Liudolf, Duke of Swabia

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Liudolf
Ottonian
Spouse(s)Ida of Swabia
IssueOtto I, Duke of Swabia and Bavaria
Mathilde, Abbess of Essen
FatherOtto the Great
MotherEadgyth

Liudolf (c. 930 – 6 September 957

German kingdom
.

Rise

Liudolf was the only son of the Saxon duke Otto the Great,[2] son and heir of the German king Henry the Fowler, by his first wife Eadgyth, daughter of the English king Edward the Elder. Otto ascended the German throne in 936 and Liudolf, as his designated heir and successor, received a broad education.

In 939 his father betrothed him to

Herman I of Swabia.[4] The marriage was concluded about 947/948; when Duke Herman died shortly afterwards, King Otto appointed his eldest son and heir apparent duke.[3] Liudolf was a popular ruler with the tribe and was able to consolidate Ottonian dominance in Swabia
.

When in November 950 King

Berengar II usurped the throne and had Lothair's widow Adelaide, a relative of Liudolf's wife Ida, imprisoned. Moreover, as Adelaide was the sister of Otto's ally King Conrad I of Burgundy, the German king prepared for a campaign to Italy. Nevertheless, Liudolf forestalled his father's plans and in early 951 led a Swabian army across the Alps and invaded Lombardy. His father was displeased and foiled his plans, supported by his brother Duke Henry I of Bavaria
, who considered Liudolf's campaign a violation of his interests in Northern Italy. The Swabian duke received little support by the Italian nobility and finally had to follow the approaching forces of his father, leaving him without much gain.

Rebellion

When King Otto married Adelaide, the heiress to Italy, Liudolf felt his position threatened. He underlined his right of succession by lavishly celebrating Christmas 951 like a king at the

Conrad of Lorraine
.

Adelaide gave birth to a son, and Liudolf raised the flag of revolt in 953. Though he had the support of his Swabians, his ally Duke Conrad the Red was opposed by his own subjects in

St. Alban's Abbey, Mainz
.

Legacy

Liudolf's son by Ida, Otto, was later duke of Bavaria and Swabia.[4] Liudolf's daughter, Matilda, was abbess of the Essen Abbey.[4] He also founded the city of Stuttgart in southern Germany. Historians still debate the existence of another daughter, named Richlinde (according to historian Armin Wolf) who married Cuno of Öhningen, whose son, Conrad I, became Otto I's successor in Swabia in 982; this union would represent the genealogical connection between the Liudolfings and the Conradines.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Liudolf". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  2. ^ Barraclough 1961, p. 75-76.
  3. ^ a b Schutz 2010, p. 48.
  4. ^ a b c Garrison 2012, p. 5.
  5. ^ Armin Wolf: Wer war Kuno „von Öhningen“? Überlegungen zum Herzogtum Konrad von Schwaben († 997) und zur Königswahl im Jahr 1002. In: Deutsches Archiv 36 (1980), S. 25–83; Armin Wolf: Ahnen deutscher Könige und Königinnen. In: Herold-Jahrbuch. Neue Folge, 15. Band (2010), S. 77ff. Zur Gegenposition: Eduard Hlawitschka: Wer waren Kuno und Richlind von Öhningen. Kritische Überlegungen zu einem neuen Identifizierungsvorschlag. In: Zeitschrift für Geschichte des Oberrheins 128 (1980) Seite 1–49; Eduard Hlawitschka: Die Ahnen der hochmittelalterlichen deutschen Könige, Kaiser und ihrer Gemahlinnen (2006)

Sources

  • Barraclough, Geoffrey, ed. (1961). Studies in Mediaeval History:Mediaeval Germany. Vol. II. Essays. Basil Blackwell.
  • Garrison, Eliza (2012). Ottonian Imperial Art and Portraiture: The Artistic Patronage of Otto III and Henry II. Routledge.
  • Schutz, Herbert (2010). The Medieval Empire in Central Europe: Dynastic Continuity in the Post-Carolingian Frankish Realm, 900-1300. Cambridge University Scholars.
Liudolf, Duke of Swabia
Born: c. 930 Died: 6 September 957
German nobility
Preceded by Duke of Swabia
950–954 		Succeeded by
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