Babenberg

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.

Early history of the family

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; another, Poppo, was margrave in Thuringia from 880 to 892, when he was deposed by the German Carolingian king Arnulf of Carinthia. The family had been favoured by Emperor Charles the Fat, but Arnulf reversed this policy in favour of the rival family of the Conradines.

Related Topics:
Poppo - 9th century - Grapfeld - Hesse - Thuringia - Henry - Normans - 886 - Poppo - 880 - 892 - German - Arnulf of Carinthia - Charles the Fat - Conradines

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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.

Related Topics:
Main - Bamberg

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