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TheWindic March (German:Windische Mark; also known asWendish March) was a medievalfrontier march of theHoly Roman Empire, roughly corresponding to theLower Carniola (Slovene:Dolenjska) region in present-daySlovenia. In Slovenian historiography, it is known as theSlovene March (Slovene:Slovenska marka orSlovenska krajina).
The nameWindic is derived fromWends (German:Wenden), the name forWestern Slavs settling in theGermania Slavica contact zone. The medieval German termWindisch referred to theSlovene language, but also to Slavic languages in general. It has the same etymology asWendische, the historic German term for theSorbian-speaking population inLusatia. In the 6th and 7th century the term was used byBavarian settlers to refer to the Slavic population in the East Alpine principality ofCarantania. The medieval geographic termwindisches Land referred also to the region ofSlavonia.[1][self-published source] In this usage,March is defined as a frontier or border area between two countries or territories.
TheChronicle of Fredegar mentions "Sclavos coinomento Winedorum" in 623.[2]Samo's tribal union included the Windic March (Marca Vinedorum) ofDuke Valuk (Wallucus Dux), located in theEastern Alps,[3] in 631.[4]
The territory of the Windic march was contained within the largerMarch of Carniola inCarolingian times, but under KingOtto I of Germany from about 960 on it was separated fromUpper Carniola (Gorenjska) and integrated into theMarch of Savinja (orSoune). In 976 it was attached to the newly foundedDuchy of Carinthia.
After Margrave William of Soune had been killed by the deposed Carinthian dukeAdalbero in 1036, the Windic march was separated from Carinthia and reattached to the newly established March of Carniola, which was thereafter sometimes called "Carniola and the Windic March". In 1077 KingHenry IV of Germany put Carniola and the Windic March under the direction of thePatriarch of Aquileia. From 1127 to 1131 the margravial territory was further expanded in several campaigns by the Counts ofWeichselburg (or Weichselberg, modernVišnja Gora) againstCroatia in the union with Hungary. Backed by thearchbishop of Salzburg, they conquered the territory aroundMetlika up to theKolpa River in the southeast, the laterWhite Carniola (Bela krajina) region.
Until 1209 the Counts of Weichselburg held extended possessions in the Windic March. Through a marriage to the last heiress Sophia of Weichselburg, theCounts of Andechs, then at the peak of their power asMargraves of Istria andDukes of Merania came to dominate the territory. It was part of the dowry ofAgnes of Merania, daughter of DukeOtto I of Andechs-Merania, upon her marriage with theFrederick II of Babenberg, son of DukeLeopold VI of Austria, in 1229. Frederick II thereafter called himself adominus Carniole (Lord of Carniola) and succeeded his father as Duke ofAustria andStyria in the following year.
In 1248 the title was picked up by DukeUlrich III of Carinthia, who had married Agnes of Merania after Frederick's death in 1246. When Duke Ulrich died in 1269, KingOttokar II of Bohemia occupied and unified Carniola, the Windic March, the valley of theSavinja, and theSlovenj Gradec as "the march" of his vast kingdom extending from theBaltic Sea to theAdriatic. After 1282, despite KingRudolf I's grant to his sons, Carniola and the Windic march were united under the control of theMeinhardiner dukeMeinhard of Carinthia.During this period, the entity became known as the County in the March and Möttlig (Metlika).After 1374, the Windic March fell to theHouse of Habsburg. The Habsburgs however soon pawned it to theCounts of Cilli who remained the de facto rulers of the territory until their extinction in 1456. The Habsburgs retook the Windic March together with all other Cilli possessions in the Holy Roman Empire. They immediately reunited it with Carniola, and the Windic March thus ceased to be a separate political entity.
The head of the House of Habsburg continued carrying the title of "Lord on the Windic March" in thegrand title of the Emperor of Austria.
[Sclaui coinomento] Winidi (623), marca Winedorum (631), Walluc dux Winedorum (631), exercitum Winitorum (631)
Media related toWindic March at Wikimedia Commons45°48′7.2″N14°49′53.55″E / 45.802000°N 14.8315417°E /45.802000; 14.8315417
