LEOPOLD III OF AUSTRIA, ST.

Margrave of Austria; b. Gars, Austria, c. 1075; d. Nov. 15, 1136. Leopold was educated by St. altman of passau. Because of his loyalty during the investiture struggle, Pope innocent ii called him "Son of St. Peter." Leopold later changed his allegiance to Emperor henry v and married Henry's daughter Agnes. Two of his six sons were the historian otto of freising and Archbishop Conrad II of Salzburg. In 1108 Leopold refounded the monastery of the canon regulars in klosterneuburg, and in 1133 (not 1135), the Cistercian abbey heiligenkreuz. He also founded the Benedictine monastery of Kleinmariazell and placed the monasteries of melk and Klosterneuburg directly under papal jurisdiction. He laid the foundations of Austria's greatness and also of its ecclesiastical provincialism. In 1125 he gave up his claim to the German throne. Buried in the crypt of Klosterneuburg, he was canonized in 1485 and declared the national patron of Austria in 1663; his feast is a national holiday. He is pictured in a suit of armor with a flag and the model of a church (miniatures published by V. O. Ludwig, Klosterneuburg, Vienna 1951).

Feast: Nov. 15.

Bibliography: Sources. Chronicon pii marchionis, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores (Berlin 1826–) 9:609–613. h. fichtenau and e. zÖllner, eds., Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte der Babenberger in Österreich, v. 1 (Vienna 1950) 2–14. Literature. h. pfeiffer and b. cernik, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum qui in bibliotheca canonicorum regularium s. Augustini Claustroneoburgi asservantur (Klosterneuburg 1925). v. o. ludwig, Der hl. Leopold (Innsbruck 1936). Sankt Leopold: Festschrift des Augustiner Chorherrenstiftes Klosterneuburg, ed. s. wintermayr (Klosterneuburg 1936). g. wacher, Leopold der Heilige und Klosterneuburg vom 12–20 Jahrhunderts. (Diss. Vienna 1949). h. hantsch, ed., Gestalter der Geschichte Österreichs (Innsbruck 1962). Leopold III. und die Babenbergerzeit, ed. h. lampalzer (Vienna 1985). f. rÖhrig, Leopold III. der Heilige, Markgraf von Österreich (Vienna 1985). m. kastl, Das Schriftwort in Leopoldspredigten des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts (Vienna 1988). j. wodka, Kirche in Österreich (Vienna 1959) 79–85, 419.

[v. h. redlich]