House of Babenberg

House of Babenberg, family of ancient and noble origin that ruled Austria from 976 to 1246. Babenberg Castle, near the town of Bamberg in northern Bavaria, was the seat of the Babenberg dynasty. One of the first Babenbergs was called Poppo, Count Grabfeld, who lived in the 9th century. Poppo’s sons included Henry, duke and margrave of the medieval duchy Franconia, and Poppo, margrave of Thuringia. In 892, the Conradines, bitter rivals of the Babenbergs, ousted the younger Poppo from his possessions. In the feud that followed, Poppo's heirs were killed and the family sank into obscurity, not to rise again until 976 when Count Leopold I (Luitpold), a descendant of the counts of Babenberg, was appointed margrave of Austria by Holy Roman emperor Otto II.

The Babenberg margraves (later dukes) of Austria proved able both in administrative and military affairs. The most famous member of the family was Leopold III, called the Pious, who reigned from 1095 to 1136 and who in 1125 refused the emperor's crown. He was declared national patron saint of Austria in 1663. It was Leopold V of the Babenberg line, duke of Austria in the late 12th century, who took King Richard I of England captive on the king’s travels to England. Leopold then turned the king over to Holy Roman emperor Henry VI with whom the king was held for heavy ransom. The Babenberg family died out when Frederick II, duke of Austria and Steiermark and known as the Quarrelsome, was killed in battle in the 16th year of his reign. The Babenberg possessions passed to the royal Habsburg family.