Herman II of Sponheim, Duke of Carinthia (died 4 October 1181) ruled the Duchy of Carinthia

Duchy of Carinthia

The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....

 from 1161 to his death.

Family

A scion of the House of Sponheim

House of Sponheim

The House of Sponheim or Spanheim was a noble family of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages. They were Dukes of Carinthia from 1122 until 1269 and Counts of Sponheim until 1437...

, he was a son of Margrave Engelbert III of Istria and Matilda of Sulzbach

Matilda of Sulzbach

Matilda of Sulzbach was the wife of Engelbert III of Istria. Different dates of death are given in the necrologies of Baumburg Abbey and two monasteries of Salzburg. -Family:...

. His father was formerly identified as Margrave Engelbert's brother Duke Ulrich I of Carinthia.

Herman's paternal grandparents were Duke Engelbert of Carinthia

Engelbert, Duke of Carinthia

Engelbert II from the House of Sponheim was Margrave of Istria and Carniola from sometime between 1101 and 1107 until 1124...

 (died 1141) and Uta of Passau

Passau

Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....

. Duke Engelbert had also controlled the March of Istria

March of Istria

The Margravate of Istria was originally a Carolingian frontier march covering the Istrian peninsula and surrounding territory conquered by Charlemagne's son Pepin of Italy in 789...

. His maternal grandparents were Berengar II, Count of Sulzbach

Sulzbach-Rosenberg

Sulzbach-Rosenberg is a municipality in the Amberg-Sulzbach district, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated approx. 14 km northwest of Amberg, and 50 km east of Nuremberg. The town consists of two parts: Sulzbach in the west, and Rosenberg in the east. Archeological evidence tells, that...

 (died 3 December 1125) and Adelheid of Wolfratshausen

Adelheid of Wolfratshausen

Adelheid of Wolfratshausen was the second wife of Berengar II, Count of Sulzbach. Slightly different dates for her death are given in the necrologies of Tegernsee and the Salzburg Cathedral. -Family:...

. His maternal aunts included Gertrude of Sulzbach and Bertha of Sulzbach

Bertha of Sulzbach

Bertha of Sulzbach was the first wife and Empress of Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus.-Family:...

, respectively the wives of King Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III of Germany

Conrad III was the first King of Germany of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He was the son of Frederick I, Duke of Swabia, and Agnes, a daughter of the Salian Emperor Henry IV.-Life and reign:...

 and the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos

Manuel I Komnenos

Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean....

.

Duke

When in April 1144, his paternal uncle Duke Ulrich I of Carinthia died childless Herman's elder brother Henry VIII succeeded him. Henry married Elizabeth of Styria, a daughter of Leopold of Styria

Leopold of Styria

Leopold the Strong was Margrave of Styria from 1122 to 1129. He was the son of Margrave Ottokar II of Styria and Elisabeth of Austria from the Babenberg family. His wife was Sophie of Bavaria. He was succeeded by his son Margrave Ottokar III of Styria....

, and died childless on 12 October 1161.

Herman succeeded his older brother as Duke. He consolidated his position by achieving the office of a Vogt

Vogt

A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...

protector over the Carinthian possessions of the Bishopric of Bamberg

Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg

The Bishopric of Bamberg was established in 1007, to further expand the spread of Christianity in Germany. The ecclesiastical state was a member of the Holy Roman Empire from about 1245 until it was subsumed to the Electorate of Bavaria in 1802...

 and the Patriarchate of Aquileia

Patriarchate of Aquileia (State)

The Patriarchate of Aquileia was an Imperial State in the Friulian region of Northeastern Italy under the control of the Patriarchs of Aquileia.- Foundation :...

. In about 1173, Herman married Agnes of Babenberg, daughter of Duke Henry II of Austria

Henry II, Duke of Austria

Henry II , Count Palatine of the Rhine, 1140–1141, Margrave of Austria from 1141 to 1156 and, as Henry XI, also Duke of Bavaria from 1141 to 1156, Duke of Austria, 1156–1177, was a prince of the Babenberg dynasty....

 and the widow of King Stephen III of Hungary

Stephen III of Hungary

Stephen III , King of Hungary King of Croatia and Dalmatia . He ascended the throne as a child and he had to stand up against his uncles who usurped the crown supported by the Byzantine Empire...

. They had two known sons:

• Ulrich II, Duke of Carinthia (died 10 August 1202).
• Bernhard, Duke of Carinthia
  Bernhard von Spanheim
  Bernhard von Spanheim was Duke of Carinthia for 54 years from 1202 until his death.-Family:...
  
   (died 4 January 1256).