!!!Babenberger, Herrscherfamilie

Babenberg, Austrian dynasty 976-1246.  Otto von Freising, himself a 
member of the B. family, traced it back to Adalbert of Bamberg, who 
was executed in 906; the name "Babenberg" was used from the 15th 
century. The connection with the "older" Babenbergs is unclear; they 
probably descend from the family of Margrave Liutpold, who died in 
battle in 907. It is certain that the family belonged to Bavarian 
higher nobility, and until the middle of the 11th century the B. were 
counts of various Bavarian administrative districts. Later, however, 
they ruled in Austria only. All Babenbergs have epithets, invented and 
assigned by Ladislaus  Sunthaym towards the end of the 15th century.

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In the course of their 270 year reign, Austria changed from a march 
into a duchy and was given the status of a country. This change of 
status greatly enhanced the reputation of the Babenbergs, who also 
pursued a clever marriage policy. While the first generations looked 
for marriage partners in families of equal status,  Leopold III 
married Agnes, daughter of a Franconian king  Agnes and thus achieved 
a rise in status which was further developed through a relation with 
the Hohenstaufers (half brothers in the following generation). The 
next generations not only established relations with neighbouring 
dynasties, but also with Byzantium ( Heinrich II,  
Leopold VI) and with Hungary ( Leopold V). Owing to the 
family relations of his father and grandfather, the genealogical table 
of Duke Leopold I shows a strong orientation towards Eastern and South 
Eastern Europe. The genealogical table of Duke  Friedrich II can be 
only partly established, as the family of his Byzantine mother is 
unknown.

\\
An examination of their skeletons showed that the Babenbergs were 
unusually tall for their time (1,80 m). Trouble afflicted the last 
generations of the B.: Friedrich II was married twice and 
divorced both his wives on the grounds of childlessness, his brother 
Heinrich of Moedling carried the epithet "The Cruel".

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The family did not die out after Friedrich II. His sister  Margarete 
had 2 sons (Heinrich and Friedrich) by the Staufer King Heinrich 
(VII). Both her sons died, however, in 1250/51; the King's niece  
Gertrud (daughter of his brother Heinrich) had a son (Friedrich) by 
her marriage with Margrave Hermann of Baden. Friedrich was executed in 
Naples in 1268, together with the Staufer Konradin. Gertrud also had a 
daughter Agnes (d. 1295), who was first married to Duke  
Ulrich III. of Carinthia and then to Count Ulrich III von 
Heunburg.

!Literature
J. Jungwirth, Die B.-Skelette in Stift Melk, Annalen 
d. Naturhist. Museums Wien 75, 1971; 1000 Jahre B. in Oe., exhibition 
catalogue, Lilienfeld 1976; K. Brunner, Herzogtuemer und Marken, 1994 
(= vol. 2 of Oe. Geschichte in 10 Bden., ed. by H. Wolfram); 
B. Vacha and W. Pohl, Die Welt der B., 1995; K. Lechner, Die B., 
Markgrafen und Herzoge von Oe. 976-1246, %%sup 6/%1996.



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