Editing History of Tyrol (section)

== Birth of the County of Tyrol ==
[[File:Tirol Schloss 01.jpg|thumb|[[Castle Tyrol]] was the seat of the Counts of Tyrol and gave the region its name]]
[[File:Margarethe Tirol.jpg|thumb|[[Margaret, Countess of Tyrol]]]]
Over the centuries, the [[County of Tyrol|Count]]s residing in [[Tirol Castle]], near [[Merano]], extended their territory over the region. Later counts would hold much of their territory directly from the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. The Meinhardinger family, originating in [[Gorizia]], held not only Tyrol and Gorizia, but for a time the [[Duchy of Carinthia]]. At the end of count [[Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia|Meinhard II]]'s rule (1259–1295) the "county and reign of Tyrol" had established itself firmly in the "Land on the [[Adige]] and [[Inn (river)|Inn]]", as the region was then called. This happened on the expense of the power of the bishops, who were nominally the [[Feudalism|feudal]] lords of the counts of Tyrol. Meinhard II also introduced more efficient systems for the administration of his territories.

[[Margaret, Countess of Tyrol|Margarete "Maultasch"]] was the last effective ruler of Tyrol from the Meinhardinger Dynasty. In 1330 she was married to [[John Henry, Margrave of Moravia|John-Henry]] (who later became the [[Margraviate of Moravia|margrave of Moravia]]), who she repudiated with the help of the Tyrolean aristocracy in order to marry Duke [[Louis V, Duke of Bavaria|Ludwig V]] of [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]], a member of the powerful [[House of Wittelsbach|Wittelsbach dynasty]]. This weakened the position of the countess and strengthened the local nobility. The only son of Margarete and Louis, Meinhard, died in 1363, two years after his father, leaving the countess without an heir.

Margarete Maultasch decided to bequeath Tyrol to Duke [[Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria|Rudolph IV]] of the [[House of Habsburg]], probably pressed by the aristocracy, an act which caused a conflict between Meinhard's uncle [[Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria|Stephen II]], who forged an alliance with the powerful Lord of [[Milan]] [[Bernabò Visconti]] to invade Tyrol, and the House of Habsburg. Stephen finally renounced Tyrol to the Habsburgs with the Peace of [[Schärding]] for a huge financial compensation after the death of Margarete Maultasch in 1369. The red eagle in Tyrol's coat of arms derives from the red [[Brandenburg]] eagle, dating from the time when Louis V and Margarete Maultasch governed Brandenburg as well.