; c. 850/853 – 10 November 901) was a Frankish queen. She was the second wife of

Louis the Stammerer Louis II, known as Louis the Stammerer (french: Louis le Bègue; 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 Ermentrude of Orléans. Louis ...

, King of

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

and mother of

Charles the Simple Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a me ...

Life

Adelaide was daughter of the

count palatine A count palatine ( Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an o ...

Adalard of Paris Adelard (also spelled Adelhard, Adalhard or Adalard) may refer to: People in the Middle Ages *Adelard, father of the Frankish saint Herlindis of Maaseik (died 745) * Adalard of Corbie (751–827), Frankish abbot *Adelard of Spoleto (died 824), Ita ...

. She was chosen by

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, 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 s ...

King of Western Francia France was ruled by Monarch, monarchs from the establishment of the West Francia, Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Cl ...

, to marry his son and heir,

, despite the fact that Louis had secretly married

Ansgarde of Burgundy Ansgarde of Burgundy (d. 880/882) was a French queen of Aquitaine, but never of West Francia, the daughter of Hardouin of Burgundy. She secretly married Louis the Stammerer before he was king; her sons became Louis III of France and Carloman II. ...

against the wishes of his father. Although Louis and Ansgarde already had two children, Louis and Carloman,Rosamond McKitterick, ''The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians'', (Pearson Education Limited, 1999), 258. Charles prevailed upon

Pope John VIII Pope John VIII ( la, Ioannes VIII; died 16 December 882) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 14 December 872 to his death. He is often considered one of the ablest popes of the 9th century. John devoted much of his papacy ...

, to dissolve the union. This accomplished, Charles married his son to Adelaide in February 875. However, the marriage was called into question because of the close blood-kinship of the pair. When on 7 September 878 the pope crowned Louis (who had succeeded his father in the previous year), the pope refused to crown Adelaide. When Louis the Stammerer died in Compiegne on 10 April 879, Adelaide was pregnant, giving birth on 17 September 879, to

. The birth of this child led to a dispute between Adelaide and Ansgarde. Ansgarde and her sons accused Adelaide of adultery; Adelaide in turn disputed the right of Ansgarde's sons to inherit. Eventually, Adelaide succeeded in winning the case; but despite this, Ansgarde's sons Louis and Carloman remained kings until their deaths without heirs in 882 and 884, respectively, with the crown then being contested between

Odo, Count of Paris Odo (french: Eudes; c. 857 – 1 January 898) was the elected King of West Francia from 888 to 898. He was the first king from the Robertian dynasty. Before assuming the kingship, Odo was the count of Paris. His reign marked the definitive sep ...

and

Charles the Fat Charles III (839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandso ...

. Charles eventually succeeded to his father's throne in 898; his mother assisted in crowning him.

Death

She died in

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territori ...

on 10 November 901 and was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Corneille,

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 ...

, Picardy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelaide of Paris 850s births 901 deaths House of Girard Carolingian dynasty Frankish queens consort French queens consort Aquitainian queens consort Women from the Carolingian Empire Queen mothers