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Welf IThe founder of the Elder Welf dynasty
Date of Birth: 01.01.0778
Country:  Dive |
Content:
The Origins of the House of Welf
Welf I, the progenitor of the Elder House of Welf, was a count in Argengau, lord of Altdorf and Ravensbury. His precise ancestry is shrouded in uncertainty, but family legend traced it back to Edeco, a Hunnic or Scythian chieftain during the reign of Attila (c. 450), and father of Odoacer. However, the family tree can be reliably traced only from Welf I, from whom the dynasty derived its name. One theory suggests he was the son of Count Ruthard, who acquired lands in the Maas and Moselle regions, and Ermengildia. An alternative theory proposes he was the son of Count Isenbart of Altdorf in Thurgau.
Reign and Influence
Welf I possessed lands in Bavaria and Swabia. In 819, he secured a significant marriage for his daughter Judith to Emperor Louis the Pious, marking a pivotal moment in the dynasty's rise to prominence. Later, another daughter, Emma, married Emperor Louis's son from his first marriage, Louis the German. Welf I passed away on September 3, 825. His widow subsequently became abbess of the Abbey of Chelles near Paris.
Marriage and Progeny
Wife: Helewis of Saxony (d. after 833) — possibly the daughter of Saxon chieftain Widukind, abbess of Chelles from 825
Children:
- Rudolph I (d. 866) — Count of Ponthieu from 853, Count of Sens, Count of Troyes from 858, lay abbot of Jumièges and Saint-Riquier
- Conrad I the Old (800–863) — Count in Argengau, Abbot of Saint-Germain-d'Auxerre
- Judith (c. 805–843); married Emperor Louis the Pious of the West in February 819 (778–840)
- Emma (c. 808–January 31, 876); married Louis the German in 827 (804–876), King of Bavaria from 817, King of Germany from 840, King of Lotharingia from 870
