Liudolf ( – 11/12 March 866) was a

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

office bearer and

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

in the

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the C ...

from about 844. The ruling

Liudolfing The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after ...

house, also known as the

Ottonian dynasty The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the ...

, is named after him; he is its oldest verified member.

Life

Liudolf was the son of a

margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Emp ...

(german: Markgraf) Brun or Brunhart and his wife, Gisla von Verla. Liudolf had extended possessions in the western

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

foothills and on the

Leine The Leine (; Old Saxon ''Lagina'') is a river in Thuringia and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Aller and the Weser and is long. The river's source is located close to the town of Leinefelde in Thuringia. About downriver, t ...

river, he also served as a military leader ''(dux)'' in the wars of the

East Frankish East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...

king

Louis the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...

against

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

invasions, and the

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern German ...

. Later authors called Liudolf a Duke of the Eastern Saxons (''dux Orientalis Saxonum'', probably since 850) and Count of

Eastphalia Eastphalia (german: Ostfalen; Eastphalian: ''Oostfalen'') is a historical region in northern Germany, encompassing the eastern ''Gaue'' (shires) of the historic stem duchy of Saxony, roughly confined by the River Leine in the west and the Elbe a ...

. About 830 Liudolf married Oda, daughter of a Frankish ''princeps'' named

Billung The House of Billung was a dynasty of Saxon noblemen in the 9th through 12th centuries. The first known member of the house was Count Wichmann, mentioned as a Billung in 811. Oda, the wife of Count Liudolf, oldest known member of the Liudolf ...

and his wife Aeda. By marrying a Frankish nobleman's daughter, Liudolf followed suggestions set forth by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

about ensuring the integrity of the Carolingian Empire in the aftermath of the

Saxon Wars The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fought ...

through marriage. Oda died on 17 May 913, supposedly at the age of 107. They had at least seven children: *

Bruno Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters *Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...

( – 880), succeeded his father as a Saxon leader, supposed progenitor of the

Brunonids The Brunonids (or Brunonians, german: Brunonen, la, Brunones, i.e. "Brunos") were a Saxon noble family in the 10th and 11th centuries, who owned property in Eastphalia (around Brunswick) and Frisia. The Brunonids are assumed to be descendants o ...

* Oda of Saxony (c. 845 – 874), married to

Lothar I, Count of Stade Lothar I (840-880), Count of Stade, possibly a descendant of Saxon leader Widukind. Lothar was one of the twelve counts killed in the Battle of Ebstorf (also called the Battle of Lüneburg Heath) which pitted the army of Louis III of France ag ...

Otto the Illustrious Otto ( – 30 November 912), called the Illustrious (german: Otto der Erlauchte) by later authors, a member of the Ottonian dynasty, was Duke of Saxony from 880 to his death. Family Otto was a younger son of the Saxon count Liudolf (d. 866) ...

( – 912), succeeded his brother in 880, father of King

Henry the Fowler Henry the Fowler (german: Heinrich der Vogler or '; la, Henricus Auceps) (c. 876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he ...

* Liutgard ( – 885), married the East Frankish ruler

Louis the Younger Louis the Younger (830/835 – 20 January 882), sometimes Louis the Saxon or Louis III, was the second eldest of the three sons of Louis the German and Hemma, Emma. He succeeded his father as the King of Saxony on 28 August 876 and his elder broth ...

, second son of King Louis the German, in 874. * Hathumoda ( – 874), first Abbess of Brunshausen from 852 * Gerberga (d. 896/897), Abbess of Brunshausen from 874 * Christina (d. 919/920), Abbess of Gandersheim from 896/97. In 845/846, Liudolf and his wife went on a pilgrimage to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and upon approval by

Pope Sergius II Pope Sergius II ( la, Sergius II; died 27 January 847) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from January 844 to his death in 847. Sergius II's pontificate saw the Arab raid against Rome as well as the city's redevelopment. Rise B ...

they founded a house of holy canonesses dedicated to Pope Saints Anastasius and

Innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...

around 852. The monastery, duly established at their

proprietary church {{Short pages monitor