Leopold V, Duke of Austria
Leopold V, the Virtuous / virtue Rich (* 1157, † December 31, 1194 in Graz), was Duke of Austria ( 1177-1194 ) and Styria ( 1192-1194 ) from the House of Babenberg.
Leopold was the son of Henry II Jasomirgott and Theodora Comnena, a niece of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I. He married 1177 Ilona ( Helen ) (* 1158, † 1199 ), the daughter of the Hungarian King Géza II and had with her two sons Frederick I and Leopold VI.
Life
In the summer of 1174 Leopold was enfeoffed to his father's wish with the Duchy of Austria. When his father died in 1177, Leopold led the battle against the Duke of Bohemia continue with the peace concluded in the summer of 1179, and the border between Bohemia and Austria was regulated.
1182 Leopold undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and visited the move Alexios II Komnenos the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople Opel.
Leopold had close contact with Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and participated, for example in 1185 at its sixth Italian campaign.
On August 17, 1186, the George Handfeste was negotiated, following the death in 1192 Styria and central parts of Upper Austria Austria were connected by the. This was the first step towards the creation of complex countries Austria.
Capture of Richard the Lionheart
In the story he came in, he was captivated by the English King Richard the Lionheart on his return from the Third Crusade.
Leopold himself was broken up as a crusader with a small contingent on the sea route from Venice to the Holy Land in August 1190 and had joined the siege of Acre in January 1191. There he took over command of the local German crusaders. Between April and July 1191 the Christian besiegers were reinforced by the armies of the Third Crusade under the French king Philip II Augustus and the English King Richard the Lionheart. This took command and conquered Acre on 12 July 1191st In the following occupation of the city Leopold quarreled with the English king Richard the Lionheart. Leopold and his German contingent had played only a minor role in the eventual conquest of the city. Nevertheless, Leopold was so self-conscious, as well as the two kings, including his Babenberg flag on a castle tower - a gesture with which he, although presented only in the rank of a duke, on the same level as the two kings and the same prey share how they claimed. Richard the Lion heart responded little diplomatically, the claims of Leopold dismissed rudely and let the flag of Leopold from the castle tower throw down. He traveled home to this affront, where he arrived in November or December 1191. However, there are doubts whether the incident at Acre has ever taken place or invented by contemporary chroniclers and was hyped to justify strictly prohibited by the Church arrest of a crusader at his homecoming. This is suggested that Richard could hardly go knowingly into the vicinity of the residence of his alleged adversary.
On the return voyage to England in 1192, Richard the Lionheart had due to adverse circumstances with a small retinue, disguised as a pilgrim, turn the land over Austria. When he made a stopover in Vienna, he was (now at Vienna Highway ) arrested in the suburb Erdberg. The capture was Emperor Henry VI. previously agreed in Milan with the French king Philip Augustus. Leopold kept Richard prisoner in the castle of Dürnstein, he delivered it to the Emperor Henry VI. from. Its share of the immense ransom of six thousand buckets of silver, equivalent to 100,000 marks, or 23.3 tons of silver, used Leopold establishing the coin in Vienna, for the construction of a new and greatly expanded the Vienna city walls and the foundation of cities Wiener Neustadt and Friedberg.
The capture of King Leopold brought but also under enormous political pressure because this was a crusader under the special protection of the Church. So said Pope Celestine III. his excommunication and interdict his lands from. These were apparently not published. The Pope told them to put by the Bishop of Verona conditions under which the excommunication should be rescinded. Among these was the release of the English hostages and the return of the ransom. In addition, the Duke and his men should immediately move to the Holy Land and fight there for so long in the service of the Church, as King Richard was in captivity.
The conditions for the lifting of the excommunication had not been fulfilled, neither hostages nor the ransom money was handed over, with the preparations for the cruise but had been already begun, as Duke Leopold fell from his horse during a tournament and an open leg fracture suffered. Then he promised the pastor of Hartberg, that he would in the event of his recovery against the specified conditions for the lifting of the excommunication. Shortly after, he also explained Archbishop Adalbert III. Salzburg from his subjection to the conditions of the Pope. Thus, the excommunication was Archbishop Adalbert III. canceled again. Soon afterwards, on 31 December 1194 Duke Leopold died in Graz at the consequences of its open broken leg. He was buried in the chapter house of the Church Heiligenkreuz monastery.
Leopold and Austrian red-white- red flag
His white tunic said to have been red with blood in the fighting at the siege of Acre in 1191. When he took off his wide belt, a white streak was seen. Since his banner went (probably black panther on a silver background ) lost during the battle, is to him the Emperor Henry VI. have granted the right to wear the red-white- red colors as a new banner. Thus, the Austrian flag said to have originated.
Reception
By the imperial resolution of Franz Joseph I of February 28, 1863 Leopold V was " the most famous, to the everlasting emulation worthy warlords and generals of Austria" in the list of added, in whose honor and remembrance also a life-size statue in the Feldherrenhalle of the then newly constructed kk Hofwaffenmuseums (now the Military History Museum Vienna) was built. The statue was created in 1872 by sculptor Viktor Tilgner in Carrara marble, it was dedicated by Emperor Franz Joseph himself