The Duchy of Carinthia (German: Herzogtum Kärnten; Slovene: Vojvodina Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire from 976 until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, and a crownland of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution in 1918. By the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain the main area of the duchy formed the Austrian state of Carinthia, a smaller south-eastern part (Slovene Carinthia and the commune of Jezersko) was included into the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, while the Val canale with the municipality of Tarvisio was ceded to the Kingdom of Italy.
Carantania and medieval dynasties
In the 7th century it was part of the Principality of Carantania and the empire of Charlemagne from 788 to 843, when it became part of the eastern Frankish kingdom of King Louis the German. From 889 to 976 it was the March of Carinthia, while Count Berthold already received the title of a duke by King Henry I of Germany. After Berthold became Duke of Bavaria in 938 both principalities were reigned by one duke.
In 976 Emperor Otto II again named Henry the Younger separated duke for the Duchy of Karantanija and Otto I of Swabia for the Duchy of Bavaria. In 995, Adalbero I of Eppenstein became margrave, in 1012 Duke of Carinthia. He was removed from office in 1035. In 1077, the country was given to Luitpold, another member of the Eppensteiner family, which, however, ended with the death of Henry II of Carinthia in 1122. At that time, a lot of territory in what is today Upper Styria passed to Ottokar II of Styria. The remainder of Carinthia passed to Henry III of the Spanheimer family. The last Spanheimer duke was Ulrich III, who chose Ottokar II of Bohemia as his heir. The last Spanheimer, Philipp, who was Archbishop of Salzburg, attempted to become duke but did not prevail against Ottokar in spite of being supported by Rudolf of Habsburg. He died in 1279.
The Prince's Stone ( Slovene: Knežji kamen) played an important part in the installation of Carinthia's dukes
Habsburgs
Rudolf, after defeating Ottokar and becoming King of Germany, gave Carinthia to Meinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol. In 1335, after the death of Henry, the last male of this line, Emperor Louis the Bavarian gave Carinthia and the southern part of the Tyrol as an imperial fief on May 2, 1335 in Linz to the Habsburg family who ruled it until 1918. As the other component parts of the Habsburg monarchy, Carinthia remained a semi-autonomous state with its own constitutional structure for a long time. The Habsburgs divided up their territories within the family twice, in the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg and again in 1564. Each time, the Duchy of Carinthia became part of Inner Austria and was ruled jointly with Styria and Carniola.
Maria Theresa of Austria and Joseph II attempted to create a more unitary Habsburg state, and in 1804, Carinthia was integrated into the Austrian Empire. In 1867, it became a Kronland of Cisleithania, the western part of Austria-Hungary. See History of Austria.
Over the centuries, German, which carried more prestige, expanded at the expense of Slovenian.
20th century
Following the end of the First World War and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the Carinthian Plebiscite was held on October 10, 1920 to determine the fate of Carinthia. The province was subsequently divided into a larger part that became part of Austria, while a smaller part became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, today in Slovenia.
The Austrian part of Carinthia (German: Kärnten) is now a federal state of Austria, and most of the Slovenian part of Carinthia (Slovene: Koroška) is an informal province in Slovenia. The Canal Valley around Tarvisio, part of Carinthia until 1918, became part of Italy.
Dukes of Carinthia
Various dynasties
Luitpolding House
Salian House
Luitpolding House
Liudolfing House
Salian House
- Otto I (1002-1004), again
- Conrad I (1004-1011)
House of Eppenstein
Salian House
Elder House of Welf
House of Ezzonen
House of Zähringen
House of Eppenstein
- Henry III (1122-1124)
- Engelbert (1124-1134)
- Ulrich I (1134-1144)
- Henry IV (1144-1161)
- Herman II (1161-1181)
- Ulrich II (1181-1201)
- Bernhard (1201-1256)
- Ulrich III (1256-1269)
Various dynasties
Přemyslids
House of Habsburg
Habsburg territories reunified in 1458
Carinthia was unified with the rest of the Habsburg territories again in 1619. See List of rulers of Austria
See also
External links
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