Udo IV (died 15 February 1130),

Margrave of the Nordmark The Northern March or North March (, ) was created out of the division of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the ''Marca'' (roughly corresponding to the modern state of Brandenburg) and was part of the ...

and

Count of Stade The Counts of Stade were members of the Saxony nobility beginning in the 10th century. Stade had developed since the 8th century as a principal center of trade and communications. The Counts of Stade created their domain between the lower Elbe and ...

(as Udo V) and Count of Freckleben, son of

Rudolf I, Margrave of the Nordmark Rudolf I (died 7 December 1124), Margrave of the Nordmark and Count of Stade, son of Lothair Udo II, Margrave of the Nordmark, and Oda of Werl, daughter of Herman III, Count of Werl, and Richenza of Swabia. Rudolf was the brother of his pred ...

, and Richardis, daughter of Hermann von Sponheim, Burgrave of Magdeburg. It is unclear why he went by the abbreviated name of Udo as opposed to the traditional Lothair Udo of his ancestors. When

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

died on 4 December 1128 without an heir, his uncle

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Life Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, and Eilika of Sa ...

hoped to become margrave, but Udo was favored by

Emperor Henry III Henry III (, 28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black () or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. Henry was rais ...

and assumed control of the margraviate. He remained in a bloody feud with Albert for the rest of his life, and Albert eventually became margrave. In 1128, Udo married Mathilde, the daughter of

Herman I, Count of Winzenburg Herman may refer to: People * Herman (name), list of people with this name * Saint Herman (disambiguation) * Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman Places in the United States * Herman, Arkansas * Herman, Michigan * Herman, M ...

. The precise identity of her mother remains unknown, but she was likely either Hedwig of Assel-Woltingerode or Hedwig of Carniola-Istria. Mathilde was the half-sister of Albert the Bear, the arch-enemy of her husband. Further complicating the family relations, her brother Herman II was the third husband of Danish queen

Lutgard of Salzwedel Lutgard of Salzwedel or ''Liutgard/Luitgard of Stade'', (b. , murdered 1152) was Queen of Denmark as the wife of King Eric III. Life Lutgard was born to Richardis, Countess of Sponheim-Lavanttal, and Count Rudolf I of Stade and Ditmarsh (d. ...

, daughter of Rudolf I and therefore sister of Udo. On March 15, 1130, Udo was murdered by Albert’s servants near

Aschersleben Aschersleben () is a town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approximately 22 km east of Quedlinburg, and 45 km northwest of Halle (Saale). Geography Aschersleben lies near the confluence of the ...

. He left no male heir and was succeeded as margrave by Conrad of Plötzkau.

Sources

* Krause, Karl Ernst Hermann, ''Lothar Udo II. und das Stader Grafenhaus''. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Band 19, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1884 {{Authority control 1130 deaths Counts of Stade 12th-century German nobility Margraves of the Nordmark