The Babenbergs of Austria

Originally from Bamberg in Franconia, now northern Bavaria, the Babenbergs or Babenberger ruled Austria as counts of the march and dukes from 976 - 1248, before the rise of the house of Habsburg.

The earliest known ancestor of the Babenbergs was one Poppo, who early in the 9th century was count in Grapfeld, in the area between modern Hesse and Thuringia. One of his sons, Henry, sometimes called margrave and duke in Franconia, fell fighting against the Normans in 886. The leaders of the Babenbergs were the three sons of Duke Henry, who called themselves after their castle of Babenberg on the upper Main, around which their possessions centred. The city of Bamberg was built around the ancestral castle of the family.

In 976 Liutpold, a member of the family who was a count in the Donnegau, is described as count of the Eastern March, a district not more than 60 miles in breadth on the eastern frontier of Bavaria which grew into the duchy of Austria. Liutpold, who probably received the mark as a reward for his fidelity to the emperor Otto II during the Bavarian rising in 976, extended its area at the expense of the Hungarians, and was succeeded in 994 by his son Henry I. Henry, who continued his father's policy, was followed in 1018 by his brother Adalbert and in 1055 by his nephew, Ernest, whose marked loyalty to the emperors Henry II and Henry III was rewarded by many tokens of favour. ..... more

Babenberger Markgraf Leopold III. der Heilige

• A1 = Leopold, Markgraf der Ostmark, d:907, m. Kunigunde von Schwaben;
  • B1 = Arnulf I, Herzog von Bayern, d:937, m. Judith von Sülichgau;
    • C1 = Berthold I, Markgraf im bayerischen Nordgau, d:980, m. Heilika von Walbeck;
      • D1 = Heinrich, Graf von Schweinfurt, d:1017, m. Gerberga von Gleiberg;
        • E1 = Judith von Schweinfurt, d:1058, m. Duke Bretislav I of Bohemia;  <==  Premyslid dynasty
    • C2 = Luitpold, Markgraf der Bayrischen Ostmark, m. Richwara;
      • D1 = Adalbert, Markgraf der Ostmark, d:1055, m. Glismod;
        • E1 = Ernst, Markgraf of Austria, lvd:1027/1075, m. Adelheid von Meissen;
          • F1 = Leopold II, Markgraf of Austria, lvd:1050/1102, m. Ida von Ratelberg;
            <=======
  • G1 = Leopold III, "der Heilige", Markgraf of Austria, lvd:1073/1136, m. Agnes von Waiblingen;  ==>  Salian dynasty
    • H1 = Agnes, m. Prince Wladyslaw II of Cracow and Silesia;  <==  Piast dynasty
    • H2 = Judith, m. Guglielmo V, Marchese di Monferrato;  <==  House of Aleramici
    • H3 = Duke Heinrich II "Jasomirgott", Markgraf of Austria, lvd:1112/1177, m. Theodora Komnena;
      • I1 = Duke Leopold V of Austria, lvd:1157/1194, m. Ilona of Hungary;  ==>  House of Árpád
        • J1 = Duke Leopold VI of Austria & Styria, lvd:1176/1230, m. Theodora Angelos;  ==>  Angelos
          • K1 = Konstanze, lvd:1212/1243, m. Heinrich, Margrave of Meissen;  <==  House of Wettin
          • K2 = Agnes, lvd:1206/1226, m. Duke Albrecht I of Saxony;  <==  Saxe-Wittenberg