Ordulf (Saxony)

Duke Ordulf of Saxony, 1070, history painting in the Wartburg

Ordulf (also called Otto ) († March 28, 1072 ) from the Billunger family was duke in Saxony from 1059 to 1072.

Origin and family

Ordulf was the eldest son of the Saxon Duke Bernhard II and Eilika († December 10 after 1055/1056), a daughter of Heinrich von Schweinfurt, Margrave of the Nordgau. He had a brother with Hermann († 1086), Gertrud († August 4, 1089 (or 1093)), Ida († July 31, 1101) and Hadwig / Hedwig (* around 1030/35, † July 17 around 1112) and three sisters. Ordulf was married twice; he had a son with both women. His first wife was since November 1042 Wulfhild of Norway († May 24, 1071), a daughter of King Olav II. Haraldsson . Both children were his successors, who later became Duke Magnus . He concluded a second marriage with Gertrud von Haldensleben , a daughter of Count Konrad and widow of a Friedrich (probably von Formbach ), who was imprisoned in Mainz in 1076 and died on February 21, 1116. Both sons were Bernhard, who died on July 15 of an unknown year in Lüneburg after falling from his horse.

Life

Document from King Henry IV of 1062 for Ordulf. Karlsruhe, General State Archives

In 1043 Ordulf defeated the army of the Abodrites allied with his opponent Sven Estridsson in the battle of the Lürschauer Heide with a Saxon contingent on the side of the Norwegian-Danish king Magnus the Good . According to Danish chroniclers, it was Ordulf who persuaded Magnus to attack the much stronger army of the Slavs.

In 1059 Ordulf succeeded his late father Bernhard II as Duke. His reign was marked by the loss of rule in northern Albingia , the devastation of Stormarn and the destruction of Hamburg by the Abodritic sub-tribe of the Wagrier as well as subsequent unsuccessful attempts to recapture the lost territories. The constant defeats against the Slavs made him, in the judgment of his contemporaries, "a mockery of his own" ( Adam von Bremen ).

Ordulf was buried in the Church of St. Michaelis in Lüneburg .

literature

• Lutz Fenske:  Ordulf (Otto). In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 583 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Ordulf (Sachsen)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Bernhard II.	Duke of Saxony 1059-1072	Magnus