The
Duchy of Styria (; ; ) was a duchy located in modern-day southern
Austria and northern
Slovenia. It was a part of the
Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 and a
crownland of
Austria-Hungary until its dissolution in 1918. It was created by
Frederick Barbarossa in 1180 when he raised
Ottokar IV of the
March of Styria to the rank of Duke after the fall of
Henry the Lion earlier that year. Ottokar was the first and last duke of the ancient
Otakar dynasty.
With the death of Ottokar in 1192, the region fell to the
Babenberg family,
rulers of Austria, as stipulated in the
Georgenberg Pact. After their extinction, it passed quickly through the hands of the
Kingdom of Hungary (1254–60),
Ottokar II of Bohemia (1260–76), and the
Habsburgs, who provided it with dukes of their own lineage for the years 1379–1439 and 1564–1619.
At the time of the
Ottoman invasions in the 16th and 17th centuries, the land suffered severely and was depopulated. The Turks made incursions into Styria nearly twenty times; churches, monasteries, cities, and villages were destroyed and plundered, while the population was either killed or carried away into slavery.
On the collapse of Austria-Hungary in the aftermath of
World War I, the
rump state of
German Austria claimed all of
Cisleithania. With the
Treaty of St Germain, Austria-Hungary was
partitioned broadly along ethnic lines, with most of Styria (
Upper Styria, retaining the ducal capital of
Graz) remaining with the
First Austrian Republic, and the southern third (
Lower Styria, with its capital in
Maribor) passing to the
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, eventually becoming a part of modern
Slovenia.
Dukes of Styria
Various dynasties
OtakarsHouse of BabenbergPřemyslidsÁrpád dynastyHouse of Habsburg
- Albert II (1330-1358), jointly with his brother
Leopoldian line- Charles I (1519-1521), Holy Roman Emperor 1530-1556
- Ferdinand I (1521-1564), also Holy Roman Emperor 1558-1564
See
List of rulers of Austria.
See also
