Leopold I, Margrave of Austria

Leopold I (also Luitpold; 940 – 10 July 994), known as the Illustrious founder of medieval Austria was a member of the House of Babenberg who ruled as Margrave of Austria from 976 until his death. He was the first margrave of the Babenberg dynasty which ruled the March and Duchy of Austria until its extinction in 1246.

Biography The origins of Leopold the Illustrious are not known. According to some sources, his father Berthold was count in the Nordgau, the region north of Ratisbon (Regensburg) in the Duchy of Bavaria. and brother (or nephew) of Count Berthold of Schweinfurt. While his ancestry remains disputed, a descent from the Popponids (Elder House of Babenberg) is assumed and some affiliation with the ducal Luitpoldings dynasty is probable.

Leopold is first mentioned in a document issued by Emperor Otto I on 13 February 962 as Liupo, count of the Bavarian Donaugau region near Ratisbon, count of the Traungau region, After Otto I had defeated the Magyars in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld, he re-established the Bavarian Marcha orientalis (Eastern March) in the conquered territories, placing them under the command of Margrave Burkhard,

The resettlement of the east was a slow process that centered from the fortress of Pöchlarn down the Danube river. Leopold's margraviate originally coincided with the present-day Wachau valley, and whose eastern boundary was the Traisen river near Sankt Pölten east of Krems. With the Magyar threat largely reduced following their defeat in 955, Leopold focused on securing his holdings from internal threats and dissensions. and by 991, jointly with reinstated Duke Henry II of Bavaria, further down to the Fischa river.

In 994, Leopold travelled to Würzburg to mediate a dispute between his cousin Margrave Henry of Schweinfurt and the Würzburg bishop Bernward von Rothenburg, one of whose knights Henry had seized and blinded. At a tournament held on 8 July, Leopold was hit in the eye by an arrow directed at his cousin. Two days later, on 10 July 994, he died from his injuries. He was buried in Würzburg. Perhaps the highest testimony to Leopold's life and reputation came from the actions of Emperor Otto III, who immediately invested his son Henry I with his father's margravate. Their marriage produced eight children: Henry I (died 1018), second Margrave of Austria Judith Ernest I (died 1015), Duke of Swabia Adalbert (985–1055), third Margrave of Austria Poppo (986–1047), Archbishop of Trier Kunigunda Hemma, married Count Rapoto of Dießen Christina, a nun at Trier