TheHattonids were an importantimperial noble family in the first half of the 9th century, during the reigns of theCarolingian kingsCharlemagne andLouis the Pious. They lost their position underLouis the German. They were patronised by the emperors and were enfeoffed withbenefices on imperial estates. They attended empire-wide councils and were given military commands on the borders to defend the empire fromDanishVikings andSlavs.
Hailing fromSaxony andBavaria, where they had many lands andhonores, the Hattonids were appointed toprefectures andcounties inEast Franconia and the centralRhineland from an early date.
One of their family,Banzleib, was bothCount of Maine in 832 and, by 838,comes et Saxoniae patriae marchio ("count and margrave of the Saxon fatherland") under Louis the Pious. The Hattonids more or less controlled Saxony in the last years of Louis the Pious' reign.
The Hattonids were staunch supporters of Louis the Pious and the unity of the Frankish Empire. After Louis's death in 840, Banzleib and his brothers,Adalbert, Count of Metz, andHatto, Count of Nassau, supportedLothair in the subsequentcivil war which arose between Louis's sons and opposedLouis the German and the creation of anEast Frankish kingdom.
On 14 December 840 atRösebeck [de], Louis dispossessed Banzleib of his benefices and public offices and granted them toWarin, Abbot ofCorvey. In theBattle of Wörnitz (13 May 841), Adalbert, Count of Metz and possibly also Banzleib fell. Their brother Hatto lost his county ofNassau, too, but he maintained his possessions inAlemannia until at least 857.