Richilde of Provence
Encyclopedia
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.-Struggle against his brothers:He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...
, King and Emperor of the Franks. By her marriage, she became Queen of the West Franks, and then Empress of the Franks. She also served as regent.
Richilde was the daughter of Bivin of Gorze
Bivin of Gorze
Bivin of Gorze was a Frank from the Bosonid-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...
, Count of the Ardennes, and the sister of Boso of Provence
Boso of Provence
Boso was a Frankish nobleman from the Bosonid-family, who was related to the Carolingian dynasty, who rose to become King of Provence ....
(of the Bosonid dynasty). Her great-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
Ermentrude of Orléans was Queen of the Franks by her marriage to Charles the Bald, Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia. She was the daughter of Odo, Count of Orleans and his wife Engeltrude....
, was intended to secure his rule in Lotharingia through her powerful family and her connection to Theutberga, the previous Queen consort. She bore him five children, but only the eldest daughter, Rothilde (c. 871 – c. 928), who married first Hugues of Bourges and secondly Roger of Maine, survived to adulthood.
Whenever Charles went to war, Richilde managed the realm, and acted as head of state after the death of Charles in 877.
She planned to place her brother Boso, Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
, on the throne, after Louis the Stammerer
Louis the Stammerer
Louis the Stammerer was the King of Aquitaine and later King of West Francia. He was the eldest son of Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans. He succeeded his younger brother in Aquitaine in 866 and his father in West Francia in 877, though he was never crowned Emperor...
(son of Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans) died shortly after his father while his children were too young to rule on their own. However, she was accused of incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
with her brother and the lords of the kingdom refused to subject themselves to her authority. She then helped Boso to become King of Provence.
She attempted to assume a position of authority upon the death of Louis III
Louis III of France
Louis III was the King of France, still then called West Francia, from 879 until his death. The second son of Louis the Stammerer and his first wife, Ansgarde, he succeeded his father to reign jointly with his younger brother Carloman II, who became sole ruler on Louis's death...
in 882, and of Carloman II in 884; however, the empire was agitated and under threat by the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
, and the grandees of the realm forced her to withdraw to Provence, where she died on 2 June 910.