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 Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

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 () 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 CE and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire (Francia) by 804. Upon the 84 ...

from about 844 until his death in 866. The ruling Liudolfing house, also known as the

Ottonian dynasty The Ottonian dynasty () was a Saxons, Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman emperors, especially Otto the Great. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German ...

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

Life

Liudolf was the son of a

margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

() Bruno and his wife, Gisla. or Oda de Billung. Liudolf had extended possessions in the western

Harz The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, 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'' der ...

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 ...

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

Louis the German Louis the German (German language, German: ''Ludwig der Deutsche''; c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany (German language, German: ''Ludwig II. von Deutschland''), was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 8 ...

against

Viking Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

invasions, and the

Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs, also known as Elbe Slavs and more broadly as Wends, is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites, Lechitic (West Slavs, West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Germany. The ...

. Later authors called Liudolf a duke of the Eastern Saxons (''dux Orientalis Saxonum'', probably since 850) and count of Eastphalia. About 830 Liudolf married Oda, daughter of a Frankish ''princeps'' named Billung and his wife Aeda. By marrying a Frankish nobleman's daughter, Liudolf followed suggestions set forth by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

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 fou ...

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 Cologn ...

( – 880), succeeded his father as a Saxon leader, supposed progenitor of the Brunonids * Oda of Saxony (c. 845 – 874), married to Lothar I, Count of Stade * Otto the Illustrious ( – 912), succeeded his brother in 880, father of King

Henry the Fowler Henry the Fowler ( or '; ; – 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 established the Ottonian dynasty of kings and emper ...

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

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

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

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, and upon approval by

Pope Sergius II Pope 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 Born to a noble ...

they founded a house of holy canonesses dedicated to Popes Anastasius I and Innocent I around 852. The monastery, duly established at their

proprietary church During the Middle Ages, a proprietary church (Latin ''ecclesia propria'', German ''Eigenkirche'') was a church, abbey or cloister built on private ground by a feudal lord, over which he retained proprietary interests, especially the right of what ...

in Brunshausen, was consecrated by the

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

bishop Altfrid and Liudolf's minor daughter Hathumoda became its first

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

. The convent was relocated in 881 to form Gandersheim Abbey, elevated to an Imperial monastery by Liudolf's grandson Henry the Fowler in 919. While King Louis the German was preoccupied with Imperial politics, Liudolf, relying on the rank as well as the

allod Allod, deriving from Frankish language, Frankish ''alōd'' meaning "full ownership" (from ''al'' "full, whole" and ''ōd'' "property, possession"; Medieval Latin ''allod'' or ''allodium''), also known as allodial land or proprietary property, was ...

ial lands he had inherited from his ancestors, rose to a leading position among the Saxon nobles – made evident by the marriage of his daughter Liutgard with King Louis the Younger. He is buried in his proprietary monastery of Brunshausen. His successions by his sons Bruno and Otto met with no resistance.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Dukes of Saxony Ottonian dynasty 9th-century births 866 deaths 9th-century dukes in Europe 9th-century Saxon people Saxon warriors Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain German Roman Catholics Nobility of the Carolingian Empire