In 1106 Rudolf became Margrave of Nordmark and Count of Stade after the death of his brother Lothair Udo III, as regent and guardian for Lothair's son Henry II. The Count of Stade was effectively administered by Friedrich while Henry II was still underage.
In 1112, Rudolf allied himself with Lothair of Supplinburg, then Duke of Saxony (and later Holy Roman Emperor) in opposing Emperor Henry V, and as a result was deposed from his position. He was replaced as margrave by Helperich von Plötzkau until 1114 when his nephew Henry became of age.
Rudolf was married to Richardis (Richgard), daughter of Hermann von Sponheim, Burgrave of Magdeburg, and granddaughter of Siegfried I, Count of Sponheim. Rudolf and Richardis had five children:
Rudolf was deposed as margrave in 1112 and replaced by Helperich until his nephew Henry reached the age of maturity. Rudolf was succeeded as Count of Stade by Friedrich, not part of the House of Udonids, although it is unclear as to the precise dates of transition.
Sources
Krause, Karl Ernst Hermann, Lothar Udo II. und das Stader Grafenhaus. In Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 19, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1884
Hausmann, Friedrich, Die Grafen zu Ortenburg und ihre Vorfahren im Mannesstamm, die Spanheimer in Kärnten, Sachsen und Bayern, sowie deren Nebenlinien. In Ostbairische Grenzmarken. Passauer Jahrbuch für Geschichte Kunst und Volkskunde. Nr. 36, Passau, 1994
Hucke, Richard G., Die Grafen von Stade. 900–1144. Genealogie, politische Stellung, Comitat und Allodial- besitz der sächsischen Udonen, Selbstverlag des Stader Geschichts und Heimatvereins, Stade, 1956
Raffensperger, Christian, Reimagining Europe, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2012
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 and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends. A Lutician rebellion in 983 reversed German control over the region until the establishment of the March of Brandenburg by Albert the Bear in the 12th century.
Lothair Udo II was Margrave of the Nordmark from 1057 until his death and also Count of Stade. He was the only son of Lothair Udo I of the Udonids and Adelaide of Rheinfelden.
Lutgard of Salzwedel or Liutgard/Luitgard of Stade, was Queen of Denmark as the wife of King Eric III.
Richenza was a German noblewoman. By her first marriage, she was Countess of Werl. By her second marriage, she was Countess of Northeim, and from 1061 to 1070, Duchess of Bavaria.
Ulrich I, of the House of Sponheim, was the Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 1135 until his death. He was the eldest son of Duke Engelbert and Uta, daughter of Burggrave Ulrich of Passau, his namesake. His father abdicated in 1135 and Ulrich was appointed his successor by the Emperor Lothair II at an imperial diet being held in Bamberg.
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 Weser rivers. They extended their power northwards with the acquisition of Dithmarschen in the 11th century. They became the Margraves of the Nordmark in 1056. There is also a close political and familial relationship between the Counts of Stade and the Counts of Walbeck. The Northern March was replaced with the March of Brandenburg by Albert the Bear in the 12th century. The family of Counts of Stade is referred to as the House of Udonids.
Lothair Udo I, Count of Stade, son of Henry I the Bald, Count of Stade, and his wife Judith von der Wetterau, granddaughter of Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine. Lothair is frequently confused with his nephew Lothair Udo II, son of his brother Siegfried II, who was Margrave of Nordmark as Lothair Udo I.
Siegfried II, Count of Stade, was the youngest son of Henry I the Bald, Count of Stade, and his wife Judith von der Wetterau, granddaughter of Gebhard, Duke of Lorraine. He succeeded his brother, Henry as Count of Slade in 1016. He was captured by piates, but later escaped.
Lothair Udo I, Margrave of Nordmark and Count of Stade, son of Siegfried II, Count of Stade, and Adela of Rhienfelden, daughter of Gero, Count of Alsleben. Lothair was the first of the House of Udonids to serve as margrave.
Henry I the Long, Margrave of the Nordmark, also 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.
Lothair Udo III (1070-1106), 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. Brother of his predecessor Henry I the Long.
Helperich (Helferich), Count of Plötzkau and Walbeck, and Margrave of the Nordmark, son of Dietrich, Count of Plötzkau, and Mathilde von Walbeck, daughter of Conrad, Count of Walbeck, and Adelheid of Bavaria. The count's sister Irmgard was married to Lothair Udo III, Margrave of the Nordmark, and was the mother of Helperich's successor in ruling the margraviate, Henry II.
Henry II, Margrave of the Nordmark, also Count of Stade, son of Lothair Udo III, Margrave of the Nordmark, and Irmgard, daughter of Dietrich, Count of Plötzkau, and Mathilde von Walbeck.
Udo IV, Margrave of the Nordmark and Count of Stade and Count of Freckleben, son of Rudolf I, Margrave of the Nordmark, 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.
Conrad, Margrave of the Nordmark and Count of Plötzkau, son of Helperich, Margrave of the Nordmark, and Adele, daughter of Kuno of Northeim and Kunigunde of Weimar-Orlamünde. Conrad, called the Saxon flower, was born in Monza, Italy.
Rudolf II, Margrave of the Nordmark, and Count of Stade, Dithmarschen and Freckleben, son of Rudolf I, Margrave of the Nordmark, and Richardis, daughter of Hermann von Sponheim, Burgrave of Magdeburg.
Hartwig, Count of Stade and Archbishop of Bremen, son of Rudolf I, Margrave of the Nordmark, and Richardis, daughter of Hermann von Sponheim, Burgrave of Magdeburg.
Friedrich, Count of Stade. Friedrich's mother was from England and died in a shipwreck off the coast of Germany. She was fleeing England after the conquest of the island by William the Conqueror.
The Udonids (Udonen) were a German noble family, ruling as both the Counts of Stade and Margraves of the Nordmark, 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, part of the Duchy of Franconia, where he built a castle in 965. He was the grandson of the first Count of Stade, Lothar I, who was killed by the Great Heathen Army in the Battle of Ebstorf, and was recognized as one of the Martyrs of Ebsdorf by the Catholic Church.
Dietrich, Count of Plötzkau', son of Bernhard I von Kakelingen, Count of Harzgau and his wife Ida of Querfurt. Little is known about Dietrich or his ancestors other than their familial relations. Dietrich was the brother of Gebhard of Supplinburg, a Saxon count, who was the father of Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor. Ida, the mother of Dietrich, was niece of Saint Bruno of Querfurt.
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