Richilde of Provence (c. 845 – 2 June 910, Kingdom of Lower Burgundy) was the second wife of the Frankish emperor

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 ...

.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, Count of the Ardennes, and the sister of Boso of Provence (of the

Bosonid The Bosonids were a dynasty of Carolingian era dukes, counts, bishops and knights descended from Boso the Elder. Eventually they married into the Carolingian dynasty and produced kings and an emperor of the Frankish Empire. The first great scion ...

dynasty). Her aunt was

Theutberga Teutberga (died 11 November 875) was a queen of Lotharingia by marriage to Lothair II. She was a daughter of Bosonid Boso the Elder and sister of Hucbert, the lay-abbot of St. Maurice's Abbey. Life For political reasons, to forge ties of kinship ...

, the wife of

Lothar II of Lotharingia Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was the king of Lotharingia from 855 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga (died 875), daughter of Boso the Elder. Reign For political ...

. Her marriage to Charles the Bald, in 870 after the death of his first wife, Ermentrude of Orléans, 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 ruled as regent after the death of Charles in 877. Louis the Stammerer (son of Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans) died on 10 April 879, while his children were too young to rule on their own. Richilde planned to place her brother Boso on the throne. However, she was accused of

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity ( marriage or stepfamily), ado ...

with her brother and the lords of the kingdom refused to subject themselves to her authority. She then helped Boso to become the king of Provence. Richilde attempted to assume a position of authority upon the death of Louis III in 882, and of Carloman II in 884; however, the empire was agitated and under threat by the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. T ...

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

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border ...

, then the realm of her nephew Louis the Blind, 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 rulers Carolingian dynasty Women from the Carolingian Empire