived from the Old High German words ''Ethel (disambiguation), adal'' ("noble") and ''beraht'' ("bright") or '':en:wikt:bero#Old_Hi ...

was elevated as a Duke of Carinthia by King

Henry II of Germany Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler o ...

in 1012. When the Eppensteins became extinct upon the death of Duke Henry III of Carinthia in 1122, their allodial possessions were inherited by Margrave

Ottokar II of Styria Ottokar II (died 28 November 1122) was Margrave of Styria. Biography He was the son of Ottokar I and grandfather of Ottokar III, from the dynasty of the Otakars. In the investiture dispute, he sided with the pope, which resulted in a battle ...

and his descendants. Rebuilt and leased to Styrian ''

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minist ...

'', the castle was seized by King

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his dea ...

who had campaigned the Styrian lands and ousted the Hungarian forces at the 1260 Battle of Kressenbrunn. After Ottokar was defeated by King

Rudolf I of Germany Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum whic ...

and killed in the 1278

Battle on the Marchfeld The Battle on the Marchfeld (''i.e. Morava Field''; german: Schlacht auf dem Marchfeld; cs, Bitva na Moravském poli; hu, Morvamezei csata) at Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history o ...

, the fortress passed through many hands over the centuries. Later held by Habsburg ''ministeriales'' like the

von Graben Herren von Graben, also named ''von (dem) Graben'', ''vom Graben'', ''Grabner'', ''Grabner zu Rosenburg'', ''Graben zu Kornberg'', ''Graben zu Sommeregg'', ''Graben von (zum) Stein'', and ''ab dem Graben'' was the name of an old Austrian noble fa ...

family, it was rebuilt in a Gothic style around 1478. Rebuilt in a Gothic style and conquered by the forces of King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several m ...

during the Austrian–Hungarian War in 1482, it gradually lost importance and decayed.

References

''This article was initially translated from the German Wikipedia.'' Castles in Styria {{Styria-geo-stub

History

See also

References