Diepold III, Margrave of Vohburg (c. 1079 – 1146) was a Bavarian noble from the House of the ''Diepoldinger-Rapotonen''. He was an influential follower of Emperor
Henry V and is best known as the father-in-law of Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...
.
He was
Margrave
Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...
of the
Nordgau, of
Nabburg,
Vohburg and
Cham. His father was Diepold II, his grandfather Diepold I, margraves of Cham and Vohburg. In 1099 Diepold III took over the rich inheritance of his two relatives, Burgrave Ulrich von Passau and Rapoto V von Cham. Both had died of an epidemic at Easter 1099 at an
Imperial Diet in
Regensburg
Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...
. The scattered inheritance included the Margraviates of Cham and Vohburg as well as possessions in the
Chiemgau, in
Swabia and in
Lower Austria
Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...
. However, he did not inherit the title
Count Palatine of Bavaria which Rapoto V had borne.
In 1119 Diepold III founded
Reichenbach Abbey (where he was buried) and in 1133
Waldsassen Abbey.
He continued the land development in
Egerland through forest clearing, founding of villages and the settlement of German colonists that his father had started. However, after his death in 1146, the Egerland once again became the property of the
Bohemian crown.
Marriage and children
With Adelaide of Poland (daughter of
Władysław I Herman and
Judith of Swabia
Judith of Swabia (, ; Summer 1054 – 14 March ca. 1105?), a member of the Salian dynasty, was the youngest daughter of Emperor Henry III from his second marriage with Agnes of Poitou. By her two marriages she was Queen of Hungary from 1063 t ...
) he had 5 children, among them Diepold IV who already died before him in 1130, and the daughter
Adelheid of Vohburg who married Emperor Frederick I one year after her father's death.
His second wife was Kunigunde von
Beichlingen (b. about 1095; d. 8 June 1140), with whom he had 3 children, including Bertold I (d. after 1182), who succeeded him, and Kunigunde von Vohburg (c. 1131 - 22 November 1184) who married
Ottokar III of Styria.
His third marriage was to Sophia, the sister of a Hungarian count named Stephan (Istvan). From this marriage came two children, including Diepold V (d. after 1181).
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diepold 03, Margrave of Vohburg
Margraves of Germany
1070s births
1146 deaths