Liudolf of Brunswick (c. 1003 – 23 April 1038) was

Margrave of Frisia Of the first historically verifiable rulers of Frisia, whether they are called dukes or monarch, kings, the last royal dynasty below is established by the chronicles of Merovingian kings of the Franks, with whom they were contemporaries. In these ...

, Count of Brunswick, Count in the

Derlingau The Derlingau was an early medieval county ('' Gau'') of the Duchy of Saxony. Geography The Derlingau approximately consisted of the area between the river Oker in the west and the Lappwald forest in the east. It was bordered by (from the north, ...

and the Gudingau. Liudolf was a descendant of the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

family of the

Brunonen 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 ...

. He was a son of Bruno I, Count of Brunswick, and

Gisela of Swabia Gisela of Swabia ( 990 – 15 February 1043), was queen of Germany from 1024 to 1039 and empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 to 1039 by her third marriage with Emperor Conrad II. She was the mother of Emperor Henry III. She was regent of S ...

.Robert-Henri Bautier, ''Anne de Kiev, Reine de France, et la Politique Royale au XI E SIÈCLE: Étude Critique De La Documentation''. Revue Des études Slaves 57, no. 4 (1985):544. After the death of his father, Liudolf's mother remarried several times, her last marriage was to

Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

. Therefore, Holy Roman Emperor Henry III was his younger half-brother. Liudolf married Gertrude of Egisheim and had four children. He controlled the Frisian counties

Oostergo Eastergoa (also Ostergau, Ostergo, or Oostergo) was one of the seven areas and one of the three '' Gaue'' within what is today the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. Area On its west side Eastergoa was bordered by the Middelsee with ...

, Zuidergo and

Westergo Westergoa was one of the seven sealands and one of the three that now lie within the borders of today's Dutch province of Friesland. Later it was one of the three goaen of Frisia. In the Middle Ages Westergoa most probably formed the political c ...

. For two more generations the Brunonen family line inherited the title. How the Brunonen came to their position in the counties is not known. There is a theory that Liudolf took advantage of the reign of violence by the

Counts of Holland The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. House of Holland The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...

in the part of Friesland between the

Vlie The Vlie or Vliestroom is the seaway between the Dutch islands of Vlieland, to its southwest, and Terschelling, to its northeast. The Vlie was the estuary of the river IJssel in medieval times. In 1666 the English Admiral Robert Holmes burnt a ...

and the

Lauwers The Lauwers () is a river in the Netherlands. It forms part of the border between the provinces of Friesland and Groningen. From the 730s to Widukind's defeat in 785, it was part of the border of the Frankish Empire. The former Lauwerszee and ...

. Not much is known about his life. He died in 1038 and was succeeded by his son,

Bruno II :''Bruno II can also refer to Bruno II von Berg''. Bruno II (1024–1057) was a Frisian count or margrave ruling Middle-Friesland. He belonged to the Brunonen family. In 1038 he succeeded his father Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia. His mother was ...

Family

Liudolf and Gertrude of Egisheim had the following children: *

(around 1024 – 26 June 1057) *

Egbert I, Margrave of Meissen Egbert I (german: Ekbert) (died 11 January 1068) was the Margrave of Meissen from 1067 until his early death the next year. Egbert was the Count of Brunswick from about 1038, when his father, Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia, died. His mother was Ger ...

(died 1068) *

Matilda of Frisia Matilda of Frisia (died in 1044) was Queen of the Franks as the first wife of Henry I. Her date of birth is unknown. She was the daughter of Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia,Robert-Henri Bautier, ''Anne de Kiev, Reine de France, et la Politique Royale ...

(died 1044); married King

Henry I of France Henry I (4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060) was King of the Franks from 1031 to 1060. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians. Th ...

. * Ida of Elsdorf, married to Leopold (Luitpold, Lippold) of Babenberg †1043 Hungarian March. Their daughter Oda of Stade married Sviatoslav II Yaroslavich, Grand Prince of Kiev. * (possibly) Agatha, wife of Edward the Exile, of the royal family of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the mother of

Edgar the Ætheling Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

and

Saint Margaret of Scotland Saint Margaret of Scotland ( gd, Naomh Maighréad; sco, Saunt Marget, ), also known as Margaret of Wessex, was an English princess and a Scottish queen. Margaret was sometimes called "The Pearl of Scotland". Born in the Kingdom of Hungary to th ...

.Szabolcs de Vajay. "Agatha, Mother St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland", in Duquesne Review, vol. 7, no. 2 (Spring 1962), pp. 71–80.

References

Bibliography

*
Die familiären Verbindungen der Brunonen
* Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon, Appelhans 2006,
Mladjov, "Reconsidering Agatha, Wife of Eadward the Exile"
The Plantagenet Connection 11 (2003). p. 1–85. {{Authority control Counts of Frisia 1000s births 1038 deaths Brunonids Counts of Brunswick