Individual Details
Duke Leopold III of Austria
(1 Nov 1351 - 9 Jul 1386)
Youngest son of Albrecht II 'the Wise', duke of Austria, and Johanna von Pfirt, Leopold was born 1 November 1351 in Vienna. His eldest brother Rudolf IV made him the representative of the house of Habsburg in the newly obtained county of Tirol, and arranged his marriage. On 23 February 1365 in Milan, Leopold married Viridis (Verde) Visconti, daughter of Barnabo Visconti, lord of Milan, Bergamo, Cremona, Lodi and Bologna, and Beatrice della Scala. They had six children of whom two sons, Ernst I ('the Iron') and Friedrich IV would have progeny. After the death of Rudolf IV in 1365, Leopold III and his older brother Albrecht III ruled together over the Habsburg territories.
In 1369 Leopold had attempted to relieve the city of Trieste, which was being besieged by the Venetians. This later led to a major gain for the house of Habsburg with the decision by Trieste to place itself under Leopold's protection. The connection of Trieste to Austria, which began through Trieste's fear of domination by Venice, was to last for more than half a millennium (1382-1918).
In the Treaty of Neuburg on 25 September 1379, Leopold III was awarded the duchy of Styria (Steiermark), Carinthia (Kärnten), Carniola ( Krain), and the Windisch Mark.
In 1381 Venice ceded the city of Treviso and its surrounding lands to the Habsburgs, so that these lands, so vital to Venice's trade with the north, did not fall into the hands of the lord of Padua, Francesco de Carrara. Leopold nevertheless lost his holdings in the Venetian hinterland to Francesco.
Leopold's conflict with the Swiss Confederacy arose on the one hand from the efforts of the cantons within the Confederacy to secure the freedoms which they had gradually gained over the preceding century and to extend them, but also from Leopold's aspiration to strengthen the position of the house of Habsburg in the former Habsburg lands in what is now northeast Switzerland, as well as possibly creating a large Habsburg territory in the area of the old dukedom of Swabia in the southwest of the empire. Issues of ecclesiastical politics - in the great schism within Catholicism Leopold favoured the primacy of the popes in Avignon, while the empire favoured the Roman pontiffs - contributed to the escalation of the general tensions.
Leopold formed a wide-ranging policy of alliances, encompassing not only the powers in the narrower regional context but extending to Burgundy, and he saw it as sufficient to support a successful offensive against the confederacy. However, on 9 July 1386 at Sempach (in the canton of Lucerne), on ground very unsuited to mounted combat, the superior force of mounted knights led by Leopold suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of a highly motivated, mobile foot force from Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwald, and Leopold was killed in the battle. He was interred in the Habsburg monastery of Königsfelden.
Source: Leo van de Pas
In 1369 Leopold had attempted to relieve the city of Trieste, which was being besieged by the Venetians. This later led to a major gain for the house of Habsburg with the decision by Trieste to place itself under Leopold's protection. The connection of Trieste to Austria, which began through Trieste's fear of domination by Venice, was to last for more than half a millennium (1382-1918).
In the Treaty of Neuburg on 25 September 1379, Leopold III was awarded the duchy of Styria (Steiermark), Carinthia (Kärnten), Carniola ( Krain), and the Windisch Mark.
In 1381 Venice ceded the city of Treviso and its surrounding lands to the Habsburgs, so that these lands, so vital to Venice's trade with the north, did not fall into the hands of the lord of Padua, Francesco de Carrara. Leopold nevertheless lost his holdings in the Venetian hinterland to Francesco.
Leopold's conflict with the Swiss Confederacy arose on the one hand from the efforts of the cantons within the Confederacy to secure the freedoms which they had gradually gained over the preceding century and to extend them, but also from Leopold's aspiration to strengthen the position of the house of Habsburg in the former Habsburg lands in what is now northeast Switzerland, as well as possibly creating a large Habsburg territory in the area of the old dukedom of Swabia in the southwest of the empire. Issues of ecclesiastical politics - in the great schism within Catholicism Leopold favoured the primacy of the popes in Avignon, while the empire favoured the Roman pontiffs - contributed to the escalation of the general tensions.
Leopold formed a wide-ranging policy of alliances, encompassing not only the powers in the narrower regional context but extending to Burgundy, and he saw it as sufficient to support a successful offensive against the confederacy. However, on 9 July 1386 at Sempach (in the canton of Lucerne), on ground very unsuited to mounted combat, the superior force of mounted knights led by Leopold suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of a highly motivated, mobile foot force from Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwald, and Leopold was killed in the battle. He was interred in the Habsburg monastery of Königsfelden.
Source: Leo van de Pas
Events
| Birth | 1 Nov 1351 | Vienna, Austria | |||
| Marriage | 23 Feb 1365 | Milano - Viridis "Verde" Visconti | |||
| Death | 9 Jul 1386 | Sempach | |||
| Burial | Königsfelden |
Families
| Spouse | Viridis "Verde" Visconti (1350 - 1414) |
| Child | Duke Ernst I (The Iron) of Austria (1377 - 1424) |