Friderada was a ninth-century noblewoman about whom very little is known. She was probably related to
Liudolf, Duke of Saxony
Liudolf ( – 11/12 March 866) was a Carolingian office bearer and count in the Duchy of Saxony from about 844. The ruling Liudolfing house, also known as the Ottonian dynasty, is named after him; he is its oldest verified member.
Life
Liudolf wa ...
. Friderada married at least three times and was the grandmother of
Otto, Duke of Lorraine
Otto (died 944), son of Count Ricwin and a Liudolfing, was the Count of Verdun by inheritance and the Duke of Lorraine by appointment. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor appointed him to Duke. Otto was a relative of the emperor, hence both his name and ...
.
Her first husband was
Engelram, Chamberlain to Charles the Bald (d. 877). That union produced a daughter, whose name is not known. This daughter married
Ricwin, Count of Verdun
Ricwin (Ricuin, Richwin) (died 923), was a Count of Verdun.
After the death of Lothar II, the Treaty of Meerssen (August 870) divided Lotharingian territories between Louis the German and his half-brother Charles the Bald. This division allocated ...
, as his first wife. Their only child was
Otto
Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity".
The name is recorded fro ...
, Count of Verdun and Duke of Lorraine.
Widowed, Friederada married Bernarius, Count of Charpeigne, about whom nothing further is known. Bernarius was murdered in 883 by
Hugh, Duke of Alsace Hugh or Hugo (before 855 – 895) was an illegitimate son of Lothair II, king of Lotharingia, by his concubine Waldrada. His father made him Duke of Alsace in 867.
Hugh's name was not a Carolingian royal name, but it was common among the Etichon ...
, son of
Lothair II
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 ...
, King of Lotharingia, and his concubine
Waldrada
Waldrada (also Vuldetrada) (531572), wife (firstly) of Theudebald, King of Austrasia (ruled 548–555), reputed mistress (secondly) of Chlothar I, King of the Franks (ruled until 561), was the daughter of Wacho, King of the Lombards (ruled ''ca''. ...
, and Friderada married her husband's murderer. No children are recorded.
Friderada's grandson Otto, Duke of Lorraine, is identified as the son of a Count Ricwin and a
Liudolfing
The Ottonian dynasty (german: Ottonen) was a Saxon dynasty of German monarchs (919–1024), named after three of its kings and Holy Roman Emperors named Otto, especially its first Emperor Otto I. It is also known as the Saxon dynasty after ...
, and a relative of
Otto I
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 ...
, Holy Roman Emperor. Chronologically, Friderada could possibly have been a daughter or granddaughter of Liudolf, but no concrete evidence of this exists.
According to the Medieval Lands Project, Friderada had two husbands between Engelram and Hugh: Bernarius, and Wipert of Nantes, son of
Lambert III of Nantes and Rotrude of Italy, daughter of
Lothair I
Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bavar ...
, Holy Roman Emperor. Wipert had one son, also named Wipert (880-900), but it is not clear that Friderada was the mother. Both Bernarius and Wipert were reportedly executed in 883 by Hugh in order to marry the widow, so it is unlikely that they were both Friderada’s husband. Note that Hugh and Wipert were first cousins.
An alternative narrative is provided by Jackman. In this analysis, Bernarius was married to a sister of Wipert. Wipert was the guardian of Hugh, and married to Friderada. Bernarius and Wipert were allies of Hugh, but turned against him once his aspirations towards royal succession surfaced, and so Hugh murdered them both and married the widow Friderada.
Sources
*Jackman, Donald C., ''Ius hereditarium Encountered I: The Meingaud-Walaho Inheritance,'' Editions Enlaplage, Oct 25, 2010
Medieval Lands Project, Frankish Nobility
9th-century French women