Leopold II (1050 – 12 October 1095), known as Leopold the Fair (german: Luitpold der Schöne), a member of the

House of Babenberg The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its e ...

, was

Margrave of Austria This is a list of people who have ruled either the Margraviate of Austria, the Duchy of Austria or the Archduchy of Austria. From 976 until 1246, the margraviate and its successor, the duchy, was ruled by the House of Babenberg. At that time, thos ...

from 1075 until his death. A supporter of the

Gregorian Reform The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be na ...

s, he was one of the main opponents of the German king Henry IV during the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monast ...

Biography

Leopold the Fair was born in 1050, the son of Margrave Ernest of Austria and his wife

Adelaide of Eilenburg Adelaide of Eilenburg ( 1030 – 26 January 1071) was a German noblewoman. She was a daughter of Margrave Dedi I of the Saxon Eastern March and his first wife, Oda of Lusatia. In 1060, she married Margrave Ernest Ernest is a given name de ...

, the daughter of the Wettin margrave Dedi I of Lusatia. His Babenberg ancestors had ruled the

Margraviate of Austria The Margraviate of Austria (german: Markgrafschaft Österreich) was a medieval frontier march, centered along the river Danube, between the river Enns and the Vienna Woods (''Wienerwald''), within the territory of modern Austrian provinces of Up ...

since the appointment of Leopold's great-grandfather Leopold I in 976. Leopold II succeeded as margrave upon his father's death in June 1075, at the time when the Investiture Dispute broke out between King Henry IV and

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...

. He first sided with the German monarch and stayed at his court even after Henry's

Walk to Canossa The Humiliation of Canossa ( it, L'umiliazione di Canossa), sometimes called the Walk to Canossa (german: Gang nach Canossa/''Kanossa'') or the Road to Canossa, was the ritual submission of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV to Pope Gregory VII ...

in January 1077. However, he switched sides under the influence of his wife

Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...

and Bishop

Altmann of Passau Altmann von Passau Bistumswappen of Passau Altmann (c.1015 – 8 August 1091) was the Bishop of Passau from 1065 until his death. He was an important representative of the Gregorian reforms, monastic founder and reformer. He is venerated as a ...

, a loyal supporter of Pope Gregory who was expelled from his diocese by Henry's forces in 1078. Altmann fled to Austria and Margrave Leopold had to face an invasion by royal troops the next year, which led to the final break with the king. In summer 1081, while King Henry IV was on campaign in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, Leopold backed the election of anti-king Count

Hermann of Salm Herman(n) of Salm ( – 28 September 1088), also known as Herman(n) of Luxembourg, the progenitor of the House of Salm, was Count of Salm and elected German anti-king from 1081 until his death. Life Hermann was a son of Count Giselbert of ...

and convened an Austrian diet at

Tulln Tulln an der Donau () is a historic town in the Austrian state of Lower Austria, the administrative seat of Tulln District. Because of its abundance of parks and gardens, Tulln is often referred to as ''Blumenstadt'' ("City of Flowers"), and "The C ...

where he officially dissociated from Henry. Subsequently, he was declared deposed by the king, who gave the Imperial fief to his loyal supporter Duke

Vratislav II of Bohemia Vratislaus II (or Wratislaus II) ( cs, Vratislav II.) (c. 1032 – 14 January 1092), the son of Bretislaus I and Judith of Schweinfurt, was the first King of Bohemia as of 15 June 1085, his royal title granted as a lifetime honorific from Holy R ...

. The Přemyslid duke invaded Austria and defeated Leopold in the 1082

Battle of Mailberg The Battle of Mailberg took place on 12 May 1082. The opponents were Vratislaus II of Bohemia ( cs, Vratislav II.) and Leopold II, Margrave of Austria (german: Luitpold II). Battle Vratislaus invaded Austria with an army of 6,000 soldiers from B ...

, from where the margrave narrowly escaped with his life. Ultimately, however, he managed to retain his position, while Vratislav was elevated to a

King of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman ...

in 1085. Leopold lost some territory in Southern

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

north of the

Thaya The Thaya ( cs, Dyje ) is a river in Central Europe, the longest tributary to the river Morava. Its drainage basin is . It is ( with its longest source river German Thaya) long and meanders from west to east in the border area between Lower Au ...

river, ruled by Prince

Luitpold of Znojmo Luitpold of Znojmo (, , la, Lutoldus Znoyemsis; died 15 MarchThe day of deth: Z ČECHORODU, PEŠINA; ''Mars Moravicus III.3'', p. 286. and NOVOTNÝ, V.; ''České dějiny I.2'', pp. 513–515 (+ footnote 15) 1112), a member of the Přemyslid dyn ...

, who was, nevertheless, his son-in-law. Leopold II und Sigibold

While Bishop Altmann of Passau stayed in Austria, the margraviate obtained a leading position in promoting the Gregorian Reforms, overruling the concept of

proprietary church {{Short pages monitor