Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          ABT  844 
Death:          ABT  870 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_of_Flanders
Judith of Flanders (or Judith of France) (c. 843 – c. 870)[1] was queen consort of 
Wessex and countess consort of Flanders. She was the eldest daughter of the West 
Frankish King and later Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald and his wife Ermentrude 
of Orléans. Through her marriages to two Kings of Wessex, Ęthelwulf and Ęthelbald, 
she was twice a queen. Her first two marriages were childless, but through her third 
marriage to Baldwin, she became the first Countess of Flanders and an ancestor of 
later Counts of Flanders. One of her sons by Baldwin married Ęlfthryth, a daughter of 
Ęthelbald's brother, Alfred the Great. She was also an ancestor of Matilda of 
Flanders, the consort of William the Conqueror, and thus of later monarchs of England.
Queen of Wessex[edit]

In 855 King Ęthelwulf of Wessex made a pilgrimage to Rome, and on his way back in 
856 he stayed at the court of the West Frankish king Charles the Bald. In July 
Ęthelwulf became engaged to Charles's daughter, Judith, who was no more than 
fourteen, while Ęthelwulf was about fifty years old. On 1 October 856 they were 
married at Verberie in northern France.

The marriage was a diplomatic alliance: both men were suffering from Viking attacks, 
and for Ęthelwulf the union had the advantage of associating him with Carolingian 
prestige. In addition, the wedding was considered an extraordinary event by 
contemporaries and by modern historians. Carolingian princesses rarely married and 
were usually sent to nunneries, and it was almost unknown for them to marry 
foreigners. Judith was crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, Archbishop of 
Rheims; in Wessex it was not customary for kings' wives to be queens, but Charles 
insisted that his daughter be crowned queen.[2][3] Although empresses had been 
anointed before, this is the first definitely known anointing of a Carolingian queen. In 
addition, West Saxon custom (described by Asser as "perverse and detestable") was 
that the wife of a king of Wessex could not be called queen or sit on the throne with 
her husband—she was merely the king's wife.[4]

The marriage provoked a rebellion by Ęthelwulf's eldest surviving son, Ęthelbald, 
probably because he feared displacement by a higher-born half-brother. However, 
father and son negotiated a compromise under which Ęthelwulf received the eastern 
districts of the kingdom and Ęthelbald the western. It is not known whether this meant 
that Ęthelwulf took Kent and Ęthelbald Wessex, or whether Wessex itself was 
divided.[2]

Judith had no children by Ęthelwulf, who died on 13 January 858. He was succeeded 
by Ęthelbald, who married Judith, his step-mother, probably to enhance his status 
because she was the daughter of the West Frankish king.[2] The marriage was 
condemned by Asser in his Life of Alfred the Great:
Once King Ęthelwulf was dead, Ęthelbald, his son, against God's prohibition and 
Christian dignity, and also contrary to the practice of all pagans, took over his father's 
marriage-bed and married Judith, daughter of Charles, king of the Franks, incurring 
great disgrace from all who heard of it.[5]
Judith was still childless when Ęthelbald died in 860 after a reign of two-and-a-half 
years.[5]

Elopement with Baldwin of Flanders[edit]

Following Ęthelbald's death, Judith sold her properties in Wessex and returned to 
France. According to the Chronicle of St. Bertin, her father sent her to the Monastery 
at Senlis, where she was to remain "under his protection and royal episcopal 
guardianship, with all the honour due to a queen, until such time as, if she could not 
remain chaste, she might marry in the way the apostle said, that is suitably and 
legally."[6] Presumably, Charles may have intended to arrange another marriage for his 
daughter. However, around Christmas 861, Judith eloped with Baldwin, later Count of 
Flanders. The two were likely married at the monastery of Senlis at this time. The 
record of the incident in the Annals depicts Judith not as the passive victim of bride 
theft but as an active agent, eloping at the instigation of Baldwin and apparently with 
her brother Louis the Stammerer's consent.[7]

Unsurprisingly, Judith's father was furious and ordered his bishops to excommunicate 
the couple. They later fled to the court of Judith's cousin Lothair II of Lotharingia for 
protection, before going to Pope Nicholas I to plead their case. The Pope took 
diplomatic action and asked Judith's father to accept the union as legally binding and 
welcome the young couple into his circle – which ultimately he did. The couple then 
returned to France and were officially married at Auxerre on 13 December 862.

Baldwin was given the land directly south of the Scheldt, i.e. the Country of Flanders 
(albeit an area of smaller size than the county which existed in the High Middle Ages) 
to ward off Viking attacks. It is disputed among historians as to whether King Charles 
did this in the hope that Baldwin would be killed in the ensuing battles with the 
Vikings; however, Baldwin managed the situation remarkably well. He succeeded in 
quelling the Viking threat, expanded both his army and his territory quickly, and 
became a faithful supporter of King Charles. The March of Baldwin came to be known 
as the County of Flanders and would come to be one of the most powerful 
principalities of France.

Character[edit]

In the view of Patrick Wormald:
The marriage [between Ęthelwulf and Judith] is generally notorious for Judith's 
scandalous subsequent behaviour: on Ęthelwulf's death, she married Ęthelbald, his 
eldest son, in express defiance of the ecclesiastical prohibition...; and not content 
with that, she eloped with Baldwin of Flanders when Ęthelbald was dead. But Judith, 
like most ninth-century Frankish princesses, was a cultivated lady; and it is a 
reasonable guess that she brought with her to the court where the young Alfred was 
growing up some of the culture as well as the aura of the Carolingian monarchy.[8]
Children[edit]

By her third husband, Baldwin I of Flanders, Judith's children included:[9]
Charles (c. 864/865 – died young). Ostensibly named after Judith's father, Charles the 
Bald.
Baldwin II (c. 865/867 – c. 10 September 918). Succeeded his father as Count of 
Flanders. Married Ęlfthryth, daughter of Alfred the Great.
Raoul (Rodulf) (c. 867/870 – murdered 17 June 896). Became Count of Cambrai 
around 888, and was killed by Herbert I of Vermandois in 896.
[Though some sources say she was, by her husband Aethelwulf, the mother of Judith 
of Wessex who married Eticho, that is not the case]

Parents
____ Charles II "the Bald" (13 Jun  823 - 6 Oct  877)
D'ORLEANS Ermentrude (27 Sep  823 - 6 Oct  869)

Siblings
____ Judith (ABT  844 - ABT  870)
____ Louis II "the Stammerer" (1 Nov  846 - 10 Apr  879)
____ Hersende (ABT  865 - )

Marriage To ____ Aethelwulf (ABT  806 - 13 Jan  859)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Egbert "the Great" ( 775 - 4 Feb  839)
OF THE CAROLINGIANS Raedburh (Raedberg) (BEF  768 - )

Marriage To ____ Baldwin I "Bras de Fer" (ABT  816 - ABT  879)
    m. 13 Dec  862 Auxerre

Notes
her third

Parents
____ Odacer (ABT  790 -  864)
----- ----- ()

Children by ____ Baldwin I "Bras de Fer" ABT  816 - ABT  879
____ Baldwin II "the Bald" (ABT  863 - 10 Sep  918)
____ Widnille (Guinidilda) (ABT  863 - )
OF FLANDERS Raoul (Rudolph) (ABT  865 - 17 Jun  896)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017