river. In 994, Leopold travelled to Würzburg to mediate a dispute between his cousin Margrave Henry of Schweinfurt and the Würzburg bishop Bernward von Rothenburg, one of whose knights Henry had seized and blinded. At a tournament held on 8 July, Leopold was hit in the eye by an arrow directed at his cousin. Two days later, on 10 July 994, he died from his injuries. He was buried in Würzburg. In 1015, his son Duke Ernest I of Swabia, was buried next to his father. In the thirteenth century, their remains were returned to Melk Abbey. Historiography Leopold ruled over the re-established Marcha orientalis for eighteen years. He organized and expanded it with great ability, and left behind a margravate that had assumed the character of "an ordered and civilized land". The chronicler Thietmar wrote that no man was wiser that he in all his actions, or of a worthier nature. Perhaps the highest testimony to Leopold's life and reputation came from the actions of Emperor Otto III, who immediately invested his son Henry I with his father's margravate. Although Leopold is not mentioned in the Babenberger Chronicle written by his descendant Otto of Freising—which only starts with Leopold's grandson Adalbert—he is known today as the progenitor of the Babenberg dynasty. Otto of Freising's claim of ancestry to the Franconian Babenbergs, who are remembered for the Babenberger insurgency of the early tenth century, has not been proven, but cannot be completely ruled out. In 1976, the millennial anniversary of Leopold's appointment as margrave was celebrated as a "Thousand Years of Austria". Celebrations under the same title were held twenty years later at the anniversary of the famous 996 Ostarrîchi document first mentioning the Old German name of Austria. Marriage Leopold married Richardis, the daughter of Count Ernest IV of Sualafeldgau (according to other sources of the Ezzonid count Erenfried II) and probably the aunt of Duke Adalbero of Carinthia. Their marriage produced eight children: Henry I (died 1018), second Margrave of Austria Judith Ernest I (died 1015), Duke of Swabia Adalbert (985–1055), third Margrave of Austria Poppo (986–1047), Archbishop of Trier Kunigunda Hemma, married Count Rapoto of Dießen Christina, a nun at Trier References Citations Bibliography External links Leopold I. Liutpold, Babenberger-Markgraf at AEIOU 940s births 994 deaths 10th-century margraves of Austria Austrian people of German descent Year of birth unknown