Ostarrîchi
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Ostarrîchi is an Old High German name, first found in the famous Ostarrîchi document of 996, where it refers to the Margraviate ruled by the Babenberg Count Henry I located mostly in what is today Lower Austria and part of Upper Austria.
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[edit] Content
In the document, issued by Emperor Otto III on November 1, 996 in Bruchsal to Gottschalk von Hagenau, Bishop of Freising, the emperor grants some land around Neuhofen an der Ybbs to the abbey of Freising as a fief. The lands and some other communities in the vicinity, which the abbey acquired later, were held until 1803, when they were incorporated into Austria.
[edit] Historical significance
The historical significance of the document lies in the fact that it is the first time that the name Ostarrîchi, apparently the linguistic ancestor of Österreich, the German name for Austria, is mentioned, even though it applied only to a relatively small territory. The document states that the term is used in the vernacular (see the Latin in the text of the document below), which is taken to mean that the term must have been used before the document was issued.
The document also implies that the term Ostmark, a concise 19th century translation of the Latin marchia orientalis which had later been appropriated by the Nazis, is unhistoric. It appears that the translation of the Latin term into German in the time when the document was issued was actually Ostarrîchi, i.e. Eastern lands.
[edit] Slavic origin?
An alternative theory, proposed by the Austrian slavistics professor Otto Kronsteiner, suggests that the term Ostarrîchi is taken from the local (Slavonic) expression 'Ostarik' meaning 'pointed hill', taking its popular meaning of 'Eastern realm' at a much later time.[1] This theory was rejected by Austrian linguist Heinz-Dieter Pohl, who points out that there are no pointed mountains in that region.[2]
[edit] Text of the Ostarrîchi document
In nomine sanctae et individuae trinitatis. Otto divina preordinante clementia imperator augustus. Noverint omnium industriae fidelium nostrorum tam praesentium quam et futororum, qualiter nos dignis petitionibus dilectissimi nepotis nostri Baioariorum ducis Heinrici annuentes quasdam nostri iuris res regione vulgari vocabulo Ostarrichi in marcha et in comitatu Heinrici comitis filii Liutpaldi marchionis in loco Niuuanhova dicto, id est cum eadem curte et in proximo confinio adiacentes triginta regales hobas cum terris cultis et incultis pratis pascuis silvis aedificiis aquis aquarumve decursibus venationibus zidalweidun piscationibus molendinis mobilibus viis en inviis exitibus et reditibus quesitis et inquirendis omnibusque iure legaliterque ad easdem hobas pertinentibus super gremium Frigisingensis aecclesiae ad servicium sanctae Mariae sanctique Christi confessoris atque pontificis Corbiniani cui nunc fidelis noster Kotascalus venerabilis presidet episcopus, in proprium atque perpetuum usum concessimus firmiterque tradidimus nostra imperiali potentia, eo modo eoque tenore ut eadem praefata Frigisingensis aecclesia idemque praelibatus antistes Kotascalhus atque omnes sui successores libero deinceps perfruantur arbitrio haec omnia tenendi commutandi et quidquid voluerint inde faciendi. Et ut nostrae largitionis auctoritas firmior stabiliorque cunctis sanctae dei aecclesiae filiis perpetim credatur, hanc cartam inscribi iussimus anuloque nostro signatam manu propria subtus eam firmavimus. Signum domni Ottonis invictissimi imperatoris augusti. Hildibaldus episcopus et cancellarius vice Uuilligisi archiepiscopi recognovi. Data kal. nov. anno dominicae incarnationis DCCCCXCVI, indictione X, anno autem tertii Ottonis regnantis XIII, imperii vero I; actum Bruochselle, feliciter. (eLib Austria Ostarrichi etxt Link (German))
[edit] See also
- History of Austria (for a broader historical perspective)
- Austrasia
