Leopold was the son of Henry II Jasomirgott and his Byzantine wife Theodora Comnena. He was also the father of Frederick I and Leopold VI.
He is mainly remembered for his participation in the Third Crusade, where he quarreled with the English king Richard Lionheart outside Acre; Richard and Philip II of France had raised their flags in Acre, but Richard removed Leopold's flag when he attempted to do the same. On the journey back to England in 1192, Richard had to stop in Vienna, where he was recognized (supposedly because of his signet ring) and was arrested in the Erdberg district (modern Landstraße). For some time the king was imprisoned in Dürnstein, and was then brought before Emperor Henry VI. The immense ransom, supposedly six thousand buckets of silver, became the foundation for the mint in Vienna, and was used to build new city walls for Vienna, as well as to build Wiener Neustadt. However, the duke was excommunicated by Pope Celestine III for having taken a fellow crusader prisoner.
On August 17, 1186 the Georgenberg Pact was negotiated, by which Styria and the central part of Upper Austria were amalgamated into Austria after 1192. This was the first step towards the creation of modern Austria.
In 1194 he died in Graz after a fall from a horse at a tournament, without having been absolved of the excommunication.
Austria has one of the world's lowest birthrates, and much of the population is under age twenty-five or over sixty-five.
Austria emerged as a distinct political entity in 976 when Otto II gave the area to the Bavarian nobleman Leopold of Babenberg, largely to keep the Magyars at bay.
Austria's status as a neutral nation was incorporated into the constitution by the Federal Constitutional Law on Neutrality of 26 October 1955.
Feeds |
Contact