March of Styria

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The March of Styria (German: Steiermark) was originally broken off the Duchy of Carinthia before 970 as a buffer zone against the Magyars.^[1] Originally it was known as the March of Carinthia (marchia Carantana), because it was the first border territory guarding the Duchy of Carinthia, but in time it evolved to be called Styria.

The march of Carinthia was raised to the status of a duchy in 976 and separated from the Duchy of Bavaria, of which it had been a frontier march. Styria was similarly converted into a march of the new duchy of Carinthia. The first margraves of Styria appear in the middle of the 11th century. The dynasty was called the Otakars. In 1180, the march was converted into the Duchy of Styria.

[edit] Margraves of Styria

Markward (until c. 1000)
Adalbero (1000-1035)
Arnold (1035-1055)
Godfrey (1042-1050, co-margrave)
Ottokar I (1055-1064)
Adalbero (1064–1086)
Ottokar II (1086–1122)
Leopold the Strong (1122–1129)
Ottokar III (1129–1164)
Ottokar IV (1164–1180)

[edit] Sources

Semple, Ellen Churchill. "The Barrier Boundary of the Mediterranean Basin and Its Northern Breaches as Factors in History." Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 5. (1915), pp 27-59.
Thompson, James Westfall. Feudal Germany, Volume II. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928.