Udo (died 1028), born Pribignev (also Pribignew or Pribygnev), was an Obodrite

Obotrites

The Obotrites , also commonly known as the Obodrites, Abotrites, or Abodrites, were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany . For decades they were allies of Charlemagne in his wars against Germanic Saxons and Slavic...

 leader in the early eleventh century. His name Udo, of Germanic

Germanic languages

The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...

 origin, was probably given him at his Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

, perhaps after his possible godfather, Lothair Udo I of Stade. His father, Mistiwoi, had abandoned Christianity.

Since two contemporary Obodrite princes are recorded, Anadrag (Anatrog) and Gneus (Gnew), Udo's power could not have been that extensive. According to Adam of Bremen

Adam of Bremen

Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...

 and Helmold

Helmold

Helmold of Bosau was a Saxon historian of the 12th century and a priest at Bosau near Plön. He was a friend of the two bishops of Oldenburg in Holstein, Vicelinus and Gerold , who did much to Christianize the Polabian Slavs.Helmold was born near Goslar...

 following him, Udo as a male Christianus ("bad Christian"). He was assassinated in 1028 by a Saxon

Saxons

The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...

, allegedly for cruelty. By his wife, a Dane, Udo left a son, Gottschalk, who later united the Obodrites under him and became a champion of Christianity.