Leopold VI, Duke Of Austria
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Leopold VI (15 October 1176 – 28 July 1230), known as Leopold the Glorious, was Duke of Styria from 1194 and
Duke 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 A ...
from 1198 to his death in 1230. He was a member of the
House of Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Descending from the Popponids and originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from ...
.


Biography

Leopold VI was the younger son of Duke Leopold V and his wife, Helena of Hungary (daughter of
Géza II of Hungary Géza II (; ; ; 113031 May 1162) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Serbia. When his father died, Géza was still a child and he started ruling under the guardia ...
and Euphrosyne of Kiev). He was betrothed to the Damsel of Cyprus in 1193, but the marriage never took place. In contravention of the provisions of the Georgenberg Pact, the Babenberg reign was divided after the death of Leopold V: Leopold VI's elder brother, Frederick I, was given the Duchy of Austria (corresponding roughly to modern Lower Austria and eastern
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 ...
), while Leopold VI himself became Duke of Styria. The duchies were reunified under Leopold VI when Frederick died after only four years of rule. Leopold VI participated in the
Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
in Spain and in two crusades, the
Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade (), also known as the Cathar Crusade (1209–1229), was a military and ideological campaign initiated by Pope Innocent III to eliminate Catharism in Languedoc, what is now southern France. The Crusade was prosecuted pri ...
in 1212 and the failed
Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (September 1217 - August 29, 1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al- ...
from 1217 to 1221, and—like his predecessors—attempted to develop the land by founding monasteries. His most important foundation is Lilienfeld in the Lower Austrian valley of the Traisen River, where he was buried after his death. Besides that, he supported the then highly modern mendicant Orders of the Franciscans and Dominicans. He elevated Enns to the status of a city in 1212, 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. ...
in 1221, the territory of which was nearly doubled. Under Leopold's rule, the Gothic
style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...
began to reach Austria - the ''Cappella Speciosa'' in his temporary residence of
Klosterneuburg Klosterneuburg () is a town in the Tulln District of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Frequently abbreviated to Kloburg by locals, it has a population of about 27,500. The Stift Klosterneuburg ( Klosterneuburg Monastery), which was establish ...
is known as the first building influenced by it in the
Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
area - a reconstruction of it can be seen today in the palace gardens of
Laxenburg __NOTOC__ Laxenburg (Central Bavarian: ''Laxnbuag'') is a market town in the district of Mödling, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Located about south of the Austrian capital Vienna, it is chiefly known for the Laxenburg castles, which, be ...
. Leopold's court is known as a center of the
Minnesang (; "love song") was a tradition of German lyric- and song-writing that flourished in the Middle High German period (12th to 14th centuries). The name derives from '' minne'', the Middle High German word for love, as that was ''Minnesangs m ...
, ''e.g''.,
Walther von der Vogelweide Walther von der Vogelweide (; ) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs ('' Sprüche'') in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundred or s ...
, Neidhart von Reuental and Ulrich von Liechtenstein were active here. Also, the ''
Nibelungenlied The (, or ; or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poetry, epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germanic hero ...
'' may have been written in his court. Babenbergian Austria reached the zenith of its prestige under Leopold's rule. Evidence of this is given by his marriage to the Byzantine princess Theodora Angelina and his attempt to end the
War of the Keys The War of the Keys (1228–1230) was the first military conflict between Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Papacy. Fighting took place in Central Italy, central and southern Italy. The Papacy made strong gains at first, securing the Pap ...
by mediating between
Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...
Frederick II and
Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX (; born Ugolino di Conti; 1145 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and the ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decretales'' and instituting the Pa ...
. This is what he was working on when he died in 1230 at San Germano.


Children

Leopold and Theodora Angelina had: # Margaret, Duchess of Austria (1204 – 29 October 1266), married
Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...
, the eldest son and
heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...
of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, then after he died, married King
Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II (; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Austria, 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 death in 1278 ...
. # Agnes of Austria (19 February 1205 – 29 August 1226), married
Albert I, Duke of Saxony Albert I (; 1175 – 7 October 1260) was a Duke of Saxony, Angria, and Westphalia; Lord of Nordalbingia; Count of Anhalt; and Prince-elector and Archmarshal of the Holy Roman Empire. Even though his grandfather Albert the Bear had held the Sax ...
# Leopold of Austria (1207–1216) died when he climbed a tree and fell at
Klosterneuburg Klosterneuburg () is a town in the Tulln District of the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Frequently abbreviated to Kloburg by locals, it has a population of about 27,500. The Stift Klosterneuburg ( Klosterneuburg Monastery), which was establish ...
# Henry II, Duke of Mödling (1208 – 28 November 1228), married Agnes of Thuringia; their only daughter, Gertrudis, was the general heiress of the House of Babenberg after the death of her uncle # Gertrude of Austria (1210–1241), married
Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia Henry Raspe (; – 16 February 1247) was the Landgrave of Thuringia from 1231 until 1239 and again from 1241 until his death. In 1246, with the support of the Papacy, he was elected King of the Romans, King of Germany in Anti-king, opposition t ...
#
Frederick II, Duke of Austria Frederick II (; 25 April 1211 – 15 June 1246), known as Frederick the Quarrelsome (''Friedrich der Streitbare''), was Duke of Austria and Styria from 1230 until his death. He was the fifth and last Austrian duke from the House of Babenberg, sin ...
(25 April 1211 – 15 June 1246) #
Constantia of Austria Constance of Babenberg (; 6 May 1212 – before 5 June 1243), a member of the House of Babenberg, was Margravine of Meissen from 1234 until her death, by her marriage with Margrave Henry the Illustrious. Life Constance was a younger daught ...
(6 April 1212 – 5 June 1243), married
Henry III, Margrave of Meissen Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious (''Heinrich der Erlauchte'') (c. 1215 – 15 February 1288) from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia (as Henry IV) from 1221 until his death; from 1242 also Landgrav ...


See also

*
List of rulers 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 ...
* List of Marshals of Austria


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * *


External links


Leopold VI., Herzog
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Leopold VI of Austria Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (The Simpsons), Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The ...
Leopold VI of Austria Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (The Simpsons), Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The ...
13th-century dukes of Austria Leopold 6 Leopold 6 Christians of the Fifth Crusade People of the Albigensian Crusade