Duchy of Carinthia

The Duchy of Carinthia (German language: Kärnten, Slovenian: Koroška) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire from 976 until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, and a crownland of Austria-Hungary until it dissolved in 1918. In 1918 it became the Austrian State of Carinthia.

Karantania and medieval dynasties

In the 7th century it was part of the Principality of Karantania, and was part of the empire of Charlemagne from 788 to 843, when it became part of the eastern Frankish kingdom of Louis the German. From 889 to 927 the Mark of Carinthia was subject to the duke of Bavaria. In 976, Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor separated the Carinthia from the Duchy of Bavaria. In 995, Adalbero I of Eppenstein became margrave, in 1012 Duke of Carinthia. He was removed from office in 1035. In 1077, the country was given to Luitpold, another member of the Eppensteiner family, which, however, ended with the death of Henry II of Carinthia in 1122. At that time, a lot of territory in what is today Upper Styria passed to Ottokar II of Styria. The remainder of Carinthia passed to Henry III of the Spanheimer family. The last Spanheimer duke was Ulrich III, who chose Ottokar II of Bohemia as his heir. The last Spanheimer, Philipp, who was Archbishop of Salzburg, attempted to become duke but did not prevail against Ottokar in spite of being supported by Rudolf of Habsburg. He died in 1279.

Habsburgs

Rudolf, after defeating Ottokar and becoming King of Germany, gave Carinthia to Meinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol. In 1335, after the death of Henry, the last male of this line, Emperor Louis the Bavarian gave Carinthia and the southern part of the Tyrol as an imperial fief on May 2, 1335 in Linz to the Habsburg family who ruled it until 1918. As the other component parts of the Habsburg monarchy, Carinthia remained a semi-autonomous state with its own constitutional structure for a long time. The Habsburgs divided up their territories within the family twice, in the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg and again in 1564. Each time, the Duchy of Carinthia became part of Inner Austria and was ruled jointly with Styria and Carniola.

Maria Theresa of Austria and Joseph II attempted to create a more unitary Habsburg state, and in 1804, Carinthia was integrated into the Austrian Empire. In 1867, it became a Kronland of Cisleithania, the western part of Austria-Hungary. See History of Austria.

Over the centuries, the German language, which carried more prestige, expanded at the expense of the Slovenian language.

20th century

Following the end of the First World War and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the Carinthian Plebiscite was held on October 10, 1920 to determine the fate of Carinthia. The province was subsequently divided into a larger part that became part of Austria, while a smaller part became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, today in Slovenia.

Carinthia (Kärnten) is now a federal state of Austria, while Carinthia (Koroška) is an informal province in Slovenia. The Canal Valley around Tarvisio, part of Carinthia until 1918, became part of Italy.