Duchy, medieval Germany, and current administrative district. The duchy of Swabia was nearly coextensive with modern Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, and western Bavaria states, as well as parts of eastern Switzerland and Alsace. The Suevi and Alemanni tribes occupied the area from the 3rd century, and the region was known as Alemannia until the 11th century. In the 7th century Irish missionaries began to introduce Christianity.
From &circa; 10th century it became one of the five great tribal duchies of early medieval Germany. It was ruled by the Hohenstaufen dynasty &circa; 1077–1268, after which the duchy was divided. Several alliances of cities, known as the Swabian Leagues, were formed in the 14th–16th centuries. The region was a territorial division of the Holy Roman Empire in the 16th–19th centuries. Its chief cities included Augsburg, Freiburg, Konstanz, and Ulm. Created in 1934, the administrative district is coextensive with the eastern portion of the larger historic region of Swabia and has an area of 3,859 sq mi (9,994 sq km) and a population (2002 est.) of 1,767,193.
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