The marches of Carniola, Carinthia and Styria, in which live the Slovenians, have come under the tenuous authority of several territorial dynasts over the past three centuries.
Emperor Otto II had deposed Duke Henry II, "the Quarreller" of Bavaria in 976, and by creating a sixth duchy in his empire, the new Duchy of Carinthia, had split the latter's lands.
He had invested Henry the Younger as Duke of Carinthia and Otto I of Swabia as Duke of Bavaria.
Adalbero I of Eppenstein had become margrave in 995, and in 1012 Duke of Carinthia; he had been removed from office in 1035.
The duchy had been given in 1077 to Luitpold, another member of the Eppenstein family, which, however, had ended with the death of Henry III of Carinthia in 1122, at which point the duchy had been considerably reduced in area: a large part of what is today Upper Styria had passed to Ottokar II of Styria.
The remainder of Carinthia had passed from the last Eppenstein duke, Henry III of Carinthia, to his godchild Henry of the Spanheim family, who, as Henry IV, had ruled from 1122 to his early death the following year.
The Spannheims have their seat at Ljubljana, a Slovenia center with Town Rights in the Duchy of Carinthia, home also to Teutonic Knights and Franciscans friars.
Two bridges connect the walled areas with wood-made buildings, many artisans having organized themselves into guilds; fire are frequent.
The most outstanding of the Spanheim dukes was Bernhard, the first Carinthian duke who was actually described and honored in documents as "prince of the land,“ and under whose rule he dynasty had reached the height of its power.
He married Judith, a daughter of King Ottokar I of Bohemia, in 1213, thereby affiliating the ducal line with the Czech royal Přemyslid dynasty.
Bernhard's son and heir Ulrich III, by marriage with Agnes of Merania in 1248, had also inherited the title of a margrave in the adjacent March of Carniola.
However, as he has outlived his children, he has bequeathed his Carinthian and Carniolan lands to his Přemyslid cousin King Ottokar II of Bohemia according to a secret inheritance agreement of 1268.
The energetic Otokar II of Bohemia, taking advantage of an anarchic period in the Holy Roman Empire, had already seized Styria from the Hungarians, in his attempt, like the seventh century Frankish merchant-king Samo, to establish a Slavic empire.
