Duchy of Carinthia

Duchy of Carinthia Herzogtum Kärnten
876 - 1918
Capital Circle Bench	Klagenfurt Austrian none
Intermittently existent	876
Permanently established	976
Abolished	1918

The Duchy of Carinthia was an Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the modern Austrian state of Carinthia and the Slovenian province of Carinthia. It survived as an entity after the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire as a crownland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but was abolished in 1918 after its defeat in World War I.

The early Duchy (976 - 1269)

The Duchy originates from the ancient Principality of Karantania. After its conquest by the Franks under Charlemagne in 788, it was reorganised as the Margraviate of Carinthia, a fief of the Duchy of Bavaria. In 876, the Duchy was created for Arnulf, later King of Germany, with the margraviate and other fiefs. The Duchy had a tenuous existence alternating between independence and being part of Bavaria until 976 when King Otto II deposed the Duke of Bavaria and divided his lands into three parts, one being Carinthia.

In 1011, Adalberon of Eppenstein, the Margrave of Carinthia, was appointed Duke, but he was deposed of both in 1035. Carinthia passed to many individuals and houses until 1077 when Luitpold was appointed. The Eppenstein dynasty continued until the death of Duke Henry II in 1122, when the Duchy passed to Henry III of the House of Sponheim. The Margraviate ceased to exist in 1258 and it was annexed to the Duchy proper. After Duke Ulrich III died in 1269, Carinthia passed to his designated heir, King Ottokar II of Bohemia despite the protest of the Archbishop of Salzburg Philip of Carinthia.

Later Ducal Carinthia (1269 - 1918)

Carinthia was conquered by King Rudolph I of the House of Habsburg in 1276, who gave it to Count Meinhard III of the Tyrol. After the death of his last male heir, Henry, in 1335, Carinthia was given to the Habsburg Dukes of Austria. Like other territories of the Habsburgs, Carinthia remained semi-autonomous and was given to junior lines twice (1379 and 1564). Each time, Carinthia formed part of Inner Austria with Styria and Carniola.

In the reorganisation of the Habsburg lands in 1804, Carinthia was integrated into the Austrian Empire. It became a Crownland of Cisleithania with the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. As the German language slowly surpassed Slovenian in prestige, Carinthia became heavily Germanised. So with the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I in 1918, the northern two thirds became the Austrian state of Carinthia, while the southern third was annexed to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.