The earliest known Babenberg, Count Poppo I of Grapfeld, was first mentioned in 819 as a ruler in the gau of Grabfeld, a historic region in northeastern Franconia bordering on Thuringia.

The leaders of the Babenbergs were the sons of Duke Henry, who called themselves after their castle of Babenburg on the upper Main river, around which their possessions centered.

The rivalry between the Babenberg and Conradine families was intensified by their efforts to extend their authority in the region of the middle Main, and this quarrel, known as the "Babenberg feud", came to a first head in 892, when King Arnulf deposed Poppo II as Thuringian ruler, appointing Conrad the Elder instead, and installed Conrad's brother Rudolf as Bishop of Würzburg.

The next year, Adalhard was executed at the Reichstag of Forchheim; in return, the Babenbergs occupied the city of Würzburg and expelled Bishop Rudolf.

Meanwhile, Rudolf's brother Gebhard was appointed Duke of Lotharingia in 903,[2] and had to cope both with revolting nobles and the continuing attacks by Babenberg forces.

He refused to appear, held his own for a time in his castle at Theres against the king's forces, but surrendered in 906, and in spite of a promise of safe-conduct by Hatto was beheaded.

Timeline In 962, the Bavarian count Leopold I (Liupo), possibly a descendant of the Luitpolding duke Arnulf of Bavaria, was first mentioned as a faithful follower of Emperor Otto I.

Leopold II, margrave from 1075, quarrelled with Emperor Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy, when he supported the papal side of Bishop Altmann of Passau.

His eldest son Leopold IV became margrave in 1136, and in 1139 received the Duchy of Bavaria from the hands of King Conrad III, who had banned the Welf duke Henry the Proud.

Having married Gertrude, the widow of Henry the Proud, he was invested in 1143 with the Duchy of Bavaria, and resigned his office as count palatine.

In Palestine, he quarrelled with King Richard I of England, captured him on his homeward journey and handed him over to Emperor Henry VI.

[1] The new duke fought in the crusades in Spain, Egypt, and Palestine, but is more celebrated as a lawgiver, a patron of letters, and a founder of many towns.

[1] Frederick II, Leopold VI's son by Theodora Angelina, succeeded his father as duke upon the elder man's death in 1230.

Duke Frederick deprived his mother and sisters of their possessions, was hated by his subjects on account of his oppressive rule, and, in 1236, was placed under the imperial ban and driven from Austria.

Gertrude's only surviving child, Agnes of Baden, tried to reclaim at least part of her inheritance through her third husband Ulrich II of Heunburg, but was unsuccessful.