The Alaholfings (occasionally Ahalolfings) were a

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

of Alemannia in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

. They were related to the previous rulers of Alemannia, to the Bavarian

Agilolfings The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards intermittently from 616 to 712. They ...

and to the Geroldings. Their original power base was around the upper

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar ...

and

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

rivers. They came to possess lands in not only Alemannia, but also in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The Ahalolfings are divided into two groups, the older and the younger. It is not certain how the two groups are related. The older group descends from a Berthold who was the joint founder, with

Hnabi Hnabi or Nebi (c. 710 – c. 789) was an Alemannian duke. He was a son of Huoching and perhaps a grandson of the duke Gotfrid, which would make him a scion of the Agilolfing dynasty of Bavaria. He was the founder of the "old" line of the A ...

, of

Reichenau Abbey Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island (known in Latin as Augia Dives) in southern Germany. It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Visigothic Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, w ...

in 724. His most famous descendant was Cadolah,

Duke of Friuli The dukes and margraves of Friuli were the rulers of the Duchy of Friuli, Duchy and March of Friuli in the Middle Ages. The dates given below, when contentious, are discussed in the articles of the respective dukes. Lombard dukes * 568–c.5 ...

, who defended the

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

n plains into Italy from the Avars. A certain Halaholf founded

Marchtal Abbey Marchtal Abbey ( or ') is a former Premonstratensian monastery in Obermarchtal in the Alb-Donau-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The minster church of Saints Peter and Paul, the former abbey church, located on a prominent elevation, still domin ...

as a proprietary monastery in the mid-8th century. His descendants gave it to the

Abbey of Saint Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall () is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot where Saint Gall had er ...

in 776. In modern scholarship, the family is named after Halaholf, although in later generations the family's

leading name A leading name (German ''Leitname'', plural ''Leitnamen'') is a given name that is used repeatedly over several generations in a lineage (anthropology), lineage or broader kin group. Usually the entire name is used again and again, but sometimes a ...

was Berthold. The younger branch of the family itself comprises two branches. Empress

Richardis Saint Richardis (), also known as Richgard, Richardis of Swabia and Richarde de Souabe in French ( 840 – 18 September, between 894 and 896 AD), was empress of the Carolingian Empire as the wife of Charles the Fat. She was renowned for her ...

descends from Erchanger. Her sister married Berthold I and was the mother of the other branch of the family, which included the famous

Erchanger, Duke of Swabia Erchanger (or Erchangar) (c. 860/880 – 21 January 917) was the duke of Swabia from September 915 to his death. He was the son of Berthold I, count palatine of Swabia, who is sometimes called Erchanger as well, in which case the duke is Erchange ...

, and his brother Berthold II. The Ahalolfings died out when Berthold III died in 973, though the

House of Zähringen The House of Zähringen () was a dynasty of Duchy of Swabia, Swabian nobility. The family's name derived from Zähringen Castle near Freiburg im Breisgau. The Zähringer in the 12th century used the title of Duke of Zähringen, in compensation fo ...

may be descended from them.

Notes

Sources

* *{{LexMA, 1, 263, 263, Alaholfinger, Störmer, Wilhelm, , Störmer1980 Ahalolfing dynasty Noble families of the Holy Roman Empire