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123-503: It stemmed from the previous frontier structures, initially created for the defense of eastern Bavarian borders against the Avars , who were defeated and conquered during the reign of Charlemagne (d. 814). Throughout the Frankish period, the region was under jurisdiction of Eastern Frankish rulers, who held Bavaria and appointed frontier commanders ( counts ) in eastern regions. At

246-627: A German king in the following year. In 899 AD, Bavaria passed to Louis the Child , during whose reign continuous Hungarian ravages occurred. Resistance to these inroads became gradually feebler, and tradition has it that on 5 July 907 almost the whole of the Bavarian tribe perished in the Battle of Pressburg against these formidable enemies. During the reign of Louis the Child, Luitpold , Count of Scheyern , who possessed large Bavarian domains, ruled

369-833: A stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empire to its status as an independent kingdom and finally as a large Bundesland (state) of the Federal Republic of Germany. Originally settled by Celtic peoples such as the Boii , by the 1st century BC it was eventually conquered and incorporated into the Roman Empire as the provinces of Raetia and Noricum . There have been numerous palaeolithic discoveries in Bavaria . The earliest inhabitants known from surviving written sources were

492-705: A "large people" known as the "' Baimoi ", living near the Danube. In surviving records, the Bavarian name was first mentioned historically in a Frankish list of peoples , prepared in c. 520 AD. The first document that also describes their location (east of the Swabians) is the History of the Goths by the historian Jordanes dating from 551 AD. A remark by Venantius Fortunatus follows in his description of his travels from Ravenna to Tours (565–571), in which he had crossed

615-459: A Germanic word similar to English "home" or modern German " Heim " was added. Strabo therefore reports Boihaemum (Greek Βουίαιμον). Tacitus similarly reports that Boihaemum is the name given to the area where the Boii had lived. These forms led to modern Bohemia which lies to the east of modern Bavaria and completely to the north of the Danube, in the modern Czech Republic . At some later stage,

738-448: A capable ruler, establishing internal order, issuing important laws, and taking measures to reform the monasteries. In 1002 AD, his son and successor Henry II gave Bavaria to his brother-in-law Henry of Luxembourg , after whose death in 1026 AD it passed successively to Henry, afterward Emperor Henry III , and then to another member of the family of Luxembourg, ruling as Duke Henry VII . In 1061 AD, Empress Agnes , mother and regent of

861-664: A chain of watchtowers or signal towers, forts and fortified ports (Gaul). Most of the Saxon Shore camps probably served as naval bases. The garrisons of the forts were composed of infantry and several cavalry regiments. Monitoring and surveillance of the Channel were the responsibility of the Classis Britannica and Classis Sambrica , whose headquarters were in Locus Quartensis (Port d'Etaple), guarding

984-560: A considerable area north of the Danube . During the later years of the rule of the Welfs , however, a contrary tendency operated, and the extent of Bavaria shrank. In 1027 AD, Conrad II split off the Bishopric of Trent from the former Lombard Kingdom of Italy . He attached it to the stem duchy of Bavaria, which was then under the rule of his son Henry III . From the 12th century onwards,

1107-518: A contest between various claimants, the three remaining branches of the Wittelsbach family Ingolstadt, Landshut and Munich partitioned Bavaria-Straubing between themselves. However, Holland and Hainaut passed to Burgundy. Stephen III, duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt , was renowned as a soldier rather than as a statesman. His rule saw struggles with various towns and with his brother, John of Bavaria-Munich. On his death in 1413 his son Louis VII , called

1230-505: A ditch. The width of the Fossatum is generally 3–6 m but in exceptional cases may be as much as 20 m. Wherever possible, it or its highest wall is constructed on the counterscarp . Excavations near Gemellae showed the depth there to be 2–3 m, with a width of 1 m at the bottom widening to 2–3 m at the top. The Fossatum is accompanied by many small watchtowers and numerous forts, often built within sight of one another. The Limes Arabicus

1353-776: A frontier along the Danube from the Traungau to Szombathely and the Rába river including the Vienna basin . By the 890s, the Pannonian march seems to have disappeared, along with the threat from Great Moravia, during the Hungarian invasions of Europe . Upon the defeat of Margrave Luitpold of Bavaria at the 907 Battle of Pressburg , all East Frankish lands beyond the Enns river were lost. In 955, King Otto I of Germany had started

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1476-551: A great friend of the church and founder of abbeys. He patronised towns and developed a great level of territorial independence. In 1139, Leopold IV inherited Bavaria. When his successor, the last margrave, Henry Jasomirgott , was deprived of Bavaria in 1156, Austria was elevated to a duchy independent from Bavaria by the Privilegium Minus of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa . From 1192 the House of Babenberg also ruled over

1599-638: A new Eastern March ( marcha orientalis ) erected and by about 960, he appointed Burchard as margrave. In 976, during a general restructuring of Bavaria upon the insurrection of Duke Henry II the Wrangler , Otto's son and successor Emperor Otto II deposed Burchard and appointed the Babenberg count Leopold the Illustrious from the House of Babenberg margrave in turn for his support. Margravial Austria reached its greatest height under Leopold III ,

1722-570: A place of banishment. However Romans controlled the Nile many miles into Africa up to the modern border between Egypt and Sudan. In Africa Romans controlled the area north of the Sahara, from the Atlantic Ocean to Egypt, with many sections of limes ( Limes Tripolitanus , Limes Numidiae, etc.). The Fossatum Africae ("African ditch") of at least 750 km controlled the southern borders of

1845-653: A series of Agilolfing dukes that was to last until 788 AD. For a century and a half, a succession of dukes resisted the inroads of the Slavs on their eastern frontier and by the time of Duke Theodo I , who died in 717, had achieved complete independence from the feeble Frankish kings. When Charles Martel became the virtual ruler of the Frankish realm he brought the Bavarians into strict dependence and deposed two dukes successively for contumacy . His son and successor Pepin

1968-473: A struggle with Stephen of Bavaria-Ingolstadt. Both brothers then engaged in warfare with the other branches of the family and with the citizens of Munich. William III, a loyal servant of the emperor Sigismund, died in 1435, leaving an only son, Adolf, who died five years later; and Ernest, distinguished for his strength, died in 1438. In 1440 the whole of Bavaria-Munich came to Ernest's son Albert III , who had become estranged from his father owing to his union with

2091-544: Is considered as evidence that this type of boundary wall had never been used for defensive purposes. The land of Agri Decumates that was guarded by this limes had to be vacated by the Romans in 260–285 AD. They moved their bases back to the banks of the Rhine and Danube, which were much easier to defend militarily. The exact route of the limes along the border between Upper Germania and Raetia has not been fully explored. In

2214-642: Is known before the 19th century). The Bavarian designation is used in historiography in order to differentiate it from the Saxon Eastern March ( Sächsische Ostmark ) in the northeast. During the Anschluss period of 1938–45 the Nazi authorities tried to replace the term "Austria" with Ostmark . The march comprised the lands north and south of the Danube river, with the Enns tributary in

2337-556: Is probable that a second, defensive line was created to the rear ( Castrum Locus Felicis ). The occupying troops, Exercitus Noricus , consisted mostly of auxilia cohorts and a legion stationed in Lauriacum / Enns acted as the strategic reserve. The surveillance and security of the Danube and its tributaries were the responsibility of the Classis Pannonia . Units of the legions, naval and auxiliary forces were commanded by

2460-461: The Classis Britannica , whose headquarters were in Rutupiae (Richborough). Legions, auxilia and the fleet were commanded by the provincial governors. From the 3rd century, units of comitatenses , limitanei and liburnaria (marines) came under the command of two generals: This section of the limes existed from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD and covered the provinces of: This limes of

2583-718: The Wienerwald . Under Margrave Ernest the Brave (1055–1075), the colonisation of the northern Waldviertel up to the Thaya river and the Bohemian march of Moravia was begun, and the Hungarian March was merged into Austria. The margraves' residence later was moved down the Danube to Klosterneuburg until 1145, when Vienna became the official capital. The Babenbergs had a defense system of several castles built in

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2706-661: The Agilolfing dukes of Bavaria against the invasions of the Avars . When the Avars disappeared in the 820s, they were replaced largely by West Slavs , who settled here within the state of Great Moravia . The March of Pannonia was set apart from the Duchy of Friuli in 828 and set up as a march against Moravia within the East Frankish regnum of Bavaria. These march, already called marcha orientalis , corresponded to

2829-405: The Avars and the Slavs , and as a source of manpower for the army. Sometime around 550 AD they put it under the administration of a duke – possibly Frankish or possibly chosen from amongst the local leading families – who was supposed to act as a regional governor for the Frankish king. The first duke known was Garibald I , a member of the powerful Agilolfing family. This was the beginning of

2952-626: The Celts , participating in the widespread La Tène culture . The Roman empire under Augustus made the Danube , which runs through Bavaria, its northern boundary. What is now southern Bavaria was in the northern half of the Roman province of Raetia , which was the land of the Vindelici . The main Roman city was Augusta Vindelicorum , modern Augsburg . Modern-day Regensburg ( Radasbona , or Castra Regina ) and Passau were frontier positions. North of

3075-450: The Dukes of Carinthia , also newly instated in 976. The early march corresponded closely to the modern region of Lower Austria . The initial Babenberger residence was probably at Pöchlarn on the former Roman limes , but maybe already Melk , where subsequent rulers resided. The original march coincided with the modern Wachau , but was shortly enlarged eastwards at least as far as

3198-877: The Late Antiquity ran through the territory of the present-day United Kingdom and France . In the 3rd century, a separate military district, the Litus Saxonicum , was established on the British side of the English Channel between the estuaries of the Wash and the Solent , to repel Saxon pirates and plunderers. The Gallic side of the English Channel and Atlantic coast were included therein. Monitoring and coastal surveillance were carried out by

3321-575: The Lechfeld (955 AD) and the area of the duchy was augmented for a time by the addition of certain adjacent districts in Italy. In 955 AD, Henry's young son Henry , surnamed the Quarrelsome, succeeded him, but in 974 AD he became involved in a conspiracy against King Otto II . The rising occurred because the king had granted the Duchy of Swabia to Henry's enemy, Otto , a grandson of Emperor Otto

3444-640: The Privilegium Minus . It was Henry the Lion who founded Munich . During the years following the dissolution of the Carolingian empire the borders of Bavaria changed continuously and for a lengthy period after 955 AD, it finally started expanding. To the west, the Lech still divided Bavaria from Swabia but on three other sides Bavaria took advantage of opportunities for expansion and the duchy occupied

3567-786: The Rhine , defended by a chain of camps , that ran from the North Sea (Katwijk-Brittenburg camp) to Vinxtbach (opposite Rheinbrohl fort on the Upper Germanic Limes ), forming the border between the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior . By contrast with the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes , it was not marked by a solid palisade or wall. Neither can any defensive ditch or rampart be identified. The guards were stationed in nearby castra and watchtowers usually built immediately on

3690-634: The Roman Empire to defend and control the southern borders of the Empire in the Roman province of Africa . It is considered to have many similarities of construction to Hadrian's Wall at the northern border of the Empire in Britain. Generally the Fossatum consists of a ditch and earth embankments on either side using the material from the ditch. Sometimes the embankments are supplemented by dry stone walls on one or both sides; rarely, there are stone walls without

3813-834: The Wienerwald mountain range and along the Danube river, among them Greifenstein . The surrounding area was colonized and Christianized by the Bavarian Bishops of Passau , with ecclesiastical centres at the Benedictine abbey of Sankt Pölten , at Klosterneuburg Monastery and Heiligenkreuz Abbey . The early margraviate was populated by a mix of Slavic and native Romano-Germanic peoples who were apparently speaking Rhaeto-Romance languages , remnants of which remain today in parts of northern Italy ( Friulian and Ladin ) and in Switzerland ( Romansh ). In

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3936-465: The limes existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD and guarded part of the Roman province of Noricum . It is on the soil of the present-day Austrian states of Upper and Lower Austria . It ran along the Danube from Passau/ Boiodurum to Zeiselmauer/ Cannabiaca . This is also a ripa (river border), which was guarded by a loose chain of cohort forts. The main road on the Norican Limes

4059-700: The 2nd century, the strategic reserve comprised three legions stationed in Bonna / Bonn, Novaesium / Neuss, Vetera / Xanten and Noviomagus / Nijmegen. The control and surveillance of the waters of the North Sea, the Rhine estuary and the Lower Rhine was the responsibility of the Classis Germanica whose headquarters was in Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium /Cologne. Legions, auxilia and fleet units were commanded by

4182-640: The 2nd century, the strategic reserve was formed from three legions stationed in Mogontiacum / Mainz, Argentorate / Strasbourg and Castra Regina /Regensburg. The monitoring of the Upper Rhine was the responsibility of the Classis Germanica ; that of the Rhaetic Danube came under the Classis Pannonia , whose headquarters was in Aquincum /Budapest. Legions and auxilia cohorts were under

4305-430: The 4th century, redesigned and massively strengthened in order to match new strategic requirements. The gaps between the camps were closed by a chain of watchtowers or signal towers. In late Roman times huge inland camps were built and towns in the hinterland were fortified to create a second line of defence. In addition, at vulnerable points, units of the Danube fleet were stationed. In the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius

4428-878: The Atlantic coast of northern Britain , through Europe to the Black Sea , and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa to the Atlantic coast. The positions of the borders changed especially during the main periods of Roman expansion and contraction, and first became more stable during the early Empire period under Augustus , but the borders continued to change with time in different provinces. The borders had different constituents depending on local needs; often they consisted of natural boundaries (e.g. rivers) with roads behind for easier movement of troops between linked forts (e.g. Danubian Limes ), or else roads with linked forts (e.g. Stanegate , Fosse Way ). The remains of

4551-410: The Austrian Alps some valleys retained their Rhaeto-Romance speakers until the 17th century. The first marches covering approximately the territory that would become Austria and Slovenia were the Avar March and the adjacent March of Carantania (the later March of Carinthia ) in the south. Both were established in the late 8th century by Charlemagne upon the incorporation of the territory of

4674-484: The Bavarian church and founded or restored bishoprics at Salzburg , Freising , Regensburg and Passau . Tassilo III , who became duke of the Bavarians in 749, recognized the supremacy of the Frankish king, Pepin the Short in 757 AD, but soon afterward refused to furnish a contribution to the war in Aquitaine . Moreover, during the early years of the reign of Charlemagne , Tassilo gave decisions in ecclesiastical and civil causes in his own name, refused to appear in

4797-458: The Bavarian duchy by Frederick Barbarossa at the 1154 AD Reichstag of Goslar , the county of Tyrol was no longer counted as part of Bavaria. Duke Henry the Lion focused on his northern duchy of Saxony rather than on his southern duchy of Bavaria, and when the dispute over the Bavarian succession ended in 1156 AD, the district between the Enns and the Inn became part of Austria. The increasing importance of former Bavarian territories like

4920-410: The Bavarians. It is now thought that the tribal ethnicity was established by the process of ethnogenesis , whereby an ethnic identity is formed because political and social pressures make a coherent identity necessary. The Bavarians soon came under the dominion of the Franks, probably without a serious struggle. The Franks regarded this border area as a buffer zone against peoples to the east, such as

5043-400: The Bearded, succeeded. Before his accession, this restless and quarrelsome prince had played an important part in the affairs of France, where his sister Isabella had married King Charles VI . About 1417 he became involved in a violent quarrel with his cousin, Henry XVI of Bavaria-Landshut , fell under both the papal and the imperial ban, and in 1439 came under attack from his son, Louis VIII

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5166-401: The Danube during imperial times lived two Suebian peoples, the Hermunduri and the Varisci . During the 5th century, the Romans in Noricum and Raetia , south of the Danube , came under increasing pressure from people north of the Danube. This area had become inhabited by Suebian groups from further north and was considered by Romans to be part of Germania . The etymological origins of

5289-402: The Empire and had many similarities of construction to Hadrian's Wall . There are similar, but shorter, fossatae in other parts of North Africa. Between the Matmata and Tabaga ranges in modern Tunisia there is a fossatum which was duplicated during World War II. There also appears to be a 20 km fossatum at Bou Regreg , in Morocco , although this would not have been within the scope of

5412-430: The Fosse Way road was a frontier. From the 1st to the 2nd century first the Gask Ridge and then the Stanegate, with their chains of forts and watchtowers, marked the northern boundary of Britannia . Later Hadrian's Wall was built as the frontier and for a short time the Antonine Wall further north. The defence of Hadrian's Wall was achieved through the incorporation of forts and castella . Security and monitoring on

5535-492: The German king Henry IV , entrusted the duchy to Otto of Nordheim . In 1070 AD, King Henry IV deposed duke Otto, granting the duchy to Count Welf , a member of an influential Bavarian family with roots in northern Italy. In consequence of his support of Pope Gregory VII in his quarrel with Henry, Welf lost but subsequently regained Bavaria; two of his sons followed him in succession: Welf II from 1101 AD and Henry IX from 1120 AD. Both exercised considerable influence among

5658-412: The German princes. Henry IX's son Henry X , called the Proud, succeeded in 1126 AD and also obtained the Duchy of Saxony in 1137 AD. Alarmed at his power, King Conrad III refused to allow two duchies to remain in the same hands and declared Henry deposed. He bestowed Bavaria upon Leopold IV , Margrave of Austria . When Leopold died in 1141, the king retained the duchy himself; but it continued to be

5781-422: The Great, and had given the new Bavarian Eastern March , subsequently known as Austria , to Leopold of Babenberg . The revolt soon failed but Henry, who on his escape from prison renewed his plots, formally lost his Duchy of Bavaria in 976 AD to Otto, Duke of Swabia . At the same time, Carinthia was made a separate duchy, the office of Count Palatine was reestablished, and the Bavarian church became dependent on

5904-694: The Lame. This prince, who had married a daughter of Frederick I of Hohenzollern , margrave of Brandenburg, resented the favor shown by his father to an illegitimate son. Aided by Albert Achilles , afterward margrave of Brandenburg, he took the elder Louis prisoner and compelled him to abdicate in 1443. When Louis the Lame died in 1445 his father came into the power of his implacable enemy, Henry of Bavaria-Landshut, and died in prison in 1447. The duchy of Bavaria-Ingolstadt passed to Henry, who had succeeded his father Frederick as duke of Bavaria-Landshut in 1393, and whose long reign comprised almost entirely family feuds. He died in July 1450, and his son, Louis IX (called

6027-434: The Lion being placed under an imperial ban in 1180 AD, Emperor Frederick I awarded the duchy to Otto , a member of the old Bavarian family of Wittelsbach and a descendant of the counts of Scheyern. The Wittelsbach dynasty ruled Bavaria without interruption until 1918 AD. The Electorate of the Palatinate was also acquired by the Wittelsbachs in 1214 AD. When Otto of Wittelsbach gained Bavaria at Altenburg in September 1180,

6150-492: The March of Styria (erected into a duchy in 1180 AD) and of the county of Tyrol had diminished both the actual and the relative strength of Bavaria, which now on almost all sides lacked opportunities for expansion. The neighboring Duchy of Carinthia , the large territories of the Archbishopric of Salzburg , as well as a general tendency to claim more independence on the part of the nobles: all these causes limited Bavarian expansion. A new era began when, in consequence of Henry

6273-440: The Mark of Carinthia , created on the southeastern frontier for the defense of Bavaria. He died in the great battle of 907 AD, but his son Arnulf , surnamed the Bad, rallied the remnants of the tribe, in alliance with the Hungarians, became duke of the Bavarians in 911 AD, uniting Bavaria and Carinthia under his rule. The German king, Conrad I , attacked Arnulf when the latter refused to acknowledge his royal supremacy but failed in

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6396-437: The Rhaetian Limes, a solid stone wall was erected. In its final stages, the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes was about 550 kilometres long and ran from Rheinbrohl , in the county of Neuwied in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, as far as Hienheim on the Danube. Between the villages of Osterburken and Welzheim , the limes ran for 81 kilometres almost in a straight line southwards. In the scholarly literature, this unusual section

6519-604: The Rhine. The limes was served by a well-developed military road. Each camp had its own river port or landing stage and a storage area, because the Rhine not only formed the border but was also the most important transport and trade route in the region. In the first section, between the camps of Rigomagus (Remagen) and Bonna (Bonn), there were only a few camps. In the second, middle, section between Bonna and Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum (Nijmegen), there were considerably more. Here there were also larger legion camps; with one exception, all were cavalry barracks. The landscape of

6642-404: The Rich) succeeded. About this time Bavaria began to recover some of its former importance. Louis IX expelled the Jews from his duchy, increased the security of traders, and improved both the administration of justice and the condition of the finances. In 1472 he founded the University of Ingolstadt , attempted to reform the monasteries, and successfully defeated Albert Achilles of Brandenburg. On

6765-402: The Roman province of Rhaetia that lay north of the Danube and guarded the eastern border of that part of Germania Superior that lay east of the Rhine. In Upper Germania the border defences initially consisted only of a post road. From about 162/63 AD, the Romans constructed a defensive barrier with watchtowers and signal towers, palisades , ditches and earthworks. On one short section of

6888-408: The Short likewise maintained Frankish authority. Several marriages took place between the family to which he belonged and the Agilolfings, who were united in a similar manner with the kings of the Lombards . The ease with which the Franks suppressed various risings gives colour to the supposition that family quarrels rather than the revolt of an oppressed people motivated the rebellions. Bavarian law

7011-465: The Slavs. When he divided his possessions in 865 AD, it passed to his eldest son, Carloman , who had already managed its administration, and after his death in 880 AD, it became a part of the extensive territories of the emperor, Charles the Fat . This incompetent ruler left its defense to Arnulf , an illegitimate son of Carloman. Mainly due to the support of the Bavarians, Arnulf could take the field against Charles in 887 AD and secure his own election as

7134-565: The administration and assimilated the land with the rest of the Carolingian empire. Measures taken by Charlemagne for the intellectual progress and material welfare of his realm improved conditions. The Bavarians offered no resistance to the change which thus abolished their duchy. Their incorporation with the Frankish dominions, due mainly to the unifying influence of the church, appeared already so complete that Charlemagne did not find it necessary to issue more than two capitularies dealing especially with Bavarian affairs. The history of Bavaria for

7257-433: The ancestor of an entire group of words in many languages related to Latin; for example, English limit or French limite . The Latin noun līmes ( English: / ˈ l aɪ m iː z / ; Latin pl.   līmitēs ) had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields ; a boundary line or marker; any road or path; any channel, such as a stream channel; or any distinction or difference. The term

7380-425: The assemblies of the Franks, and in general acted as an independent ruler. His control of the Alpine passes, and his position as an ally of the Avars and as a son-in-law of the Lombard king Desiderius , became so troublesome to the Frankish kingdom that Charlemagne determined to crush him. The details of this contest remain obscure. Tassilo appears to have done homage in 781 AD and again in 787 AD, probably owing to

7503-435: The authority of the dukes, who, deprived of the electoral vote, were mainly occupied for fifty years with internal strife. This condition of affairs, however, had some benefits. The government of the country and the control of the finances passed mainly into the hands of an assembly called the Landtag or Landschaft , organized in 1392. The towns, assuming certain independence, became strong and wealthy as trade increased, and

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7626-457: The beginning of the 10th century, the region was raided by Magyars . They were defeated in the Battle of Lechfeld (955) and gradual German reconquest of the region began. By about 970, newly retaken frontier regions along the river Danube were reorganized into a frontier county ( margraviate ) that became known as the Bavarian Eastern March ( Latin : Marcha orientalis ) or Ostarrichi ( German : Österreich ). The first known margrave

7749-415: The border between Rome and Germania ran mostly along the line of the late antique Danube-Iller-Rhine Limes (DIRL) before the Romans advanced further north into the Agri decumates . Because of troop withdrawals and massive barbarian invasions, the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes were abandoned in the late 3rd century and the Roman forces pulled the border back to the banks of the three rivers. Especially around

7872-414: The camps of Favianis and Melk , watchtowers were built only sporadically. Here the narrow valley of the Wachau , with its densely forested escarpments, made access to the riverbank more difficult, providing some defensive function. Every camp had its own river port or landing stage and a storage area because the Danube was not only a border zone, but also the most important transport and trade route in

7995-431: The childless Meinhard . Tyrol then passed to the Habsburgs. Brandenburg was lost in 1373. The two remaining brothers, Stephen II and Albert I , ruled over Bavaria-Landshut and Bavaria-Straubing respectively and when Stephen died in 1375 his three sons governed his portion of Bavaria jointly. In 1392, on the extinction of all the lines except those of Stephen and Albert, an important partition took place, which subdivided

8118-499: The citizens of Munich and Regensburg often proved formidable antagonists to the dukes. Thus, a period of disorder saw the growth of representative institutions and the establishment of a strong civic spirit. Albert I's duchy of Bavaria-Straubing passed with Holland and Hainaut on his death in 1404 to his son William II , and in 1417 to his younger son John III , who resigned the Bishopric of Liège to take up his new position. When John died in 1425 this family became extinct, and after

8241-496: The claims of his two younger brothers. Limes (Roman Empire) Limes ( Latin ; sg. , pl. : limites ) is a term used primarily for the Germanic border defence or delimiting system of Ancient Rome marking the borders of the Roman Empire . The term has been extended in modern times to refer to the frontier defences in other parts of the empire , such as in the east and in Africa. The Roman frontier stretched for more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) from

8364-420: The coasts in the west and southeast were achieved by forts and by chains of watchtowers or signal towers, both along the coastline. The garrisons, Exercitus Britannicus , consisted mostly of cohorts of auxilia . The strategic reserve comprised three legions based in Eburacum (York), Isca Silurum and Deva . The observation and surveillance of the waters around the British Isles was the responsibility of

8487-405: The command of the governor. From the 3rd century the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian border troops ( comitatenses, repenses , and liburnaria ), were commanded by three generals: This limes existed from the 3rd to the 5th centuries AD and guarded the provinces of: It lies on the territory of present-day Germany, Austria , Switzerland and Liechtenstein . As early as the period 15 BC to about 70 AD,

8610-465: The commoner Agnes Bernauer . Albert, whose attempts to reform the monasteries earned him the surname of Pious, almost became the elected king of Bohemia in 1440. He died in 1460, leaving five sons, the two elder of whom, John IV and Sigismund , reigned together until John's death in 1463. The third brother, Albert, who had been educated for the church, joined his brother in 1465, and when Sigismund abdicated two years later became sole ruler, in spite of

8733-412: The counts residing in Castle Tyrol near Merano extended their territory over much of the region and came to surpass the power of the bishops of Brixen , of whom they were nominally vassals. After the deposition of Henry X the Proud as Bavarian duke in 1138 AD, the Counts of Tyrol strengthened their independence from Bavaria under his son, Henry the Lion . When the House of Welf was again given to

8856-464: The county at the invitation of Duke Theodo I in 696. He founded several monasteries, as did Bishop Emmeran of Poitiers , with the result that before long, most of the people professed Christianity and relations commenced between Bavaria and Rome . The 8th century witnessed indeed a heathen reaction, but the arrival of Saint Boniface in Bavaria during c. 734 AD checked apostasy . Boniface organised

8979-615: The death of Louis IX in January 1479 his son George , also called the Rich, succeeded; and when George, a faithful adherent of the German king Maximilian I, died without sons in December 1503, a war broke out for the possession of his duchy. Bavaria-Munich passed on after the death of John II in 1397 to his sons Ernest and William III, but they only obtained possession of their lands after

9102-503: The duchy had met with a fair measure of success; but they were soon vitiated by partitions among different members of the family, which for 250 years made the history of Bavaria little more than a repetitive chronicle of territorial divisions bringing war and weakness in their wake. The first of these divisions occurred in 1255. Louis II and Henry XIII , the sons of Duke Otto II, who for two years after their father's death had ruled Bavaria jointly, split their inheritance: Louis II obtained

9225-633: The duchy's borders comprised the Böhmerwald , the Inn, the Alps and the Lech; and the duke exercised practical power only over his extensive private domains around Wittelsbach , Kelheim and Straubing . Otto only enjoyed three years of rule over Bavaria. His son Louis I succeeded him in 1183 AD, playing a leading part in German affairs during the early years of the reign of the emperor Frederick II until Louis

9348-502: The east on this section of the limes intensified. The tributaries emptying into the Danube offered cheap transport routes, but also made good approach routes for invaders and raiders. The military camps were therefore built by the most important fords or confluences and road termini. The legion- and auxilia camps were mainly located in the immediate vicinity of the riverbank. The initial wood and earth structures, were systematically converted under Emperor Hadrian into stone barracks and, in

9471-434: The electoral vote alternately, and that in the event of the extinction of either branch of the family, the surviving branch should inherit its possessions. The consolidation of Bavaria under Louis IV lasted for seven years, during which the emperor was able to improve the condition of the country. When he died in 1347 he left six sons to share his possessions, who agreed upon a division of Bavaria in 1349. Its history, however,

9594-620: The emperor Louis IV, ruled their duchy in common; but as their relations were never harmonious, a division of Upper Bavaria occurred in 1310, by which Rudolph received the land east of the Isar together with the town of Munich , and Louis the district between the Isar and the Lech. It was not long, however, before this arrangement led to war between the brothers, with the result that in 1317, three years after he had become German king, Louis compelled Rudolph to abdicate, and for twelve years ruled alone over

9717-614: The end. In 920 AD, Conrad's successor was the German king, Henry the Fowler of the Ottonian dynasty. Henry recognized Arnulf as duke, confirming his right to appoint bishops, coin money, and issue laws. A similar conflict took place between Arnulf's son and successor Eberhard and Henry's son Otto I the Great . Eberhard proved less successful than his father, and in 938 AD, fled from Bavaria, which Otto granted (with reduced privileges) to

9840-478: The ending "varii" was used in order to give a new name to specific people living in this geographical area who were then living on both sides of the Danube (similar Germanic ethnic names were created based on other regions: Angrivarii and Ampsivarii in northern Germany, Anglo-Saxon Cantware , Ripuarian Franks and so on). Claudius Ptolemy named both the " Baenochaemae ", living on the Upper Elbe river and

9963-574: The ensuing century intertwines with that of the Carolingian empire. Bavaria, given during the partition of 817 AD to the king of the East Franks , Louis the German , formed a part of the larger territories confirmed to him in 843 AD by the Treaty of Verdun . Louis made Regensburg the center of his government and actively developed Bavaria, providing for its security by numerous campaigns against

10086-484: The entity was called: Marcha orientalis ("Eastern march"), marchia Austriae , or Austrie marchionibus . The Old High German name Ostarrîchi first appeared on a famous deed of donation issued by Emperor Otto III at Bruchsal in November 996. The phrase regione vulgari vocabulo Ostarrîchi , that is, "the region commonly called Ostarrîchi ", probably only referred to some estates around

10209-541: The first mention is made in Pannonia of stone watchtowers ( burgi , panelled towers and fortlets ( praesidia ). In late antiquity, the Pannonian military district was divided into two parts ( pars inferior and pars superior ). Advance defences were provided by bridgehead camps (e.g. Castra Contra Aquincum or Celemantia ) and military stations on main transport routes in the Barbaricum (e.g. near Musov). At

10332-435: The frontiers today consist of vestiges of roads, forts, fortresses, walls and ditches, and associated civilian settlements. The soldiers at a border were referred to as limitanei . They were not expected to win large-scale wars, but rather to deter small-to-medium-sized raiding parties. Notable examples of Roman frontiers include: The stem of limes , limit -, which can be seen in the genitive case, limitis , marks it as

10455-416: The greater part of the duchy amongst Stephen's three sons, Stephen III , Frederick and John II , who founded respectively the lines of Ingolstadt , Landshut and Munich. The main result of the threefold division of 1392 proved to be a succession of civil wars which led to the temporary eclipse of Bavaria as a force in German politics. Neighboring states encroached upon its borders, and the nobles ignored

10578-761: The greatest extent of the Roman Empire, the southern border lay along the deserts of Arabia in the Middle East (see History of the Romans in Arabia ) and the Sahara in North Africa , which represented a natural barrier against expansion. The Empire controlled the Mediterranean shores and the mountain ranges further inland. The Romans attempted twice to occupy the Siwa Oasis and finally used Siwa as

10701-460: The ground and fastened together in the manner of a palisade). Some experts suggested that the Germanic limes may have been called Munimentum Traiani (Trajan's Bulwark) by contemporaries, referring to a passage by Ammianus Marcellinus , according to which emperor Julian had reoccupied this fortification in 360 AD. The frontier in Britain existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD. Initially

10824-637: The guardian of his nephew Conradin of Hohenstaufen, and after Conradin's execution in Italy in 1268, Louis and his brother Henry inherited the domains of the Hohenstaufens in Swabia and elsewhere. He supported Count Rudolph I of Habsburg , in his efforts to secure the German throne in 1273, married the new king's daughter Mechtild, and aided him in campaigns in Bohemia. For some years after Louis' death in 1294, his sons Rudolph I and Louis , afterward

10947-448: The host, administers justice, and regulates finance. Five noble families exist, possibly representing former divisions of the people. Subordinate to the nobles we find the freeborn and then the freedmen. The law divided the country into gaits or counties, under their counts, assisted by judges responsible for declaring the law. Christianity had lingered in Bavaria from Roman times, but a new era set in when Bishop Rupert of Worms came to

11070-560: The house. Some scholars have viewed the frontier as a threshold . The Merriam–Webster dictionaries take this view, as does J. B. Hofmann in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen under leimon . The White Latin Dictionary denies any connection, deriving limen from * ligmen , as in lien from *leig- , "tie". In this sense, the threshold ties together the doorway. W. Gebert also wrote an article discussing

11193-509: The initial campaigning success was achieved by Quintus Anicius Faustus , the legate of Legio III Augusta . Following his African conquests, the Roman Empire may have reached its greatest extent during the reign of Septimius Severus , under whom the empire encompassed an area of 2 million square miles (5.18 million square kilometers ). Fossatum Africae ("African ditch") is a linear defensive structure ( limes ) that extended over 750 km or more in northern Africa constructed during

11316-602: The king instead of on the duke. Bavaria at this stage included the Inn basin (including Salzburg and the Salzach basin) and the Danube from Donauwörth ( Lech confluence) to Linz ; the March of Verona ( South Tyrol ) briefly fell to Bavaria (952 AD) before passing to Carinthia (976 AD). The most important Bavarian cities at the time were Freising , Passau , Salzburg and Regensburg . Restored in 985 AD, Henry proved himself

11439-538: The lands of the Bavarians, referring to the dangers of travel in the region: 'If the road is clear and if the Bavarian does not stop you [...] then travel across the Alps.' Archaeological evidence dating from the 5th and 6th centuries points to social and cultural influences from several regions and peoples, such as Alamanni , Lombards , Thuringians , Goths , Bohemian Slavs and the local Romanised population. Recent research by Wolfram and Pohl (1990) has moved away from searching for specific geographical origins of

11562-654: The late 4th and early 5th centuries, the Rhaetian Limes was reorganized and divided into three sections. The northern border of Rhaetia formed the pars superior (upper part), the western border was the pars media (central part) with the fortified town of Cambodunum and bases from Vemania ( Isny im Allgäu ) to Cassilacum ( Memmingen ); the pars inferior (lower part) was the section between Castra Regina ( Regensburg ) and Batavis ( Passau ). The defending troops, Exercitus Germaniae superioris and Exercitus Raeticus , consisted mostly of auxilia cohorts. From

11685-497: The late duke's uncle, Bertold . Otto also appointed a count palatine in the person of Eberhard's brother, Arnulf to watch the royal interests. When Bertold died in 947 AD, Otto conferred the duchy upon his own brother Henry , who had married Judith, a daughter of Duke Arnulf. The Bavarians disliked Henry, who spent his short reign mainly in disputes with his people. The ravages of the Hungarians ceased after their defeat on

11808-446: The local topography. This meant that they could not be built in the classical 'pack of cards' shape. Between them a dense chain of watchtowers and signal towers were constructed to provide an additional security measure ( burgi ). Flotillas of patrol boats were stationed on the large lakes in this region. Comitatenses , ripenses , and liburnaria in this section of the limes were under the command of four generals: This section of

11931-624: The manor of Neuhofen an der Ybbs ; nevertheless the term Ostarrîchi is linguistic ancestor of the German name for Austria, Österreich . Later the march was also called the Margraviate of Austria ( German : Markgrafschaft Österreich ) or the Bavarian Eastern March ( Bayerische Ostmark , the second word being a German translation of marcha orientalis , though no example of this usage in relation to Austria

12054-461: The mouth of the River Somme . The units of comitatenses , limitanei and liburnaria in this area came under the command of three generals: This section of limes existed from the 1st to the 5th century AD and ran through the province of Lower Germania ( Germania Inferior ). It lies on the territory of today's Netherlands and Germany . This limes was a river border ( limes ripa ) on

12177-610: The name "Bavarian" (Latin Baiovarii ) are from the north of the Danube, outside the empire, coming from the Celtic Boii , who lived there earlier. Their name was already used to refer to the part of this region in the time of Maroboduus who formed the Germanic Marcomannic kingdom with its capital in this forested area. Boi became Bai according to typical Germanic linguistic changes happening at that time and

12300-640: The neighbouring Duchy of Styria . The line became extinct with the death of Duke Frederick II of Austria at the 1246 Battle of the Leitha River . The heritage was finally asserted by the German king Rudolph of Habsburg against King Ottokar II of Bohemia in the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld . 48°13′N 16°22′E  /  48.217°N 16.367°E  / 48.217; 16.367 History of Bavaria The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as

12423-483: The presence of Frankish armies. But further trouble soon arose, and in 788 AD, the Franks summoned the duke to Ingelheim and sentenced him to death on a charge of treachery. The King, however, pardoned Tassilo who entered a monastery and formally renounced his duchy at Frankfurt in 794. Gerold, a brother-in-law of Charlemagne, ruled Bavaria till his death in a battle with the Avars in 799, when Frankish counts took over

12546-617: The proclamation of the Codex Theodosianus because at that time the province was not in Africa, administratively speaking. In the south of Mauritania Tingitana the frontier in the third century lay just north of Casablanca near Sala and stretched to Volubilis . Septimius Severus expanded the "Limes Tripolitanus" dramatically, even briefly holding a military presence in the Garamantian capital Garama in 203 AD. Much of

12669-512: The reconquest with his victory at the 955 Battle of Lechfeld . The obscurity of the period from circa 900 until 976 leads some to posit that a Pannonian or Austrian march existed against the Magyars , alongside the other marches which had been incorporated into Bavaria by 952 ( Carniola , Carinthia , Istria , and Verona ). However, much of Pannonia was still conquered by the Magyars. Otto I had

12792-472: The region. Over time civilian settlements or vici were established immediately next to the camps. In the immediate hinterland of the limes , walled towns or municipia were founded – for example, Aelium Cetium or Ovilava (Wels). They were the administrative or commercial centres of the region. In late antiquity, the Norican area was divided into two parts ( pars inferior and pars superior ). It

12915-457: The respective governors. In late antiquity – according to Notitia Dignitatum – four newly established flotillas undertook this task. From the 3rd century, the Norian comitatenses , ripenses and liburnari were under the command of two generals: This stretch of limes was in use from the 1st to the 5th centuries AD and helped to guard the provinces of: The Pannonian Limes is situated on

13038-493: The respective provincial governor. From the 3rd century the ripenses (river guards), comitatenses , and liburnaria were under the command of the Dux Belgicae secundae . This limes existed from the 1st to 5th centuries AD and guarded the provinces of: It lay on the territory of the present German states of Rhineland-Palatinate , Hesse , Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria . To the north, it bordered those parts of

13161-482: The scene of considerable disorder, and in 1143 AD he entrusted it to Henry , surnamed Jasomirgott, Margrave of Austria. The struggle for its possession continued until 1156 AD, when Emperor Frederick I , in his desire to restore peace to Germany, persuaded Henry to give up Bavaria to Henry the Lion , duke of Saxony and son of Henry the Proud. In return, Austria was elevated from a margraviate to an independent duchy in

13284-556: The term. The first use of the term limes as meaning "land border" appears for the first time in 98 AD by Tacitus : ...nec iam de limite imperii et ripa, sed de hibernis legionum et de possessione dubitatum (...not only were the frontier of the empire and the banks [of the Danube] in danger but also the winter-quarters of the legions and the provinces). Its definitive use for the Danubian border seems to date from about 122 in

13407-487: The territory of present-day Austria, Slovakia and Hungary . Although this section of the frontier was relatively well protected by the Danube river border or Ripa , the Roman military presence here was always exceptionally strong (three military camps in Pannonia, but only one in Lower Pannonia) because especially after the abandonment of Roman Dacia in the late 3rd century, the pressure of migrant peoples from

13530-462: The third section between Ulpia Noviomagus Batavorum and Mare Germanicum (the North Sea) was characterised by numerous small streams and boggy marshland. Consequently, in this area there was only one cavalry camp. Border security here consisted mainly of tightly packed, relatively small cohort forts. The occupying troops, Exercitus Germaniae Inferioris , consisted mostly of auxilia cohorts. From

13653-429: The time of Hadrian: Per ea tempora et alia frequenter in plurimis locis, in quibus barbari non fluminibus sed limitibus dividuntur, stipitibus magnis in modum muralis saepis funditus iactis atque conexis barbaros separavit (During this period and on many other occasions also, in many regions where the barbarians are held back not by rivers but artificial barriers, [Hadrian] shut them out by tall stakes planted deep in

13776-745: The west forming the border with the Traungau shire of the Bavarian stem duchy . The eastern frontier with the Hungarian settlement area in the Pannonian Basin ran along the Morava ( March ) and Leitha rivers, with the Gyepű borderland (the present-day Burgenland region) beyond. In the north, the march bordered on the Bohemian duchy of the Přemyslids , and the lands in the south belonged to

13899-810: The western part of the duchy, afterward called Upper Bavaria, as well as the Electorate of the Palatinate , while Henry secured eastern or Lower Bavaria. Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria spent most of his time in quarrels with his brother, with Ottakar II of Bohemia and with various ecclesiastics. When he died in February 1290, the land fell to his three sons, Otto III , Louis III, and Stephen I . The families of these three princes governed Lower Bavaria until 1333, when Henry XV (son of Otto III) died, followed in 1334 by his cousin Otto IV; and as both died without sons

14022-452: The whole of Lower Bavaria then passed to Henry XIV . Dying in 1339, Henry left an only son, John I , who died childless in the following year, when the Wittelsbach emperor Louis IV, by securing Lower Bavaria for himself, united the whole of the duchy under his sway. In the course of a long reign, Louis II, called "the Stern", became the most powerful prince in southern Germany . He served as

14145-507: The whole of Upper Bavaria. But in 1329 a series of events induced him to conclude the Treaty of Pavia with Rudolph's sons, Rudolph and Rupert, to whom he transferred the Electorate of the Palatinate (which the Wittelsbach family had owned since 1214) and also a portion of Bavaria north of the Danube, afterward called the Upper Palatinate ( Oberpfalz ). At the same time, the two lines of the Wittelsbach family decided to exercise

14268-886: The year 300, the Emperor Diocletian had new fortifications built directly on the river banks or on major roads in the hinterland here. Around 370 AD, the line of fortifications was considerably strengthened under the Emperor Valentinian I to counter the Alemanni , who were steadily advancing southwards. By contrast with the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, the DIRL primarily fulfilled defensive purposes; its camps had much stronger and higher walls than their High Imperial predecessors. Furthermore, they had in most cases been built to conform to

14391-587: Was Burkhard , who is mentioned in sources since 970 several times as Margrave of Marcha orientalis. Since 976, it was governed by margraves from the Franconian noble House of Babenberg . The margraviate was protecting the eastern borders of the Holy Roman Empire , towards neighbouring Hungary . It became an Imperial State in its own right, when the Austrian margraves were elevated to Dukes of Austria in 1156. Timeline In contemporary Latin sources,

14514-522: Was also commonly used after the 3rd century AD to denote a military district under the command of a dux limitis . An etymology by Julius Pokorny in Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch says that limes comes from Indo-European el- , elei- , lei- , "to bow", "to bend", "elbow". According to Pokorny, Latin limen , "threshold", is related to limes , being the stone over which one enters or leaves

14637-615: Was assassinated at Kelheim in September 1231. His son Otto II , called the Illustrious, remained loyal to the Hohenstaufen emperors despite the Church placing Bavaria under an interdict and himself under a papal ban. Like his father, Otto II increased the area of his lands by purchases and considerably strengthened his hold upon the duchy. He died in November 1253. The efforts of the dukes to increase their power and to give unity to

14760-474: Was committed to writing between the years 739 AD and 748 AD. Supplementary clauses, added afterward, bear evidence of Frankish influence. Thus, while the duchy belongs to the Agilolfing family, the duke must be chosen by the people and his election confirmed by the Frankish king, to whom he owes fealty . The duke has a fivefold weregild , summons the nobles and clergy for purposes of deliberation, calls out

14883-441: Was complicated by its connections with Brandenburg , Holland , Hainaut and Tirol , all of which the emperor had also left to his sons. All the six brothers exercised some authority in Bavaria; but three alone left issue, and of these, the eldest, Louis V, Duke of Bavaria  – also margrave of Brandenburg and count of Tyrol  – died in 1361 and was followed to the grave two years later by his only son,

15006-489: Was the via iuxta amnem Danuvium . The initially simple wood and earth structures were systematically converted under Emperor Hadrian into stone encampments. During the 4th century, they were brought once more up to date and massively reinforced. Between the camps, in strategic places or good points of observation, were watchtowers or signal towers and, in the Late Antiquity, burgi . In the middle section, between

15129-653: Was the frontier of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea , facing the desert. It runs from the Gulf of Aqaba to northern Syria, for about 1,500 kilometers (930 mi) at its greatest extent The Limes Saxoniae in Holstein was established in 810 AD, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . Charlemagne considered his empire (later called the Carolingian Empire ) as the true successor to

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