Liudger (also Liutger, Ludiger, Liudiger or Luderus, Low German: Lüder; died 26 February 1011) was the younger brother of the Saxon Duke Bernhard I of the Billung dynasty. In the historical sources Liudger is called Graf (count). There he appears almost only at the side of his older brother.
Liudger's position within the Billung princely house has not yet been conclusively clarified in medieval studies. While some historians regard him as a wealthy fellow heir next to his older brother, who also had his own rights of rule, Liudger, according to Gerd Althoff, is said to have led only a shadowy existence as a "substitute man" for Duke Bernhard I.
Origin and family Liudger was the son of Hermann Billung.Die Abstammung von Hermann belegt eine Erwähnung beim Annalista Saxo a.A.1037: Machtildis, que filia fuit Herimanni ducis Saxonum de Liuniburch, soror Bennonis sive Bernhardi ducis et Liudigeri comitis. His older brother Bernhard succeeded his father as duke in Saxony upon the latter's death.Matthias Becher: Rex, Dux und Gens. Untersuchungen zur Entstehung des sächsischen Herzogtums im 9. und 10. Jahrhundert (= Historische Studien. Band 444). Matthiesen, Husum 1996, , p. 11. Liudger had two sisters, MathildeEbenfalls belegt durch die Erwähnung beim Annalista Saxo a.A.1037. and Schwanhild.Schwanhild wird erwähnt als Schwester Bernhards bei Thietmar IV, 39.
Liudger was married to Emma.Adam II, 80 (76). Liudger's descendants have not been handed down.Paul Derks: Liudger und Emma, „Grafen von Stiepel“ – Die Quellen und die historische Überlieferung. In: Der Märker, Landeskundliche Zeitschrift für den Bereich der ehem. Grafschaft Mark und den märkischen Kreis 47 (1998), 12–20, hier p. 13. In the Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum from the time around 1070, the Bremen Cathedral Scholaster Adam of Bremen reports of a daughter of Liudger's wife Emma who is not named.Adam II, 80 (76). Adam does not mention the father. Nevertheless, part of the research has always assumed that it was not only Emma's daughter, but also Liudger's.Georg Dehio: Geschichte des Erzbistums Hamburg-Bremen bis zum Ausgang der Mission. W. Hertz, Berlin 1877, S. 162; Gerd Althoff: Die Billunger in der Salierzeit. In: Stefan Weinfurter (Hrsg.): Salier, Adel und Reichsverfassung (= Die Salier und das Reich. Band 1). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1991, pp. 309–329, hier p. 320 (ohne Begründung). Male descendants of the couple are also discussed.Dieter Riemer: Die Stiftsdame Rikquur – eine Billungerin? Ein Skandal und seine Sühne im 11. Jahrhundert. In: Jahrbuch der Männer vom Morgenstern. Band 95 (2016) pp. 81–108, hier p. 101 vermutet einen der beiden im Diptychon genannten Grafen Hermann als einen vor 1038 verstorbenen Sohn Liudgers; Günther Bock: Hammaburg und Domkirche in den frühen Jahrhunderten Hamburgs – Versuch einer historischen Neubewertung. In: Rainer-Maria Weiss, Anne Klammt (Hrsg.): Mythos Hammaburg. Archäologische Entdeckungen zu den Anfängen Hamburgs (= Veröffentlichung des Helms-Museums, Archäologisches Museum Hamburg, Stadtmuseum Harburg. Band 107). Archäologisches Museum Hamburg, Hamburg 2014, , pp. 291–302, hier p. 293 einen am 10. Oktober 1033 verstorbenen Graf Liudger II. In the life history of the Paderborn bishop Meinwerk, the Vita Meinwerci, the later Paderborn bishop Imad is described as the son of Meinwerk's sister.Vita Meinwerci, c.2. In the Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum it is said that Emma was the sister of this Meinwerk.Adam II, 80 (76). Nevertheless, a descent of Imad from Emma is doubted, because the note about the relationship of Emma with Meinwerk was inserted only in a copy from the time after 1160.Paul Derks: Liudger und Emma, „Grafen von Stiepel“ – Die Quellen und die historische Überlieferung. In: Der Märker, Landeskundliche Zeitschrift für den Bereich der ehem. Grafschaft Mark und den märkischen Kreis 47 (1998), 12–20, hier S. 14 mit weiteren Nachweisen zur Forschungsdiskussion. Conversely, the Vita Meinwerci knows Emma as wife of Liudger, but not as sister of Meinwerk. Instead, it names Glismod and Adela as Meinwerk's sisters.Vita Meinwerci, c. 2.
Powers The question of Liudger's powers within the noble family of the Billung is answered inconsistently in research. This concerns both a possible participation in the rule of his older brother Bernhard I. as well as possible own rights of rule as count.
Participation in the reign of Bernhard I. About Liudger's political importance for the reign of his older brother nothing certain can be inferred from the medieval sources.Gerd Althoff: Adels- und Königsfamilien im Spiegel ihrer Memorialüberlieferung. Studien zum Totengedenken der Billunger und Ottonen (= Münstersche Mittelalter-Schriften. Band 47). Fink, München 1984, p. 390 (Digitalisat). There only Bernhard I. is referred to as duke. As the head of the most powerful and richest noble family in northern Saxony, he was characterized by a special closeness to the royal court.Ernst Schubert: Das Herzogtum. In: Hans Patze (Begründer): Geschichte Niedersachsens. Band 2, Teil 1: Ernst Schubert (Hrsg.): Politik, Verfassung, Wirtschaft vom 9. bis zum ausgehenden 15. Jahrhundert (= Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Niedersachsen, Bremen und die Ehemaligen Länder Hannover, Oldenburg, Braunschweig und Schaumburg-Lippe. 36). Hahn, Hannover 1997, , pp. 179–183, hier p. 181. According to tradition, he was one of the closest advisors of the kings and emperors Otto II (973-983), Otto III (983-1002) and Henry II (1002-1024). Accordingly, he is frequently mentioned in medieval documents, annals and chronicles. In contrast, Liudger is mentioned only in passing.Gerd Althoff: Adels- und Königsfamilien im Spiegel ihrer Memorialüberlieferung. Studien zum Totengedenken der Billunger und Ottonen (= Münstersche Mittelalter-Schriften. Band 47). Fink, München 1984, p. 390 (Digitalisat).
Despite this finding, part of the medieval research assumes that Liudger played an important role for the rule of the Billung dynasty in Saxony, without determining it in more detail.Ruth Bork: Die Billunger. Mit Beiträgen zur Geschichte des deutsch-wendischen Grenzraumes im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert. Greifswald 1951, p. 105, Siegfried Hirsch: Jahrbücher des Deutschen Reiches unter Heinrich II. Band 2, Duncker und Humblot, Berlin 1864, p. 305 Anmerkung 2, ebenso Gerd Althoff: Die Billunger in der Salierzeit. In: Stefan Weinfurter (Hrsg.): Salier, Adel und Reichsverfassung (= Die Salier und das Reich. Band 1). Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1991, pp. 309–329, hier p. 317. This assessment is based primarily on news from the chronicle of the abbey of St. Michaelis in Lüneburg, the house abbey of the Billung dynasty. In it it is said that both brothers succeeded their father Hermann in the ducal dignity and inherited him jointly.Ludwig Weiland (Hrsg.): Chronicon Sancti Michaelis Luneburgensis in: MGH SS 23, 1874, pp. 391–397, hier p. 394: Eique successit filius eius Bernardus in ducatu et frater Luderus comes. The chronicle dates from the time between 1229 and 1233 and was thus written only about 200 years after Liudger's death.Ludwig Weiland (Hrsg.): Chronicon Sancti Michaelis Luneburgensis in: MGH SS 23, 1874, pp. 391–397, hier p. 392. Nevertheless, it is considered credible, since the author of the chronicle is said to have had older documents, which are lost today.Ruth Bork: Die Billunger. Mit Beiträgen zur Geschichte des deutsch-wendischen Grenzraumes im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert. Greifswald 1951, p. 105. The chronicle is based on the chronicle of the abbey of St. Michael in Lüneburg. Moreover, the medieval research seems to suggest Liudger's participation in the rule of his older brother Bernhard I, also in view of the ruling practice of the Billung ducal house in the following generations. Bernhard I's son Thietmar also had a share in the dominion alongside his older brother Duke Bernhard II. had a share in the dominion. And Bernhard's II son Herrmann even represented his older brother Duke Ordulf for several years at the head of the princely house.Ruth Bork: Die Billunger. Mit Beiträgen zur Geschichte des deutsch-wendischen Grenzraumes im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert. Greifswald 1951, p. 106. Finally, it is noticeable that Liudger almost always emerges at the side of his brother Bernhard I.Ruth Bork: Die Billunger. Mit Beiträgen zur Geschichte des deutsch-wendischen Grenzraumes im 10. und 11. Jahrhundert. Greifswald 1951, pp. 105–107. In a record of the outcome of the boundary negotiations between the bishoprics of Hildesheim, Minden and Verden from the period between January 15 and May 13, 993, "Duke Bernhard and his brother Liudger" head the list of secular witnesses (Bernhardi ducis suique fratris Liudgeri).Karl Janicke (Hrsg.): Urkundenbuch des Hochstifts Hildesheim und seiner Bischöfe. Erster Theil. Hirzel, Leipzig 1896, p. 24 (Urkunde Nr. 35) .
Gerd Althoff, in his study on group ties in the Middle Ages published in 1990, shows the limits of Liudger's position within the noble family of the Billung.Gerd Althoff: Verwandte, Freunde und Getreue. Zum politischen Stellenwert der Gruppenbindungen im früheren Mittelalter. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1990, , p. 61. According to this, Liudger's role was limited to that of a "substitute" for the older brother. Only the recognition of Bernhard's primogeniture and the subordination to his claim to rule would have made it possible for Liudger to remain at the court in the first place, in order to step in in the interest of the family in case of the regent's failure. In no case Liudger's participation in the rule of the Billung dynasty had been presented as co-rule, and in the inheritance of the father he had been involved at most in smaller extent. In contrast to this, Althoff in his habilitation thesis from 1984 still held the view that Liudger as the younger brother had directly participated in the rule of the ducal dynasty.Gerd Althoff: Adels- und Königsfamilien im Spiegel ihrer Memorialüberlieferung. Studien zum Totengedenken der Billunger und Ottonen (= Münstersche Mittelalter-Schriften. Band 47). Fink, München 1984, , p. 51. Ernst Schubert took a mediating standpoint in the debate with Althoff's assessment. Although Liudger had subordinated himself to the older brother, nevertheless an amicable brotherly cooperation was to be determined, which secured the peace within the noble dynasty of the Billung.Ernst Schubert: Die Billunger. In: Hans Patze (Begründer): Geschichte Niedersachsens. Band 2, Teil 1: Ernst Schubert (Hrsg.): Politik, Verfassung, Wirtschaft vom 9. bis zum ausgehenden 15. Jahrhundert (= Veröffentlichungen der Historischen Kommission für Niedersachsen, Bremen und die Ehemaligen Länder Hannover, Oldenburg, Braunschweig und Schaumburg-Lippe. 36). Hahn, Hannover 1997, , pp. 155–164, hier p. 164. He said that Liudger was the only brother who had a direct share in the rule of the dukes.
Liudger's own rulership rights On the basis of the few news about Liudger it is discussed with different results whether Liudger as count had his own rights of rule or at least the necessary landed property. The focus of the considerations are two documents of Otto III as well as a passage from the Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum of Adam of Bremen.
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