Leopold III, Margrave of Austria, passed away on 28 February 1326. He was one of the younger grandsons of Rudolf I of Habsburg, the first Habsburg to ascend the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. His father, Albert I of Germany, although elected King of the Romans, failed to secure the position permanently. Some years later, in 1308, he was assassinated by his power-struggling nephew John the Parricide — a grim and almost unique episode of intrafamilial violence within the Habsburg dynasty.
Despite being called the Glorious in the historical annals, Leopold therefore does not belong among the dynasty’s most outstanding figures. Nevertheless, he administered the family’s Austrian territories and steadfastly supported his elder brother Frederick the Fair in his claim to the Imperial throne. When the election went against the Habsburgs and Frederick was imprisoned by his political opponents, Leopold campaigned vigorously for his release.
Leopold’s marriage to Catherine of Savoy — the sister of Anna, Byzantine Empress — did not produce a male heir. His elder daughter, also named Catherine, married the Lord of Coucy and became the mother of Enguerrand VI of Coucy, the future son-in-law of Edward III of England, thus creating a rare blood connection between the Habsburgs and the Plantagenets.
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