Luitgard (born around 776; died 4 June 800) was the last wife of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

. Luitgard was the daughter of Luitfrid II of Sundgau, an

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

an count, and Hiltrude of Wormsgau. She married Charlemagne in 794, when he was around 50 years old. Little is known of her, except that the king found in her a calm and virtuous woman; at court, she was even appreciated by his children.

Alcuin Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...

praises Luitgarde's love of letters: of her he says, “The queen loves to converse with learned and learned men; after his devotional exercises, it is his dearest pastime. She is full of complaisance for the king, pious, blameless and worthy of all the love of such a husband." She also accompanied Charlemagne on the great hunt each year. Luitgard died of an unknown illness on 4 June 800 at the monastery of Saint-Martin de Tours, during a tour with Charlemagne in

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It later ...

, preceding his trip to Rome where, just over six months later, he was crowned ''Imperator Romanorum'' ("Emperor of the Romans"). She was buried there, and although the location of her tomb is not precisely known, reportedly it is under the Charlemagne Tower associated with

Basilica of Saint Martin, Tours The Basilica of St. Martin is a Roman Catholic basilica dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, over whose tomb it was built. It is located in Tours, France. The first basilica was established here in the 5th century (consecrated in 471) on the site ...

. She and Charlemagne had no children, and he never remarried. Jean-Baptiste-René Robinet, ''Dictionnaire universel des sciences morale, économique, politique et...'', p.393 According to 15th century chronicles from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, Luitgard had a sister, Redburga/Redburh, who met Ecgberht, later to be

King of Wessex This is a list of monarchs of Wessex until AD 886. For later monarchs, see the List of English monarchs. While the details of the later monarchs are confirmed by a number of sources, the earlier ones are in many cases obscure. The names are give ...

, while he was exiled in

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

Beorhtric of Wessex Beorhtric (meaning "magnificent ruler"; also spelled Brihtric) (died 802) was the King of Wessex from 786 to 802, succeeding Cynewulf. During his rule, however, his wife and father-in-law had most of the power. Early life The names of his par ...

and

Offa of Mercia Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was List of monarchs of Mercia, King of Mercia, a kingdom of History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa of Mercia, Eowa, Offa came to ...

; the two later married.

Notes

, - Year of birth unknown 800 deaths Wives of Charlemagne Alemannic women Etichonid dynasty {{europe-royal-stub