Leopold I, Duke of Austria

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Leopold I
Duke of Austria, Duke of Styria
Habsburg
Spouse
Elisabeth of Gorizia-Tyrol

Leopold I (c. 1290 – 28 February 1326),

Meinhardiner
dynasty.

Biography

Leopold I Habsburg

After the death of his eldest brother Duke

Italian campaign. In 1311, he helped to suppress a Guelph uprising in Milan under Guido della Torre, and to lay siege to the city of Brescia
.

Upon Emperor Henry's death, he strongly supported his brother Frederick in the 1314 election as

Louis IV of Bavaria, with support of the Luxembourgs, was elected by five. In the following armed conflict between the rivals, the forces of Leopold were supportive of his brother's claims.[1] In his ancestral homeland however, he incurred a decisive defeat by the Swiss Confederacy at the 1315 Battle of Morgarten.[1]

Seal of Duke Leopold of Austria

When Frederick and their younger brother Henry had been captured at the Battle of Mühldorf in 1322, Leopold struggled for their release. He entered into negotiations with King Louis IV and even surrendered the Imperial Regalia he had kept at Kyburg Castle. The parleys failed and Leopold continued to attack the Bavarian forces of Louis, who unsuccessfully laid siege to the Swabian town of Burgau in 1324. After the king had failed to reach the approval of his election by Pope John XXII and was even banned, he released Frederick in 1325. The captive however had to promise to swear his brother to acknowledge Louis as his suzerain, which Leopold refused.[1] Frederick voluntarily returned to the Bavarian court, where he and Louis finally agreed upon a joint rule.

Leopold died in Strasbourg shortly afterwards, on 28 February 1326.[1] His remains were buried at Königsfelden Monastery in Windisch.

Marriage and issue

In 1315, Leopold married Catherine of Savoy (1284–1336), daughter of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy by his second wife, Marie of Brabant. They had two daughters:

  1. Enguerrand VI, Lord of Coucy
    .
  2. Agnes of Austria (1322–1392), who married Bolko II, Duke of Świdnica.

Male-line family tree

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Franziska Hälg-Steffen: Leopold I of Habsburg in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

Bibliography

Leopold I, Duke of Austria
Born: 1290 Died: 1326
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Styria
1308–1326
With: Frederick the Fair
Succeeded byas sole duke