Swabia, Or Suabia (Ger. Schwaben), a duchy of the German empire during its earlier period, and subsequently one of its ten great circles or divisions. The circle was bounded N. by the Palatinate of the Rhine and Franconia, E. by Bavaria, S. by Switzerland, and W. by France, the Rhine flowing on the borders of the two latter. It had an area of 13,000 sq. m., and was conterminous with the present kingdom of Wurtemberg, the S. part of Baden, and the district of Swabia and Neuburg in Bavaria. It is one of the most beautiful and fertile tracts in Germany, and is traversed by the Danube from S. W. to N. E., and diversified by the mountain scenery of the Black Forest on the west and the Alps on the south. It was originally called Alemannia, and received the name of Swabia (from the Suevi, who inhabited parts of it) when the Alemanni were conquered by Clovis in 496. St. Columbanus introduced Christianity in the 7th century. Toward the end of the 11th century it was in a very flourishing condition, and in 1080 the emperor Henry IV. made the duchy of Swabia hereditary in the family of Frederick of Hohenstaufen. It subsequently became one of the most powerful and most civilized countries of Germany. In the Italian wars the reigning house of Swabia stood at the head of the Ghibelline party, and when Conradin was executed at Naples in 1268 the line became extinct. (See Hohenstaufen.) The various cities, prelates, and counts then made themselves independent, and since that time Swabia has not formed a separate state.

Various confederacies, however, were formed at different periods, known in history under the name of Swabian leagues. The principal of these was the "great Swabian league " of 1488. The Swabian circle was definitely organized in 1563.