A German count, Rabodo was appointed by the Emperor Henry V after the death of the Marchioness Matilda of Tuscany (1115) in order to break the practice of hereditary succession in the Tuscan marquisate.
[1] He was a much weaker ruler than his predecessor, unable to dominate the many disparate forces opposed to direct imperial (or German) rule.
[3] In a document of 11 September 1116, Rabodo is called "marquis of Tuscany owing to imperial largesse",[a] but in one dated to 1119 he is said to rule "by God's grace", using the same formula used by Matilda.
[b] He moved the Tuscan capital from Florence, where it had been since 1057,[5] to the fortified town of San Miniato al Tedesco,[c] thereafter the seat of the imperial vicars into the 13th century.
[1] In 1116 Rabodo pledged the castle of Bientina to Archbishop Pietro Moriconi of Pisa and the Pisan judge (iudex) and operator (operarius) Ildebrando.