Babenberger

House of Babenberg
Country	Margraviate of Austria Duchy of Austria Duchy of Styria
Titles	Count, Margrave, Duke
Founded	c. 962
Founder	Leopold I
Final ruler	Frederick II
Deposition	1246

The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian margraves and dukes. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the Imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its elevation to a duchy, and from then until the extinction of the line in 1246, whereafter they were succeeded by the House of Habsburg.

The Babenberg family can be broken down into two distinct groups: 1) The Franconian Babenbergs, the so-called Elder House of Babenberg, whose name refers to Babenburg Castle, the present site of Bamberg Cathedral. Also called Popponids after their progenitor Count Poppo of Grapfeld (d. 839-41), they were related to the Frankish Robertian dynasty and ancestors of the Franconian Counts of Henneberg and of Schweinfurt. 2) The Austrian Babenbergs, descendants of Margrave Leopold I, who ruled Austria from 976 onwards. This second group claimed to have originated from the first, however, scholars have not been able to verify that claim. Today, a direct lineal descent from the Bavarian House of Luitpolding is assumed.

Like the French royal Capetian dynasty, the Elder Babenbergs descended from the Robertians. The earliest known Babenberg count Poppo was first mentioned as a ruler in the Gau of Grabfeld, a historic region in northeastern Franconia bordering on Thuringia, in 819 AD. He may be a descendant of the Robertian count Cancor of Hesbaye.

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