Ottokar I of Styria

Ottokar I (died 1064) was the founder of the dynasty of the Otakars.

Biography

From 1056 to 1064, he was margrave of the Carantanian march, later to be known as the March of Styria (German: Steiermark, after the town of Steyr, where Ottokar was count).

Ottokar is documented as a count in the Bavarian Chiemgau about 1048. By his mother Willibirg of Wels-Lambach he inherited allodial lands and the margravial title in the Traungau region around Steyr. He also served a Vogt (reeve) of Lambach Abbey and co-founder of Admont Abbey. He ended the war against Hungary.

He married Willibirg of Eppenstein, possibly a relative of Duke Adalbero of Carinthia. The later margraves Adalbero and Ottokar II were his sons. The elder Adalbero succeeded his father but fell out with his younger brother Ottokar II during the Investiture Controversy, was banned and finally murdered in 1082.