his mark, soon to be known as Austria, to
Leopold, a member of the family of Babenberg (_q.v._), and its
administration was conducted with vigour and success. Leopold and his
descendants ruled Austria until the extinction of the family in 1246, and
by their skill and foresight raised the mark to an important place among
the German states. Their first care was to push its eastern frontier down
the Danube valley, by colonizing the lands on either side of the river, and
the success of this work may be seen in the removal of their capital from
Poechlarn to Melk, then to Tulln, and finally about 1140 to Vienna. The
country as far as the Leitha was subsequently incorporated with Austria,
and in the other direction the district between the Enns and the Inn was
added to the mark in 1156, an important date in Austrian history.
[Sidenote: Duchy of Austria created, 1156.] Anxious to restore peace to
Germany in this year, the new king, Frederick I., raised Austria to the
rank of a duchy, and conferred upon it exceptional privileges. The
investiture was bestowed not only upon Duke Henry but upon his second wife,
Theodora; in case of a failure of male heirs the duchy was to descend to
females; and if the duke had no children he could nominate his successor.
Controlling all the jurisdiction of the land, the duke's only duties
towards the Empire were to appear at any diet held in Bavaria, and to send
a contingent to the imperial army for any campaigns in the countries
bordering upon Austria. In 1186 Duke Leopold I. made a treaty with Ottakar
IV., duke of Styria, an arrangement which brought Styria and upper Austria
to the Babenbergs in 1192, and in 1229 Duke Leopold II. purchased some
lands from the bishop of Freising, and took the title of lord of Carniola.
When the house of Babenberg became extinct in 1246, Austria, stretching
from Passau almost to Pressburg, had the frontiers which it retains to-day,
and this increase of territory had been accompanied by a corresponding
increase in wealth and general prosperity. The chief reason for this
prosperity was the growth of trade along the Danube, which stimulated the
foundation, or the growth, of towns, and brought considerable riches to the
ruler. Under the later Babenbergs Vienna was regarded as one of the most
important of German cities, and it was computed that the duke was as rich
as the archbishop of Cologne, or the margrave of Brandenburg, and was
surpassed in this respect by only one