Udo was a 9th-century nobleman of East Francia, a son of Gebhard, Count of Lahngau, and older brother of Berengar I of Neustria. He and his brother were afforded their position in the March of Neustria both by kinship to Adalard the Seneschal and the favour of Charles the Bald.
With his brothers, Berengar and Waldo, Abbot of St Maximin's, Trier, he took part in the 861 revolt of Carloman of Bavaria, possibly his cousin-in-law, against Louis the German. The revolt was crushed, and the three brothers fled with their relative Adalard to the court of the West Frankish king, Charles the Bald, who granted them wardship of the march held against the Vikings while the march against the Bretons was granted to Robert the Strong.
Charles' patronage of the family provoked the jealousy of the Rorgonids, the most powerful family local to Neustria, which controlled the ducatus Cenomannicus (Maine). In 865, they allied with Saloman of Brittany and attacked the brothers. Charles, to attain peace, took the march back and gave it to Gauzfrid of Neustria, a Rorgonid.
A charter of 879 mentions Udo and his brothers taking part in the foundation of the college of Gemünden. Evidently, the death of Louis the German in 876 had allowed them to return to the court of Carloman.
Udo left a son, Conrad, Duke of Thuringia, who was the founder of the Conradine dynasty and father of Conrad I of Germany. One younger son, Rudolf, became Bishop of Würzburg, and another, Gebhard, became Duke of Lotharingia.
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The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lombards in Italy from 774. In 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in an effort to transfer the Roman Empire from east to west. The Carolingian Empire is considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806.
Carloman was the eldest son of Charles Martel, majordomo or mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, and his wife Chrotrud of Treves. On Charles's death (741), Carloman and his brother Pepin the Short succeeded to their father's legal positions, Carloman in Austrasia, and Pepin in Neustria. He was a member of the family later called the Carolingians and it can be argued that he was instrumental in consolidating their power at the expense of the ruling Merovingian kings of the Franks. He withdrew from public life in 747 to take up the monastic habit, "the first of a new type of saintly king," according to Norman Cantor, "more interested in religious devotion than royal power, who frequently appeared in the following three centuries and who was an indication of the growing impact of Christian piety on Germanic society".
Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks.
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The dynasty consolidated its power in the 8th century, eventually making the offices of mayor of the palace and dux et princeps Francorum hereditary, and becoming the de facto rulers of the Franks as the real powers behind the Merovingian throne. In 751 the Merovingian dynasty which had ruled the Germanic Franks was overthrown with the consent of the Papacy and the aristocracy, and Pepin the Short, son of Martel, was crowned King of the Franks. The Carolingian dynasty reached its peak in 800 with the crowning of Charlemagne as the first Emperor of the Romans in the West in over three centuries. His death in 814 began an extended period of fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire and decline that would eventually lead to the evolution of the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire.
Louis III was King of West Francia from 879 until his death in 882. He succeeded his father and ruled over West Francia in tandem with his brother Carloman II. Louis controlled the northern part of West Francia (Neustria), including the capital of Paris, while Carloman controlled the southern portion (Aquitania). Louis ruled from March 880 to 5 August 882, when he died and left the rest of West Francia to his brother. His short reign was profoundly influenced by his military success, including his defeating Northern Vikings in August 881.
Charles III, also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was the last Carolingian emperor of legitimate birth and the last to rule over all the realms of the Franks.
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks, Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire, was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. After the Treaty of Verdun in 843, West Francia became the predecessor of France, and East Francia became that of Germany. Francia was among the last surviving Germanic kingdoms from the Migration Period era before its partition in 843.
Zwentibold, a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Arnulf. In 895, his father, then king of East Francia, granted him the Kingdom of Lotharingia, which he ruled until his death.
Bernardof Septimania (795–844), son of William of Gellone, was the Frankish Duke of Septimania and Count of Barcelona from 826 to 832 and again from 835 to his execution. He was also count of Carcassonne from 837. He was appointed to succeed his fellow Frank Rampon. During his career, he was one of the closest counsellors of the Emperor Louis the Pious, a leading proponent of the war against the Moors, and opponent of the interests of the local Visigothic nobility.
Pepin the Short, also called the Younger was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.
In medieval history, West Francia or the Kingdom of the West Franks refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about 840 until 987. West Francia emerged from the partition of the Carolingian Empire in 843 under the Treaty of Verdun following the death of Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious.
The title Duke of the Franks has been used for three different offices, always with "duke" implying military command and "prince" implying something approaching sovereign or regalian rights. The term "Franks" may refer to an ethnic group or to the inhabitants of a territory called Francia.
Hugh the Abbot was a member of the Welf family, a son of Conrad I of Auxerre and Adelaide. After his father's death, his mother apparently married Robert the Strong, the margrave of Neustria. On Robert's death in 866, Hugh became the regent and guardian for Robert's sons, Odo and Robert.
The Marches of Neustria were two marches created in 861 by the Carolingian king of West Francia Charles the Bald that were ruled by officials appointed by the Crown, known as wardens, prefects or margraves. Originally, one March was created as a buffer against the Bretons and the other against the Norsemen, often called the Breton March and Norman March respectively.
Gauzfrid of Maine was both Count of Maine and Margrave of the Norman March from 865 until his death. He was a son of Rorgon of Maine by his wife Bilechilde.
Adalard, also known as Adalhard or Alard, and called the Seneschal, was a Frankish nobleman of the 9th century. He served as warden of the Norman march from 861 to 865, and was Lord Chancellor of France under Louis the Pious.
Berengar I was a 9th-century nobleman of East Francia, a son of Gebhard, Count of Lahngau, and younger brother of Udo. He and his brother were created Margraves of Neustria by Charles the Bald in 861.
The Conradines or Conradiner were a dynasty of Franconian counts and dukes in the 8th to 11th Century, named after Duke Conrad the Elder and his son King Conrad I of Germany.
Louis the Younger, sometimes Louis the Saxon or Louis III, was the second eldest of the three sons of Louis the German and Emma. He succeeded his father as the King of Saxony on 28 August 876 and his elder brother Carloman as King of Bavaria from 876 to 882. He died in 882 and was succeeded in all his territories, which encompassed most of East Francia, by his younger brother, Charles the Fat, already king of Italy and emperor.
Bérenger I was the first known Count of Ivois. It is conjectured that Bérenger is the same person as Berengar I of Neustria, son of Gebhard, Count of Lahngau.
