Eadgifu or Edgifu (d. in or after 951) also known as Edgiva or Ogive ( ang, Ēadgifu) was Queen of the West Franks as the wife of King
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 mem ...
. She was a daughter of
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin ...
, King of
Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, and his second wife
Ælfflæd.
Queen
Eadgifu was one of three West Saxon sisters married to Continental rulers: the others were
Eadgyth
Edith of England, also spelt Eadgyth or Ædgyth ( ang, Ēadgȳð, german: Edgitha; 910 – 946), a member of the House of Wessex, was a German queen from 936, by her marriage to King Otto I.
Life
Edith was born to the reigning English king Edw ...
, who married
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...
and
Eadhild
Eadhild (died 937) was an English princess, the second wife of Hugh, duke of the Franks. She was a daughter of Edward the Elder, king of the Anglo-Saxons and his second wife Ælfflæd.
In 926 Edward's son, king Æthelstan, received an embassy ...
, who married
Hugh the Great
Hugh the Great (16 June 956) was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris.
Biography
Hugh was the son of King Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europ ...
. Eadgifu became the second wife 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 mem ...
(more correctly "the Straightforward") King of the West Franks, whom she married between 917 and 919 after the death of his first wife. Eadgifu was mother to King
Louis IV of France
Louis IV (September 920 / September 921 – 10 September 954), called ''d'Outremer'' or ''Transmarinus'' (both meaning "from overseas"), reigned as King of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son o ...
.
Flight to England
In 923 Charles III was deposed after being defeated at the
Battle of Soissons, and he was taken prisoner by Count
Herbert II of Vermandois
Herbert II (died 23 February 943), Count of Vermandois, Count of Meaux, and Count of Soissons. He was the first to exercise power over the territory that became the province of Champagne.
Life
Herbert was the son of Herbert I of Vermandois. He wa ...
. To protect her son's safety, Eadgifu took Louis to England in 923 and he was brought up at the court of her half-brother, King
Æthelstan
Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ang, Æðelstān ; on, Aðalsteinn; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first ...
of England. Because of this, Louis became known as Louis d'Outremer ("from over the sea"). He stayed there until 936, when he was called back to France to be crowned King. Eadgifu accompanied him.
[Williams. p. 112]
She retired to a convent in Laon. In 951,
Herbert the Old, Count of Omois, abducted and married her, to the great anger of her son.
[Dunbabin, p. 384] She died at Soissons on 26 December in an unknown year and is not recorded after 951.
References
References
*
*
*Schwennicke, Detlev (1984) ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten'', Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 1 (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt), Tafel 49
*
Further reading
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External links
*
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902 births
10th-century deaths
10th-century English women
10th-century English people
Carolingian dynasty
Frankish queens consort
French queens consort
House of Wessex
English princesses
Remarried royal consorts
10th-century people from West Francia
Women from the Carolingian Empire
Daughters of kings
Queen mothers
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