Bruno, Brun, or Braun (died 2 February 880) was Duke of Saxony from 866 to his death. He was the eldest son of the Saxon count Liudolf and his wife Oda of Billung. Bruno is rated as the progenitor of the Brunonen noble family, a branch of the Ottonian dynasty. However some mentions appear to refer to an earlier Saxon margrave Brun the Younger, possibly a grandfather, but this is unclear.
Life
While his father is described as dux orientalis Saxonum, i.e. leader in East Saxony (Eastphalia), it is possible that Bruno, according to the Res gestae saxonicae by chronicler Widukind of Corvey, was dux totius Saxonum, duke of all Saxony. The rise of his family is documented by the fact that Bruno's sister Liutgard in 874 married Louis the Younger, son of King Louis the German, whereafter he is called ducem et fratrem reinæ, "duke and the queen's brother".
He died, along with several other Saxon noblemen, in a battle against Viking warriors (probably Danes of the Great Heathen Army defeated by King Alfred the Great) on 2 February 880.[1] The battle at Ebstorf near Lüneburg was a crushing defeat and Duke Bruno, the bishops of Minden and Hildesheim, as well as twelve Saxon counts were killed. According to the chronicler Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg, Bruno died in a flooded river, which probably took place during the battle or a retreat.[2] He was succeeded by his younger brother Otto the Illustrious.
Bruno is venerated as a saint and martyr in the Catholic Church, being honored with a feast day on February 2 under the name St. Bruno of Saxony. According to legend, he is the founder of Brunswick and ancestor of Count Brun I in the Derlingau, though an affiliation is uncertain.
The Brunonen (Latin Brunones) were a Saxon noble family in the 10th and 11th centuries, who owned property in Eastphalia (around Brunswick) and Frisia.
The Brunonen are assumed to be descendants of Brun, Duke of Saxony (d. 880). This would make them the senior branch of the Liudolfing house, to which the Ottonian emperors also belonged. This relationship is considered likely because the names Brun and Liudolf are both common among the Brunonen, and their properties are located in the same areas as the properties of the early Liudolfings. In addition, contemporaries seemed to regard the Brunonen as male-line relatives of the Ottonian kings, as shown by the candidacy for king of Brun I, Count of Brunswick. However, there is no evidence that the Brunonen are related to the Liudolfings, and nothing is known about the existence of any children of Duke Brun.
The oldest properties of the Brunonen were located in the Derlingau, from which they spread their influence to adjacent areas. The town of Brunswick, located at the western edge of the Derlingau, became their comital seat in the 9th or 10th century; according to legends, Brunswick (the name literally means "Brun's town") was founded by one of the Brunonen named Brun it is unclear by which one. Their county came to be known as the County of Brunswick.
The next assumed member of the Brunonen house was a Count Liudolf, who was mentioned in 942. The first certain member of the house was Brun I, Count of Brunswick, who is attested since 991. Count Bruno I sought without success to succeed Otto III in 1002 as King of the Romans. In 1067, Bruno's grandson Egbert was granted the Margraviate of Meissen by Emperor Henry IV. His son, Egbert II, opposed that same ruler and lost his rights to both Meissen and Frisia.
Egbert II's death marked the end of the Brunonen line. Egbert II's sister, Gertrude of Brunswick, had a daughter with her second husband, Henry the Fat, Margrave of Frisia of Northeim. This daughter, Richenza (d. 1141) married Lothar of Süpplingenburg, who was Duke of Saxony and later became Holy Roman Emperor. Their daughter Gertrude (d. 1143) married Duke Henry the Proud of Saxony and Bavaria, a member of the House of House of Welf. In this way, the Welf dynasty gained the Brunonen properties around Brunswick, which they would hold until the 20th century.
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