The Margraviate of Austria (german: Markgrafschaft Österreich) was a
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 a ...
frontier
march, centered along the river
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
, between the river
Enns and the
Vienna Woods (''Wienerwald''), within the territory of modern
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
provinces of
Upper Austria
Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or 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, an ...
and
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
. It existed from c. 972 to 1156.
It stemmed from the previous frontier structures, initially created for the defense of eastern
Bavarian borders against the
Avars, who were defeated and conquered during the reign of
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
(d. 814). Throughout the
Frankish period, the region was under jurisdiction of
Eastern Frankish rulers, who held
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...
and appointed frontier commanders (
count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...
s) in eastern regions.
At the beginning of the 10th century, the region was raided by
Magyars. They were defeated in the
Battle of Lechfeld (955) and gradual
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
reconquest of the region began. By 972, newly retaken frontier regions along the river Danube were reorganized into a frontier county (
margraviate) that became known as the Bavarian ''Eastern March'' ( la, marcha orientalis) or ''
Ostarrichi'' (german: Österreich). The first known margrave was
Burkhard, who is mentioned in sources since 972.
Since 976, it was governed by margraves from the
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...
n noble
House of Babenberg. The margraviate was protecting the eastern borders of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
, towards neighbouring
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
. It became an
Imperial State in its own right, when the Austrian margraves were elevated to
Dukes of Austria in 1156.
Name
In contemporary
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
sources, the entity was called: ("eastern march"), , or . The
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
name first appeared on a famous deed of donation issued by Emperor
Otto III at in November 996. The phrase , that is, "the region commonly called ", probably only referred to some estates around the manor of ; nevertheless the term is linguistic ancestor of the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
name for Austria, .
Later the march was also called the Margraviate of Austria (german: Markgrafschaft Österreich) or the Bavarian Eastern March (, the second word being a German translation of , though no example of this usage in relation to Austria is known before the 19th century). The ''Bavarian'' designation is used in historiography in order to differentiate it from the
Saxon Eastern March () in the northeast. During the period of 1938–45 the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
authorities tried to replace the term "Austria" with .
Geography
The march comprised the lands north and south of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
river, with the tributary in the west forming the border with the shire of the Bavarian
stem duchy. The eastern frontier with the
Hungarian settlement area in the
Pannonian Basin
The Pannonian Basin, or Carpathian Basin, is a large basin situated in south-east Central Europe. The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense, with only th ...
ran along the
Morava (''March'') and
Leitha rivers, with the borderland (the present-day region) beyond. In the north, the march bordered on the
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
n duchy of the
Přemyslids, and the lands in the south belonged to the
Dukes of Carinthia, also newly instated in 976. The early march corresponded closely to the modern region of
Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...
.
The initial Babenberger residence was probably at on the former Roman , but maybe already
Melk, where subsequent rulers resided. The original march coincided with the modern
Wachau, but was shortly enlarged eastwards at least as far as the . Under Margrave
Ernest the Brave (1055–1075), the colonisation of the northern up to 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 ...
river and the Bohemian march of
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 ...
was begun,
[The ]March of Moravia
The Margraviate of Moravia ( cs, Markrabství moravské; german: Markgrafschaft Mähren) was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administrated by a margrave in cooperat ...
as a separate entity came into existence in 1182. There was no colonisation in Moravia run by Austrian dukes in the 11th century (nor later). In the first half of 11th century Moravia was conquered from the Magyars and Poles and reunited with Bohemia by prince . and the
Hungarian March was merged into Austria. The margraves' residence later was moved down the Danube to until 1145, when
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
became the official capital. The Babenbergs had a defense system of several castles built in the
Wienerwald mountain range and along the Danube river, among them . The surrounding area was
colonized and
Christianized by the Bavarian
Bishops of Passau
The Diocese of Passau is a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.[Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...]
abbey of , at
Monastery and
Abbey.
The early margraviate was populated by a mix of Slavic and native Romano-Germanic peoples who were apparently speaking
Rhaeto-Romance languages, remnants of which remain today in parts of northern Italy (
Friulian and
Ladin
Ladin may refer to:
*Ladin language, a language in northern Italy, often classified as a Rhaeto-Romance language
*Ladin people, the inhabitants of the Dolomite Alps region of northern Italy
See also
*Laden (disambiguation)
*Ladino (disambiguati ...
) and in Switzerland (
Romansh). In the Austrian Alps some valleys retained their Rhaeto-Romance speakers until the 17th century.
History
Background
The first marches covering approximately the territory that would become
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 ...
and
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...
were the
Avar March and the adjacent March of (the later
March of Carinthia
The March of Carinthia was a frontier district (march) of the Carolingian Empire created in 889. Before it was a march, it had been a principality or duchy ruled by native-born Slavic (or semi-Slavic) princes at first independently and then un ...
) in the south. Both were established in the late 8th century by
Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
upon the incorporation of the territory of the
Agilolfing dukes of Bavaria against the invasions of the
Avars. When the Avars disappeared in the 820s, they were replaced largely by
West Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic la ...
, who settled here within the state of
Great Moravia
Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to ...
. The
March of Pannonia was set apart from the
Duchy of Friuli
The Duchy of Friuli was a Lombard duchy in present-day Friuli, the first to be established after the conquest of the Italian peninsula in 568. It was one of the largest domains in '' Langobardia Major'' and an important buffer between the Lombar ...
in 828 and set up as a march against Moravia within the
East Frankish of Bavaria. These march, already called , corresponded to a frontier along the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
from the Traungau to and the river including the
Vienna basin. By the 890s, the Pannonian march seems to have disappeared, along with the threat from Great Moravia, during the
Hungarian invasions of Europe. Upon the defeat of Margrave
Luitpold of Bavaria at the 907
Battle of Pressburg, all East Frankish lands beyond the Enns river were lost.
Margraviate
In 955 King
Otto I of Germany had started the reconquest with his victory at the 955
Battle of Lechfeld. The obscurity of the period from circa 900 until 976 leads some to posit that a Pannonian or Austrian march existed against the
Magyars, alongside the other marches which had been incorporated into Bavaria by 952 (
Carniola,
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Bavarian group. Carin ...
,
Istria, and
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...
). However, much of Pannonia was still conquered by the Magyars. Otto I had a new Eastern March () erected and by 972, he appointed
Burchard as margrave. In 976, during a general restructuring of Bavaria upon the insurrection of Duke
Henry II the Wrangler, Otto's son and successor Emperor
Otto II
Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy ...
deposed Burchard and appointed the Babenberg count
Leopold the Illustrious from the House of Babenberg margrave in turn for his support.
Margravial Austria reached its greatest height under
Leopold III, a great friend of the church and founder of abbeys. He patronised towns and developed a great level of territorial independence. In 1139,
Leopold IV inherited Bavaria. When his successor, the last margrave,
Henry Jasomirgott, was deprived of Bavaria in 1156, Austria was elevated to a duchy independent from Bavaria by the of Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt ...
. From 1192 the House of Babenberg also ruled over the neighbouring
Duchy of Styria. The line became extinct with the death of Duke
Frederick II of Austria at the 1246
Battle of the Leitha River. The heritage was finally asserted by the German king
Rudolph of Habsburg against 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 ...
in the 1278
Battle on the Marchfeld.
See also
*
History of Austria
*
Pannonian March
*
Avarian March
*
Hungarian March
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{coord, 48, 13, N, 16, 22, E, display=title
970s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
12th-century disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire
States and territories established in the 970s
States and territories disestablished in the 1150s
970s establishments
1156 disestablishments
Former monarchies of Europe
DE:Ostarrichi