Liutold of Eppenstein

Who is Liutold of Eppenstein?

Liutold of Eppenstein was Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 1077 to 1090, succeeding Duke Berthold II of Zähringen.

He was the second son of Markwart, Count of Eppenstein and his wife Liutbirg of Plain. He thereby was a grandson of the former Carinthian duke Adalbero of Eppenstein, who had been deposed by Emperor Conrad II in 1035.

Liutold regained the ducal title for the Styrian House of Eppenstein, as his predecessor Berthold of Zähringen had supported the German anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfelden during the Investiture Controversy and therefore was deposed by King Henry IV in 1077. The king, having returned from Canossa, appointed Liutold instead, who had given him safe conduct through his Carinthian possessions on his way back to Germany. The Eppensteiner domains however were significantly narrowed, as Henry gave the Veronese Friuli region to the Patriarchate of Aquileia, while the Carinthian March of Styria remained under the rule of the Otakars.

Although he had married twice, he died without issue. He was succeeded by his younger brother Henry. Liutold is buried at St. Lambrecht's Abbey in Styria.