Leopold III (, , 1073 – 15 November 1136), known as Leopold the Good, was the

Margrave of Austria From 976 until 1246, the Margraviate of Austria and its successor, the Duchy of Austria, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, those states were part of the Holy Roman Empire. From 1246 until 1918, the duchy and its successor, the Ar ...

from 1095 to his death in 1136. He was a member of the House of Babenberg. He was canonized on 6 January 1485 and became the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

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 ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. His

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is 15 November.Lingelbach 1913, pp. 90–91.

Biography

Leopold was born at Babenberg castle in Gars am Kamp, the son of Margrave Leopold II and Ida of Formbach-Ratelnberg. The Babenbergs had come to Austria from Bavaria where the family had risen to prominence in the 10th century. He grew up in the diocese of Passau under the influence of the reformer bishop Altmann of Passau. In 1096, Leopold succeeded his father as margrave of Austria at the age of 23. He married twice. His first wife, who died in 1105, may have been one of the von Perg family. The following year he married Agnes, the widowed sister of Emperor Henry V whom he had supported against her father Henry IV. This connection to the Salians raised the importance of the House of Babenberg, to which important royal rights over the margraviate of Austria were granted. Also, Agnes had influential connections through her previous marriage to Frederick of Hohenstaufen, one of her sons being Conrad III of Germany. Leopold called himself "Princeps Terræ", a reflection of his sense of territorial independence. He was considered a candidate in the election of the

Kaiser Kaiser ( ; ) is the title historically used by German and Austrian emperors. In German, the title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (). In English, the word ''kaiser'' is mainly applied to the emperors ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

in 1125, but declined this honour. He is mainly remembered for the development of the country and, in particular, the founding of several monasteries. His most important foundation is Klosterneuburg (1108). According to legend, the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

appeared to him and led him to a place where he found the veil of his wife Agnes, who had lost it years earlier. He established the Klosterneuburg Monastery there. He subsequently expanded the settlement to become his residence. Leopold also founded the monasteries of Heiligenkreuz, Kleinmariazell and Seitenstetten which developed a territory still largely covered by forest. All of these induced the church to canonize him in 1485. Leopold also fostered the development of cities, such as Klosterneuburg,

and Krems. The last one was granted the right to mint but never attained great importance. The writings of Henry of Melk and Ava of Göttweig, which are the first literary texts from Austria, date back to Leopold's time. He is buried in the Klosterneuburg Monastery, which he founded. His skull is kept in an embroidered reliquary, which leaves the forehead exposed; it also wears an archducal hat. In 1663, under the rule of his namesake Emperor Leopold I, he was declared patron saint of Austria instead of Coloman of Stockerau. The brothers Joseph and

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 1737 – 10 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohra ...

, each of whom sang in the choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral, both sang in that capacity at Klosterneuburg on this day. Joseph Haydn later became the more famous composer of the two. Michael Haydn later (in 1805) wrote a mass in honour of Leopold, the ''Missa sub titulo Sancti Leopoldi.'' Since the death of Emperor Leopold I, the King's Feast is celebrated in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

on Leopold's feast day.

Children

His first marriage, to Maria/Adelheid von Perg, was childless. By his second wife,

Agnes of Germany Agnes of Germany may refer to: * Agnes of Poitou (died 1077), wife of King Henry III of Germany * Agnes of Waiblingen (died 1143), daughter of King Henry IV of Germany {{hndis ...

, widow of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia: * Adalbert * Henry II Jasomirgott (1107–1177) * Leopold IV ( 1108 – 1141) * Berta, m. Henry III, Burgrave of

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 ...

* Agnes (c. 1108/13 – c. 1160/63), m. Władysław II of Poland * Ernst * Uta, m. Luitpold I, Count of Plain *

Otto of Freising Otto of Freising (; – 22 September 1158) was a German churchman of the Cistercian order and chronicled at least two texts which carry valuable information on the political history of his own time. He was the bishop of Freising from 1138. Ot ...

(c. 1114 – 1158), Bishop of Freising, and biographer of his nephew (from his mother's first marriage), Emperor

Frederick I 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 am Main, Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aa ...

* Conrad, Bishop of Passau and Archbishop of Salzburg * Elisabeth, m. Hermann II of Winzenburg *

Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

, m. William V of Montferrat * Gertrude, m. Duke (later King) Vladislaus II of Bohemia According to the ''Continuation of the Chronicles of Klosterneuburg'', there may have been up to seven others (possibly from multiple births) stillborn or who died in infancy. In 2013, documentation regarding the results of DNA testing of the remains of the family buried in Klosterneuburg & Heiligenkreuz strongly favor that Adalbert was the son of Leopold and Agnes.

Gallery

File:Leopold III, Margrave of Austria.jpg, Leopold III seal File:Saint Leopold III Margrave of Austria (Church at Gaaden).jpg, Stained glass, Gaaden, Lower Austria File:Hl Leopold (Österreich 18 Jh).jpg, Österreichische Schule, eighteenth century File:Wien.Stephansdom60.jpg, Saint Leopold Altar, Stephansdom File:Schaedelreliquie des heiligen Leopold.jpg, Saint Leopold's skull relic, Klosterneuburg Monastery

References

Sources

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External links