List of the dukes of Carinthia

The Duchy of Carinthia existed as an independent duchy within the Holy Roman Empire from 976 to 1335 . It emerged from the Slavic principality of Carantania , which came under Franconian sovereignty in the middle of the 8th century and was ruled by Franconian kings and Bavarian sovereigns until it split from the Duchy of Baiern in 976. In 1335 Carinthia came into the possession of the Habsburgs and was united with Austria , Styria and Carniola .

Duchy of Carinthia (976-1335)

Surname	Noble family	Reign
Henry III. from Bavaria	Luitpoldinger	976-978
Otto I.	Salier	978-983
Henry III. from Bavaria	Luitpoldinger	983-989
Henry II	Liudolfinger	989-995
Otto I.	Salier	995-1004
Konrad I.	Salier	1004-1011
Adalbero von Eppenstein	Eppensteiner	1012-1035
Konrad II.	Salier	1035-1039
King Henry III ¹	Salier	1039-1047
Welf III.	Guelphs	1047-1055
Conrad III.	Ezzonen	1056-1061
Berthold I.	Zähringer	1061-1072
Markwart IV of Eppenstein	Eppensteiner	1073-1076?
Liutold from Eppenstein	Eppensteiner	1076-1090
Henry III. from Eppenstein	Eppensteiner	1090-1122
¹ under Henry III. the ducal dignity was vacant from 1039 to 1047.

After Heinrich II had begun a conspiracy in vain in 974 to dethrone Emperor Otto II and to come to power himself, he was defeated in 976 and robbed of his duchy. Otto II then separated Carinthia from Bavaria in order to reduce the power of the dukes of Bavaria, so that from 976 onwards it existed as an independent duchy alongside the old tribal duchies until it was taken over by the Habsburgs in 1335 and with Austria, Styria and the Carniola was united.

Eppensteiner

The first native dynasty of the duchy was founded by the Eppensteiner . Its first representative, Adalbero von Eppenstein , was overthrown and banished in 1035 after political disputes with the Salians. Franconian and Swabian regents were subsequently installed in his place.

Only Liutold von Eppenstein († 1090) was enfeoffed again in 1077 by King Henry IV with the Duchy of Carinthia and the Mark of Verona . Together with his brother Heinrich, he wanted to expand his power at the expense of Bamberg, Salzburg and Aquileia. With Heinrich's death, however, the Eppenstein family died out in 1122.

Spanheimer

Henry IV (1122–1123)
Engelbert (1123–1135)
Ulrich I (1135–1144)
Henry V (1144–1161)
Hermann (1161–1181)
Ulrich II. (1181-1202)
Bernhard (1202–1256)
Ulrich III. (1256-1269)
Ottokar II Přemysl (1269–1276)
Philipp von Spanheim (1276–1279, nominal)
Rudolf I (1279–1286, in 1282 Rudolf's sons Albrecht I and Rudolf II were enfeoffed with the duchy)

Meinhardiner

Meinhard II. (1286-1295)
Otto III. (1295-1310)
Henry VI. (1310-1335)

Habsburgs (from 1335)

Otto IV. (1335-1339)
- Albrecht II (1335-1358)
Friedrich (1358-1362)
- Rudolf II (1358-1365)

Part of Inner Austria according to the medieval inheritance divisions

Albrecht III. (1365–1395)
- Leopold (1379-1386)
- Wilhelm (1386-1406)
Ernst the Iron (1406–1424)
Frederick V (1424–1493)

Part of Inner Austria after the modern division of inheritance (from 1564)

Ferdinand I (1521–1564)
Charles II (1564–1590)
Ferdinand III. (1590–1637)

united with the Austrian main line from 1619

literature

Josef Heinzelmann : Beatrix and Adalbero. Carinthian dukes and Salierhaus. In: Archives for family history research. Vol. 7 (2003), pp. 31-39.