Editing House of Babenberg (section)

==Dukes of Austria==
One of Leopold's younger sons was Bishop [[Otto of Freising]]. His eldest son [[Leopold IV, Margrave of Austria|Leopold IV]] became margrave in 1136, and in 1139 received the [[Duchy of Bavaria]] from the hands of King [[Conrad III of Germany|Conrad III]], who had [[Imperial ban|banned]] the [[House of Welf|Welf]] duke [[Henry X, Duke of Bavaria|Henry the Proud]].

Leopold's brother [[Henry II, Duke of Austria|Henry Jasomirgott]] (allegedly named after his favourite oath, "Yes, so [help] me God!") was made [[Elector of the Palatinate|Count Palatine of the Rhine]] in 1140, and became Margrave of Austria on Leopold's death in 1141. Having married Gertrude, the widow of Henry the Proud, he was invested in 1143 with the Duchy of Bavaria, and resigned his office as count palatine. In 1147 he participated in the [[Second Crusade]], and after his return, renounced Bavaria at the instance of the new king [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick Barbarossa]] who gave the duchy of Bavaria to Henry the Proud's son, Duke [[Henry the Lion]] of Saxony. As compensation for this, Austria, the capital of which had been transferred to [[Vienna]] about 1155, was elevated into a duchy according to the ''[[Privilegium Minus]]''.<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Rise to power===
The second duke was Henry's son [[Leopold V of Austria (Babenberg)|Leopold V]], who succeeded him in 1177 and took part in the crusades of 1182 and 1190 as well as the [[Third Crusade]]. In Palestine, he quarrelled with King [[Richard I of England]], captured him on his homeward journey and handed him over to Emperor [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]]. Leopold increased the territories of the Babenbergs by acquiring the [[Duchy of Styria]] under the will of his kinsman Duke [[Ottokar IV of Styria|Ottokar IV]]. He died in 1194, and Austria fell to one son, [[Frederick I of Austria (Babenberg)|Frederick]], and Styria to another, [[Leopold VI of Austria|Leopold]]; but on Frederick's death in 1198 they were again united by Leopold as Duke Leopold VI, surnamed "the Glorious".<ref name="EB1911"/>

The new duke fought in the crusades in [[Al-Andalus|Spain]], [[Ayyubid dynasty|Egypt]], and [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], but is more celebrated as a lawgiver, a patron of letters, and a founder of many towns. Under him Vienna became the centre of culture in [[Germany]] and the great school of [[Minnesingers]]. His later years were spent in strife with his son Frederick, and he died in 1230 at San Germano, now renamed [[Cassino]], whither he had gone to arrange the peace between Emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] and [[Pope Gregory IX]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

===Extinction===
[[Frederick II of Austria|Frederick II]], [[Leopold VI, Duke of Austria|Leopold VI's]] son by [[Theodora Angelina (wife of Leopold VI of Austria)|Theodora Angelina]], succeeded his father as duke upon the elder man's death in 1230. Frederick II soon earned the epithet "the Quarrelsome" from his ongoing disputes with the kings of [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]] and [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] and with [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II]]. Duke Frederick deprived his mother and sisters of their possessions, was hated by his subjects on account of his oppressive rule, and, in 1236, was placed under the imperial ban and driven from Austria.<ref name="EB1911"/> However, he was later restored to his duchy when Emperor Frederick II was excommunicated. Subsequently, Duke Frederick II treated with Emperor Frederick II in vain to make Austria a kingdom.

The male line of the Babenbergs became extinct in 1246, when Frederick II was killed in battle (the [[House of Henneberg|Henneberg branch]] of the Franconian Babenbergs lived on until 1583 when its lands were divided among the two branches of the [[Wettin Dynasty|Wettin family]]).

Frederick's heir general was [[Gertrude of Austria]], the only child of his late elder brother, [[Henry of Austria]] by that man's wife, [[Agnes of Thuringia]]. However, neither her husbands nor her son succeeded in settling the Babenberg inheritance under their power. Gertrude's only surviving child, [[Agnes of Baden, Duchess of Carinthia|Agnes of Baden]], tried to reclaim at least part of her inheritance through her third husband [[Ulrich II of Heunburg]], but was unsuccessful.

After some years of struggle known as the {{ill|Austrian Interregnum|de|Österreichisches Interregnum|uk|Австрійська війна (1246—1278)}} or War of the Babenberg Succession (1246–1256/78/82), the Duchies of Austria and Styria fell to [[Ottokar II of Bohemia]], and subsequently to [[Rudolph I of Germany|Rudolph I]] of [[Habsburg]], whose descendants were to rule Austria until 1918.