Herman II of Spanheim , a scion of the Rhenish House of Sponheim, was Duke of Carinthia from 1161 until his death.
Background
He was the second son of Duke Ulrich I of Carinthia (d 1144) and his wife Judith of Zähringen, daughter of Margrave Herman II of Baden. Herman's paternal grandparents were Engelbert of Spanheim (died 1141) and Uta, daughter of Burgrave Ulric of Passau.
Career
When in April 1144, his father Duke Ulrich I died childless Herman's elder brother Henry V succeeded him. Herman reached the confirmation of his rule by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. In December 1161 he was solemnly enthroned on the Duke's Chair in the Zollfeld plain, in the presence of Archbishop Eberhard of Salzburg and Patriarch Ulrich II of Aquileia.
In 1162 he accompanied the emperor on his campaign to Italy in 1162 and the failed attempt to meet with King Louis VII of France. About 1173, Herman married Agnes of Babenberg, daughter of Duke Henry II of Austria and widow of King Stephen III of Hungary. They had two known sons:Ulrich II, Duke of Carinthia (c 1181–1202)Bernhard, Duke of Carinthia (c 1181–1256).
Herman was the first Sponheim duke to be buried in St. Paul's Abbey in the Lavanttal, established by his great-grandfather Count Engelbert of Spanheim in 1091.