March of Styria

After the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps from about 590 and the establishment of the Carantanian principality in the 7th century, the area had fallen under Bavarian suzerainty, when about 740 Prince Boruth asked Duke Odilo for help against invading Avar forces.

In 1042/43 further territory east of the Mur up to Pitten and the Leitha river was conquered by King Henry III of Germany, who finally defeated the Hungarian forces in the 1044 Battle of Ménfő.

In 1004, the Bavarian count palatines of the Aribonid dynasty founded the Benedictine nunnery of Göss, which was elevated to an Imperial abbey by Emperor Henry II in 1020.

Once the political turmoils of the fierce Investiture Controversy had ended, Margrave Leopold the Strong (1122–1129) and his son Ottokar III (1129–1164) gradually gained independence from the Carinthian dukes and were able to acquire large territories along the Savinja river down to the Windic March.

Margrave Ottokar III extended his influence down the Mur river into the Mark an der Sann territory (Lower Styria) and moved his residence to Graz; he already began to call himself princeps.