The Udonids (Udonen) were a German noble family, ruling as both the

Counts 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 an ...

and

Margraves of the Nordmark The Northern March or North March (german: Nordmark) 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 ...

, or Northern March, from the 9th to the 12th century. The first formal member of this family was Henry I the Bald, who took his seat in

Harsefeld Harsefeld (in High German, in Low Saxon: Harsfeld; literally in ''horse field'') is a municipality situated south-west of Hamburg (Germany). Harsefeld has a population of c. 12,500 and belongs to the district of Stade, Lower Saxony. Harsefeld ...

, part of the

Duchy of Franconia The Duchy of Franconia (german: Herzogtum Franken) was one of the five stem duchies of East Francia and the medieval Kingdom of Germany emerging in the early 10th century. The word Franconia, first used in a Latin charter of 1053, was applied l ...

, where he built a castle in 965. He was the grandson of the first Count of Stade,

Lothar I Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bavar ...

, who was killed by 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 ...

in the Battle of Ebstorf, and was recognized as one of 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.Lothair Udo I became Margrave of Nordmark in 1056. Because of the Slav uprising of 983, the Northern March in 1056 was limited to today's

Altmark :''See German tanker Altmark for the ship named after Altmark and Stary Targ for the Polish village named Altmark in German.'' The (English: Old MarchHansard, ''The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ...'', Volume 32. ...

, west of the Middle Elbe. Due to Lothair Udo I's position as margrave, the County of Stade on the Lower Elbe was referred to in documents as {{Lang, la, comitatus marchionis Udonis (the County of Margrave Udo). In the 1060s Emperor Henry IV looked to enlarge the empire's boundaries and that included the County of Stade. The Udonen settled this in the emperor's favor by agreeing to buy the county from the Archbishopric of Bremen, and ruled as vassals to the emperor as imperial princes. This continued until the deaths or deposition of brothers Udo IV,

Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...

and Hartwig, which ended the male line of Udonids.

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (german: Albrecht der Bär; 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 Ba ...

, Duke of Saxony, assumed power over the Margraviate of the Northern March while his successor ad duke,

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...

, ruled the County of Stade from 1145 until forced out by

Emperor Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt o ...

. The County of Stade then came under the direct control of the Archbishops of Bremen, whereas Nordmark transitioned to the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out ...

. The most reliable of the histories of the family is provided by

Thietmar of Merseburg Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. Two ...

, son of Kunigunde von Stade, Henry's daughter, and her husband

Siegfried I the Older, Count of Walbeck Siegfried I the Elder (Siegfried der Ältere von Walbeck) (died 15 March 990), Count of Walbeck and Möckerngau, son of Lothar II the Old, Count of Walbeck, and Mathilde von Arneburg. Rule He succeeded his father as Count of Walbeck upon his ...

. Thietmar had two great-grandfathers, Lothar I of Walbeck and Lothar II of Stade, who died in the

Battle of Lenzen The Battle of Lenzen was a land battle between a Saxon army of the Kingdom of Germany and the armies of the Slavic Redarii and Linonen peoples, that took place on 4 September 929 near the fortified Linonen stronghold of Lenzen in Brandenburg, ...

in 929. The earliest mention of the Udonoids is in the annotations of a commemorative edition of the Ragyndrudis Codex associated with Saint Boniface. The latter annotations of the codex recount a Count Henry of Kahle and his son Henry II the Good. The account mentions Henry's second wife Hildegarde and their daughter Hildegarde who married into the Billung family, in particular

Bernard I, Duke of Saxony Bernard I (c. 950 – 9 February 1011) was the Duke of Saxony between 973 and 1011, the second of the Billung dynasty, a son of Duke Herman and Oda. He extended his father's power considerably. He fought the Danes in 974, 983, and 994 during th ...

. Thietmar claims that his grandfather Henry was related to Emperor Otto I, although this relationship has not been proven. The history of the family is clouded in the years after the death of Lothar at the Battle of Lenzen in 929, with the presence of

Wichmann the Elder Wichmann I the Elder (also spelled ''Wigmann'' or ''Wichman'') (died 23 April 944) was a member of the Saxon House of Billung. He was a brother of Amelung, Bishop of Verden, and Herman, Duke of Saxony. Biography In 938, Wichmann rebelled beca ...

and his sons, but their criminal behavior soon resulted in the return of the Udonids. With the exception of the nondynastic Frederich, the family ruled the county and margraviate until the mid-12th century.

Sources

* Krause, Karl Ernst Hermann, ''Lothar Udo II. und das Stader Grafenhaus''. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Band 19, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1884
Medieval Lands Project, Grafen von Stade (family of Lothar)
* Dehio, Georg, ''Hartwig I, Erzbischof von Bremen''. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1879 * Glaeske, Günter, ''Hartwig I''. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, 1969 * Schwarzwälder, Herbert, D''ie Bischöfe und Erzbischöfe von Bremen, Ihre Herkunft und Amtszeit - ihr Tod und ihre Gräber'', in: Die Gräber im Bremer St. Petri Dom, Blätter der "Maus", Gesellschaft für Familienforschung, Bremen, 1996 German noble families