Rotrude
Encyclopedia
Rotrude (775 – June 6, 810) was the second daughter of Charlemagne
from his marriage to Hildegard.
was ruling as regent. The Greeks called her Erythro and sent a scholar monk called Elisaeus to educate her in Greek language and manners. However, the alliance fell apart by 786 when she was eleven and Constantine's mother, Irene, broke off the engagement in 788.
She had a relationship with Rorgo of Rennes and had one son with him, Louis, Abbot of Saint-Denis
(800 – 9 January 867). She never married.
. The two women authored a letter to Alcuin of York, who was at Tours at the time, requesting that he write a commentary explaining the Gospel of John. As a result, Alcuin eventually produced his seven-book Commentaria in Iohannem Evangelistam, a more accessible companion to the gospel than St. Augustine's massive and challenging Tractatus in St. John. Commentators have dated the letter to the spring of 800, four years before Alcuin's death and ten before Rotrude's.
In contemporary views of history, most scholars discriminate between the two phases of Rotrude's life. Political histories of her father Charlemagne discuss her as a princess who was potentially a pawn and a woman of questionable morals , while religious histories discuss her as the second nun in the letter from Chelles.
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
from his marriage to Hildegard.
Early life
Few clear records remain of Princess Rotrude's early life. She was educated in the Palace School by Alcuin, who affectionately calls her Columba in his letters to her. When she was six, her father betrothed her to Constantine VI of Byzantium, whose mother IreneIrene (empress)
Irene Sarantapechaina , known as Irene of Athens or Irene the Athenian was a Byzantine empress regnant from 797 to 802, having previously been empress consort from 775 to 780, and empress dowager and regent from 780 to 797. It is often claimed she called herself "basileus" , 'emperor'...
was ruling as regent. The Greeks called her Erythro and sent a scholar monk called Elisaeus to educate her in Greek language and manners. However, the alliance fell apart by 786 when she was eleven and Constantine's mother, Irene, broke off the engagement in 788.
She had a relationship with Rorgo of Rennes and had one son with him, Louis, Abbot of Saint-Denis
Louis, Abbot of Saint-Denis
Louis was the illegitimate son of Rotrude, daughter of Charlemagne, and Rorgon I of Maine.He was elevated, with Lupus Servatus, to the Abbey of Saint-Pierre of Ferrières in the Gâtinais. He became an abbot in 838 and Abbot of Saint-Denis in 840 or 841.He was the archchancellor first of his uncle...
(800 – 9 January 867). She never married.
Later life
Rotrude eventually became a nun, joining her aunt Gisela, abbess of ChellesChelles Abbey
Chelles Abbey was founded by Saint Balthild, widow of King Clovis II of Neustria circa 658. It was dissolved during the French Revolution.Chelles had been the site of a Merovingian palace, the villa Calae. A church, dedicated to Saint George had been founded at Chelles by Queen Clothilde...
. The two women authored a letter to Alcuin of York, who was at Tours at the time, requesting that he write a commentary explaining the Gospel of John. As a result, Alcuin eventually produced his seven-book Commentaria in Iohannem Evangelistam, a more accessible companion to the gospel than St. Augustine's massive and challenging Tractatus in St. John. Commentators have dated the letter to the spring of 800, four years before Alcuin's death and ten before Rotrude's.
In contemporary views of history, most scholars discriminate between the two phases of Rotrude's life. Political histories of her father Charlemagne discuss her as a princess who was potentially a pawn and a woman of questionable morals , while religious histories discuss her as the second nun in the letter from Chelles.