Liudolf was a descendant of the Saxon family of the Brunonen. He was a son of Bruno I, Count of Brunswick, and Gisela of Swabia.[1] After the death of his father, Liudolf's mother remarried several times, her last marriage was to Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor. Therefore, Holy Roman Emperor Henry III was his younger half-brother. Liudolf married Gertrude of Egisheim and had four children.[2] He controlled the Frisian counties Oostergo, Zuidergo and Westergo. For two more generations the Brunonen family line inherited the title. How the Brunonen came to their position in the counties is not known. There is a theory that Liudolf took advantage of the reign of violence by the Counts of Holland in the part of Friesland between the Vlie and the Lauwers. Not much is known about his life. He died in 1038 and was succeeded by his son, Bruno II.
Family
Liudolf and Gertrude of Egisheim had the following children:
Ida of Elsdorf, married to Leopold (Luitpold, Lippold) of Babenberg †1043 Hungarian March.[1] Their daughter Oda of Stade married Sviatoslav II Yaroslavich, Grand Prince of Kiev.
Halbertsma, Herrius (2000). Frieslands oudheid: het rijk van de Friese koningen, opkomst en ondergang [Frieslands antiquity, Realm of the Frisian kings, rise and fall] (in Dutch and English) (New ed.). Utrecht: Matrijs. ISBN9789053451670.
Keene, Catherine (2013). Saint Margaret, Queen of the Scots: A Life in Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan.
de Vajay, Szabolcs (1962). "Agatha, Mother St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland". Duquesne Review. 7 (2 (Spring)): 71–80.