Richilde of Provence
Richilde of Provence in an illumination from a manuscript of the Grandes Chroniques de France. 14th–15th century National Library of France, Department of Manuscripts, French 73, folio 163
Empress of the Carolingian Empire
Tenure29 December 875 – 2 June 910
Queen of West Francia
Tenurec. 870 – 2 June 910
Bornc. 845
Died2 June 910 (aged 64–65)
SpouseCharles the Bald
IssueRothilde
HouseBivinids
FatherBivin of Gorze

Richilde of Provence (c. 845 – 2 June 910, Kingdom of Lower Burgundy) (also Richildis)[1] was the second wife of the Frankish emperor Charles the Bald.[2] By her marriage, she became queen and later empress. She ruled as regent in 877.

Life

Richilde was the daughter of Bivin of Gorze, Count of the Ardennes,[2] and the sister of Boso of Provence (of the Bosonid dynasty).[3][4][5] Her aunt was Theutberga, the wife of Lothar II of Lotharingia.[2] Her marriage to Charles the Bald, in 870 after the death of his first wife, Ermentrude of Orléans, was intended to secure his rule in Lotharingia through her powerful family and her connection to Theutberga, the previous queen.[6] Richilde bore Charles five children, but only the eldest daughter, Rothilde, survived to adulthood.[7]

Whenever Charles went to war, Richilde managed the realm. She may have briefly ruled as regent after the death of Charles in 877.[8] Louis the Stammerer (son of Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans), who had succeeded his father, died on 10 April 879, while his children were too young to rule on their own.[9][10] While Richilde's brother, Boso, did make a bid for the throne, the Carolingians were vehement in their refusal, and he gave up the attempt.[11][12] Boso went on to become the king of Provence.[13]

Richilde attempted to assume a position of authority upon the death of Louis III in 882, and of Carloman II in 884; however, the empire was agitated and under threat by the Normans, and the grandees of the realm forced her to withdraw to Provence, then the realm of her nephew Louis the Blind, where she died on 2 June 910.[14]

References

  1. ^ Carroll, JaneL (5 July 2017). "Saints, Sinners, and Sisters ": Gender and Northern Art in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-55027-7.
  2. ^ a b c Pierre Riche, The Carolingians: The Family who forged Europe, transl. Michael Idomir Allen (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), 198.
  3. ^ McCarthy, Margaret J. (1 July 2015), "Hincmar's influence during Louis the Stammerer's reign", Hincmar of Rheims, Manchester University Press, pp. 110–128, ISBN 978-1-78499-188-3, retrieved 29 January 2024
  4. ^ "John VIII, Pope (872–882) – V 1 | Taylor & Francis eBooks, Reference W". www.taylorfrancis.com. doi:10.4324/9780415791182-RMEO155-1. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  5. ^ Bradbury, Jim (27 February 2007). The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8264-2491-4.
  6. ^ Watkins, John (9 May 2017). After Lavinia: A Literary History of Premodern Marriage Diplomacy. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-0851-0.
  7. ^ MacLean, Simon (2003). "Queenship, Nunneries and Royal Widowhood in Carolingian Europe". Past & Present (178): 3–38. ISSN 0031-2746. JSTOR 3600756.
  8. ^ Bernard-Valette, Clémentine (1 July 2015), "'We are between the hammer and the anvil': Hincmar in the crisis of 875", Hincmar of Rheims, Manchester University Press, pp. 93–109, ISBN 978-1-78499-188-3, retrieved 29 January 2024
  9. ^ Jackman, Donald C. (27 January 2015). Three Bernards Sent South to Govern. Editions Enlaplage. ISBN 978-1-936466-11-5.
  10. ^ Costen, M. D. (15 November 1997). The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-4332-1.
  11. ^ Airlie, Stuart (24 December 2020). Making and Unmaking the Carolingians: 751-888. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78673-646-8.
  12. ^ McKitterick, Rosamond; Reuter, Timothy; Abulafia, David (1995). The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36447-8.
  13. ^ Carroll, JaneL (5 July 2017). "Saints, Sinners, and Sisters ": Gender and Northern Art in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-55027-7.
  14. ^ Hartmann, Gerhard (27 June 2013). Die Kaiser des Heiligen Römischen Reiches (in German). marixverlag. ISBN 978-3-8438-0241-3.
Royal titles Preceded byEngelberga Carolingian empress 875–877 Succeeded byRichardis Preceded byErmentrude of Orléans Queen consort of Western Francia 870–877 Succeeded byAdelaide of Paris
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