Emma of Altdorf, also known as Hemma ( – 31 January 876), a member of the

Elder House of Welf The Elder House of Welf (known as Rudolphins in Burgundy) was a Frankish noble dynasty of European rulers documented since the 9th century. Closely related to the Carolingian dynasty, it consisted of a Burgundian and a Swabian group. It has n ...

, was Queen consort of East Francia by marriage to 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 ...

, from 843 until her death.

Life

Her father was

Welf I Welf I or Welfo (died before 876) was a Swabian nobleman. He was a member of the Elder House of Welf. Welf was probably a son of Conrad I of Auxerre, and seems to have taken over his father's offices in Swabia, namely: count of Alpgau, count ...

(d. 825), Count of Altorf in

Alamannia Alamannia, or Alemania, was the kingdom established and inhabited by the Alemanni, a Germanic tribal confederation that had broken through the Roman '' limes'' in 213. The Alemanni expanded from the Main River basin during the 3rd century and ...

; her mother was Hedwig (Heilwig; c. 775 – after 833), a 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

Isambart Isambart (died after 806), Count in Thurgau, also known as Isambard the Saxon was an 8th-century count (''comes'') in the Frankish lands of Saxony and Master of the Palace at Altdorf in Alamannia. Life He was born about 750 AD in Narbonne, Fr ...

. Emma's elder sister was

Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

, who in February 819 married the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

emperor

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

, and thereby became Queen consort of the Franks and

Holy Roman Empress The Holy Roman Empress or Empress of the Holy Roman Empire (''Kaiserin des Heiligen Römischen Reiches'') was the wife or widow of the Holy Roman Emperor. The elective dignity of Holy Roman emperor was restricted to males only, but some empresse ...

. The marriage marked a crucial step forward in the rise of the Welf dynasty. In 827, probably at the instigation of Judith, Hemma married

, the youngest son of Emperor Louis the Pious from his first marriage with

Ermengarde of Hesbaye Ermengarde (or Irmingard) of Hesbaye ( 778 – 3 October 818), probably a member of the Robertian dynasty, was Carolingian empress from 813 and Queen of the Franks from 814 until her death as the wife of the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pio ...

, and stepson of Hemma's sister Judith. The wedding ceremony possibly took place in

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

, where Louis the German resided as

King of Bavaria The King of Bavaria () was a title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria in the state known as the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1805 until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished. It was the second time Bavaria was a kingdom, almost a t ...

subordinate to his father. In 833, Hemma received Obermünster Abbey in Regensburg from her husband. Emperor Louis died in 840. After severe innerdynastic struggles, the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Franks, Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as List of Frankish kings, kings of the Franks since ...

eventually was divided according to the

Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (; ), agreed to on 10 August 843, ended the Carolingian civil war and divided the Carolingian Empire between Lothair I, Louis the German, Louis II and Charles the Bald, Charles II, the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the ...

in 843. The Kingdom of Bavaria was merged with Louis the German's Kingdom of

East Francia East Francia (Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire created in 843 and ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was established through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the for ...

(the predecessor of the

Kingdom of Germany The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom ( 'kingdom of the Germans', 'German kingdom', "kingdom of Germany", ) was the mostly Germanic language-speaking East Frankish kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. The king was elec ...

), and his wife Hemma became the first East Frankish queen. Hemma is rarely mentioned in contemporary sources; she does not seem to have had much influence on her husband's rule. The ''

Annales Bertiniani ''Annales Bertiniani'' (''Annals of Saint Bertin'') are late Carolingian, Frankish annals that were found in the Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint-Omer, France, after which they are named. Their account is taken to cover the period 830-82, thus con ...

'' written by Archbishop

Hincmar of Reims Hincmar (; ; ; 806 – 21 December 882), archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia. Biography Early life Hincm ...

however reproach her for a pride which displeased the people of Italy. She is also said to have inordinately favoured her son Carloman, designated heir of his father in Bavaria, which led to a revolt by his brothers. Hemma suffered a stroke in 874 and subsequently became paralyzed and speechless; King Louis visited her the last time in 875. She died on 31 January 876, a few months before her husband, and was buried in

St. Emmeram's Abbey Saint Emmeram's Abbey ( or ''Reichsabtei Sankt Emmeram'') was a Benedictine monastery founded around 739 at Regensburg in Bavaria (modern-day southeastern Germany) at the grave of the itinerant Frankish bishop Saint Emmeram. The original abbe ...

, Regensburg. Her tomb, erected around 1300, is considered a masterpiece of medieval sculpture.

Family

By Louis, she had eight children: *

Hildegard Hildegard is a female name derived from the Old High German ''hild'' ('war' or 'battle') and ''gard'' ('enclosure' or 'yard'), and means 'battle enclosure'. Variant spellings include: Hildegarde; the Polish, Portuguese, Slovene and Spanish Hi ...

(827–856) * Carloman (828–880) * Ermengard ( c. 830-866) *Gisela, married to Berctolf, Count of

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

. Grandmother of Cunigunde of Swabia, wife of Conrad I. *Emma *

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 ...

(830–882) *Bertha (died 877) *

Charles the Fat Charles the Fat (839 – 13 January 888) was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 887. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was t ...

(839–888) Her sons became Kings; three of her daughters became nuns.

References

External links

* http://www.france-pittoresque.com/reines-france/emma.htm , - {{Duchesses of Bavaria by marriage Carolingian dynasty Frankish queens consort Queens consort of East Francia 800s births 876 deaths Year of birth uncertain Burials at St. Emmeram's Abbey 9th-century women from East Francia 9th-century queens consort Mothers of Holy Roman Emperors Mothers of French monarchs Mothers of Italian monarchs Mothers of Bavarian monarchs Mothers of German monarchs