Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia

Who was Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia?

Meinhard II from the House of Meinhardin ruled the County of Görz from 1258 until 1271 and Count of Tyrol from 1258 until his death. In 1286 he also acquired the Duchy of Carinthia with the March of Carniola.

He was the son of Count Meinhard I of Gorizia-Tyrol and Countess Adelheid of Tyrol. His younger son Henry VI succeeded him as Carinthian duke and in 1307 was elected King of Bohemia; his eldest daughter Elisabeth by marriage with Albert I of Habsburg became Queen of the Romans in 1298.

In 1259, young Meinhard emerged from the custody of the Archbishop of Salzburg to claim his heritage. When the inheritance rights to, and properties of, Gorizia and Tyrol were divided in 1271 between him and his younger brother Albert I, he received Tyrol, starting the Tyrolean line of the Meinhardiner dynasty. He struggled to acquire the lordship over the Bishoprics of Trento and Brixen and also acquired several territories in the Inn valley. He is therefore known as the creator of Tyrol as an independent territory. Meinhard also had roads built and coins minted, especially the silver coin "Zwainziger". The type was copied elsewhere in Europe and became widely known as Groschen.