Styria (duchy)

The Duchy of Styria (German: Herzogtum Steiermark) was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, and a crownland of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution in 1918. This mountainous and scenic region, which became a center for mountaineering in the 19th century, is often called the "green march", because half of the area is covered with forests and one quarter with meadows, grasslands, vineyards and orchards. Styria is also rich in minerals, soft coal and iron, which has been mined at Erzberg since the time of the Romans. The Windisch Buheln is a famous Austrian wine-producing district. Styria was for long the most densely-populated and productive mountain region of Europe.

Styria in the first millennium

The Roman history of Styria is as part of Noricum and Pannonia, with a Celtic population of the Taurisci. During the great migrations, various Germanic tribes traversed the region using the river valleys and low passes, but about 600 CE the Slavs took possession and settled.

Related Topics:
Roman - Noricum - Pannonia - Celt - Taurisci - Great migrations - 600 - Slavs

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When Styria came under the hegemony of Charlemagne as a part of Karantania (Carinthia), erected as a border territory against the Avars and Slavs, there was a large influx of Bavarii and other Christianized Germanic peoples, whom the bishops of Salzburg and the patriarchs of Aquileia kept faithful to Rome. Bishop Virgilius of Salzburg (745-84), was largely instrumental in establishing a church hierarchy in the Duchy and gained for himself the name of "Apostle of Karantania". In 811 Charlemagne made the Drave river the boundary between the Dioceses of Salzburg and Aquileia.

Related Topics:
Charlemagne - Karantania - Carinthia - Avars - Bavarii - Christianized - Salzburg - Aquileia - Rome - 745 - 84 - Apostle of Karantania - 811 - Drave - Diocese

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