Although Bertrada "married" Pepin in 741 and gave birth to their first child, Charlemagne, in 743, Pepin was already married at the time, to a woman named Leutberga, who was the mother of Pepin's five children. After 743, however, Leutberga either decidedto retire to a convent or was forced to do so.
Even so, the marriage of Pepin and Bertrada was still not recognized--they were too closely related in order for their marriage to be legal. But for whatever reasons, the obstacle disappeared after 749, and Bertrada was recognized as Pepin's wife--although, as Nelson notes, political difficulties in 751 and 752 "may have driven [Pepin] briefly . . . to consider repudiating his wife Bertrada and marrying again."
The two, Pepin and Bertrada, were consecrated as king and queen of the Franks in 754, after which Pepin was "a model husband." Unlike his famous son, he had no concubines and no illegitimate children. Pepin and Bertrada worked together to strengthen theirnew dynasty--"encouraging" Pepin's brother and nephews to pursue monastic, rather than secular, vocations, and consolidating the claims of their own sons, in particular that of their oldest son, Charlemagne. (Some sources indicate that Pepin and Leutberga's children were all sent off to monasteries.)
After the death of Pepin in 768, his Frankish kingdom was divided between Charlemagne and his younger brother, Carloman, but Bertrada supported Charlemagne in opposing this division. The conflict between Charlemagne and his brother ended in 771, with Carloman's death. In the mean time, Charlemagne had "married" the Frankish noblewoman Himiltrude, probably before Pepin's death, and she gave birth to a son, also named Pepin, after his grandfather.
The quotation marks I put around "married" when I describe Himiltrude's relationship with Charlemagne reflect some degree of uncertainty about their bond. |
Count CHARIBERT of Laon
Giselle de Aquitaine (de LAON, Laon)
Naissance