Richilde of Provence (c. 845 – 2 June 910,

Kingdom of Lower Burgundy The following is a list of the kings of the two kingdoms of Burgundy, and a number of related political entities devolving from Carolingian machinations over family relations. Kings of the Burgundians * Gebicca (late 4th century – c. 407 ...

) (also Richildis) was the second wife of the Frankish emperor

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 ...

.Pierre Riche, ''The Carolingians: The Family who forged Europe'', transl. Michael Idomir Allen (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983), 198. By her marriage, she became queen and later empress. She ruled as regent in 877.

Life

Richilde was the daughter of

Bivin of Gorze Bivin of Gorze (810/830 – 863) was a Frankish founder of the Bivinids family. He was married to a daughter of Boso the Elder, who may have been called Richildis. During his life he functioned as lay abbot of the Gorze Abbey. His offspring includ ...

, Count of the Ardennes, and the sister of

Boso of Provence Boso of Provence (; 841 – 11 January 887) was the first non-Carolingian dynasty, Carolingian pretender to the royal throne of West Francia in 879, who failed to achieve wider recognition, being accepted only in Lower Burgundy and Provence, ...

(of the

Bosonid The Bosonids were a dynasty of Carolingian-era counts, dukes, bishops, kings and emperors descended from Boso the Elder and his wife Engeltrude. They married into the Carolingian dynasty and raised to power during the second half of the 9th cen ...

dynasty). Her aunt was Theutberga, the wife of Lothar II of Lotharingia. Her marriage to Charles the Bald, in 870 after the death of his first wife,

Ermentrude of Orléans Ermentrude of Orléans (27 September 823 – 6 October 869) was the Queen of the Franks by her marriage to Charles II. She was the daughter of Odo, count of Orleans and Engeltrude de Fézensac. Queenship The traditional historiography on ...

, was intended to secure his rule in Lotharingia through her powerful family and her connection to Theutberga, the previous queen. Richilde bore Charles five children, but only the eldest daughter, Rothilde, survived to adulthood. Whenever Charles went to war, Richilde managed the realm. She may have briefly ruled as regent after the death of Charles in 877.

Louis the Stammerer Louis the Stammerer (; 1 November 846 – 10 April 879) was the king of Aquitaine and later the king of West Francia. He was the eldest son of Emperor Charles the Bald and Ermentrud ...

(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. 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. Boso went on to become the

king of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

. Richilde attempted to assume a position of authority upon the death of

Louis III Louis III may refer to: * Louis the Younger, sometimes III of Germany (835–882) * Louis III of France (865–882) * Louis the Blind, Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, (c. 880–928) * Louis the Child, sometimes III of Germany (893–911) * Louis III ...

in 882, and of

Carloman II Carloman II ( 866 – 6 December 884) was the King of West Francia (future France) from 879 until his death. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he and his elder brother Louis III, divided the kingdom between themselves and ruled jointly until ...

in 884; however, the empire was agitated and under threat by the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

, and the grandees of the realm forced her to withdraw to

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, then the realm of her nephew

Louis the Blind Louis the Blind ( – 5 June 928) was king in Provence and Lower Burgundy from 890 to 928, and also king of Italy from 900 to 905, and also the emperor between 901 and 905, styled as Louis III. His father was king Boso, from the Bosonid family ...

, where she died on 2 June 910.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Richilde of Provence 840s births 910 deaths Year of birth uncertain Bosonids Frankish queens consort Queens consort of Lower Burgundy 9th-century women regents Carolingian dynasty Women from the Carolingian Empire 9th-century queens consort 9th-century empresses consort 9th-century regents