Henry's grandson Lothair Udo I became Margrave of Nordmark in 1056. Because of the Slav uprising of 983, the Northern March in 1056 was limited to today's Altmark, west of the Middle Elbe. Due to Lothair Udo I's position as margrave, the County of Stade on the Lower Elbe was referred to in documents as comitatus marchionis Udonis (the County of Margrave Udo).
In the 1060s Emperor Henry IV looked to enlarge the empire's boundaries and that included the County of Stade. The Udonen settled this in the emperor's favor by agreeing to buy the county from the Archbishopric of Bremen, and ruled as vassals to the emperor as imperial princes. This continued until the deaths or deposition of brothers Udo IV, Rudolf II and Hartwig, which ended the male line of Udonids. Albert the Bear, Duke of Saxony, assumed power over the Margraviate of the Northern March while his successor ad duke, Henry the Lion, ruled the County of Stade from 1145 until forced out by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The County of Stade then came under the direct control of the Archbishops of Bremen, whereas Nordmark transitioned to the Margraviate of Brandenburg.
The earliest mention of the Udonoids is in the annotations of a commemorative edition of the Ragyndrudis Codex associated with Saint Boniface. The latter annotations of the codex recount a Count Henry of Kahle and his son Henry II the Good. The account mentions Henry's second wife Hildegarde and their daughter Hildegarde who married into the Billung family, in particular Bernard I, Duke of Saxony.
Thietmar claims that his grandfather Henry was related to Emperor Otto I, although this relationship has not been proven.
The history of the family is clouded in the years after the death of Lothar at the Battle of Lenzen in 929, with the presence of Wichmann the Elder and his sons, but their criminal behavior soon resulted in the return of the Udonids. With the exception of the nondynastic Frederich, the family ruled the county and margraviate until the mid-12th century.
Sources
Krause, Karl Ernst Hermann, Lothar Udo II. und das Stader Grafenhaus. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Band 19, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1884
Dehio, Georg, Hartwig I, Erzbischof von Bremen. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, 1879
Glaeske, Günter, Hartwig I. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, 1969
Schwarzwälder, Herbert, Die Bischöfe und Erzbischöfe von Bremen, Ihre Herkunft und Amtszeit - ihr Tod und ihre Gräber, in: Die Gräber im Bremer St. Petri Dom, Blätter der "Maus", Gesellschaft für Familienforschung, Bremen, 1996
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.
Thietmar, Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death in 1018, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. Two of Thietmar's great-grandfathers, both referred to as Liuthar, were the Saxon nobles Lothar II, Count of Stade, and Lothar I, Count of Walbeck. They were both killed fighting the Slavs at the Battle of Lenzen.
Lothair I was Margrave of the Nordmark from about 983 until his death. He was also a member of Saxon nobility as Count of Derlingau and of Nordthüringgau.
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.
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.
Henry I the Bald was Count of Stade. He was son of Lothar II, Count of Stade, and Swanhild of Saxony. Henry is recorded as a cousin of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, but their exact relationship remains a mystery. Henry was also appointed Count of Heilangau, the ancient capital of Stade, in 959.
The Counts of Walbeck ruled a medieval territory with its capital Walbeck northeast of Helmstedt in the present town Oebisfelde-Weferlingen in Saxony-Anhalt. The foundation of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg established the region as firmly in the oversight of Otto the Great, Holy Roman Emperor. The first Count of Walbeck, Lothar I, was great-grandfather of Thietmar, Prince-Bishop of Merseburg, chronicler of the Ottonian dynasty of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. Two of Thietmar’s great-grandfathers, both named Lothar, were killed in the Battle of Lenzen, pitting the forces of Henry the Fowler against the Slavs. The early Margraves of the Nordmark were descended from the House of Walbeck.
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.
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.
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.
Rudolf I, 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. Rudolf was the brother of his predecessors Henry I the Long and Lothair Udo III.
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 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.
Friedrick, Count of Walbeck and Viscount (Burggraf) of Magdeburg, son of Siegfried I the Older, Count of Walbeck, and Kunigunde von Stade daughter of Henry I the Bald, Count of Stade. He was brother to Thietmar of Merseburg, whose Chronicon was the main source of information on him, and his predecessor Henry, Count of Walbeck.
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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