Lothar I (840-880), Count of Stade, possibly a descendant of Saxon leader

Widukind Widukind, also known as Wittekind, was a leader of the Saxons and the chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish province, massacred tho ...

. Lothar was one of the twelve counts killed in the

Battle of Ebstorf A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

(also called the Battle of Lüneburg Heath) which pitted the army of

Louis III of France Louis III (863/65—5 August 882) was King of West Francia (a precursor to the Kingdom of France) from 879 until his death in 882. He succeeded his father Louis the Stammerer, and ruled over West Francia in tandem with his brother Carloman II. L ...

against the

Great Heathen Army The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandin ...

of Norsemen. This battle was documented in the

Annals of Fulda The ''Annales Fuldenses'' or ''Annals of Fulda'' are East Frankish chronicles that cover independently the period from the last years of Louis the Pious (died 840) to shortly after the end of effective Carolingian rule in East Francia with the ac ...

. The Catholic Church recognizes those killed as the

Martyrs of Ebsdorf The Martyrs of Ebsdorf were a group of Catholic martyrs killed in the winter of 880 AD at the Battle of Lüneburg Heath near Ebstorf, Saxony.Liudolf, Duke of Saxony Liudolf ( – 11/12 March 866) was a Carolingian office bearer and count in the Duchy of Saxony from about 844. The ruling Liudolfing house, also known as the Ottonian dynasty, is named after him; he is its oldest verified member. Life Liudolf wa ...

. Lothar and Oda had one child: *

Lothar II, Count of Stade {{Short description, German aristocrat Lothar II (874-929), Count of Stade, son of Lothar I, Count of Stade, and Oda of Saxony, daughter of Liudolf, Duke of Saxony. Lothar was the great-grandfather of Thietmar of Merseburg, and is frequently con ...

Lothar was succeeded by his son as Count of Stade upon his death.

Sources

Jaques, Tony, ''Dictionary of Battles and Sieges'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 Reuter, Timothy (translator), ''The Annals of Fulda'', Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1992
Medieval Lands Project, Grafen von Stade (family of Lothar)
{{authority control 840 births 880 deaths Counts of Stade 9th-century rulers in Europe 9th-century Saxon people Saints from the Carolingian Empire Saxon warriors German military personnel killed in action German Roman Catholic saints