Liutgard of Saxony ( 845 – 17 November 885) was the queen of East Francia from 876 until 882 by her marriage with King

Louis the Younger Louis the Younger (830/835 – 20 January 882), sometimes called Louis the Saxon or Louis III, was the second eldest of the three sons of Louis the German and Hemma. He succeeded his father as the King of Eastern Francia on 28 August 876 and his ...

Biography

She was born between 840 and 850, the daughter of the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

count Liudolf (805/20–866), a progenitor of the

Ottonian dynasty The Ottonian dynasty () was a Saxons, Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman emperors, especially Otto the Great. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin in the German ...

(Liudolfings), and his wife Oda (805/06–913). Liutgard was especially noted for her strong will and political ambition, a reliable supporter of her husband. She is seen as a driving force behind King Louis' struggle with the

West Frankish Frankish ( reconstructed endonym: *), also known as Old Franconian or Old Frankish, was the West Germanic language spoken by the Franks from the 5th to 10th centuries. Franks under king Chlodio settled in Roman Gaul in the 5th century. On ...

king

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

around the possession of

Lotharingia Lotharingia was a historical region and an early medieval polity that existed during the late Carolingian and early Ottonian era, from the middle of the 9th to the middle of the 10th century. It was established in 855 by the Treaty of Prüm, a ...

, culminating in the 876

Battle of Andernach The Battle of Andernach, between the followers and the opponents of King Otto I of Germany, took place on 2 October 939 in Andernach on the Rhine river and ended with a decisive defeat of the rebels and the death of their leaders. Duke Eberhard ...

and ending in the final acquisition of the Lotharingian realm by the 880

Treaty of Ribemont The Treaty of Ribemont in 880 was the last treaty on the partitions of the Carolingian Empire. It was concluded between the East Frankish king Louis the Younger and the kings of West Francia, Louis III and Carloman. After the death of Charle ...

Marriages and issue

Before 29 November 874, Liutgard married

(830/835–882), second son of King

Louis the German Louis the German (German language, German: ''Ludwig der Deutsche''; c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany (German language, German: ''Ludwig II. von Deutschland''), was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 8 ...

, at

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; Hessian: ''Aschebersch'', ) is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

. They had two children: * Louis (877–879), reportedly died after a fall from a window of the Imperial palace in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. * Hildegard (c. 879 – after 899), became a nun in

Frauenchiemsee The island Frauenchiemsee, often called Fraueninsel (), is the second largest of the three islands in Chiemsee, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Chiemsee in the Upper Bavarian district of Rosenheim, which is the smallest municipality i ...

Abbey,

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

References

Sources

* {{Authority control 840s births 885 deaths Carolingian dynasty Queens consort of East Francia Frankish queens consort Duchesses of Swabia Brunonids Hunfridings 9th-century women from East Francia 9th-century Saxon people Saxon women Daughters of dukes