Rudolph, Count of Ponthieu (son of Welf)

Count Rudolph (or Rudolf) of Ponthieu (died 866) was son of Welf (also Hwelf or Welf I) and brother of Judith of Bavaria, wife of Emperor Louis the Pious. Through Judith's influence her brother Rudolph acquired and became Lay Abbot of the Abbey's of Saint Riquier and Jumieges.

In April 830 Frankish nobility revolted against Emperor Louis in order to "liberate" him from the influence of his wife Judith. Louis was placed under house arrest while Judith and her brothers Rudolph and Count Conrad I of Auxerre were imprisoned in Aquitanian monasteries. The two brothers were later freed when their nephew Charles the Bald assumed the throne.

Marriage and children

Rudolph was married to Hruodun (died 867)

• Conrad, count of Paris and Sens (died 882);
• Welf, abbot of Sainte-Colombe-de-Sens (died 881);
• Hugh, rector and lord of Saint-Saulve, in Valenciennes (died 867);
• Rudolf of Augstgau, count of Augstgau, father of count Hagano the Bold, founder of Hagenéter line in Piedmont.

References

• The Carolingians, A family who forged Europe by Pierre Riche (translated by Michael Idomir Allen), University of Philadelphia Press, 1993
• Marek, Miroslav. "The Welfen Family". Genealogy.EU. 
• I Conti de' Marsi e la loro discendenze fino alla fondazione dell'Aquila by Cesare Rivera, Teramo, 1915