Plectrude ( la, Plectrudis; german: Plektrud, Plechtrudis) (died 718) was the consort of

Pepin of Herstal Pepin II (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who de facto ruled Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of the ...

, the mayor of the palace and

duke of the Franks The title Duke of the Franks ( la, dux Francorum) has been used for three different offices, always with "duke" implying military command and "prince" implying something approaching sovereign or regalian rights. The term "Franks" may refer to an ...

, from about 670. She was the daughter of Hugobert,

seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

of Clovis IV, and Irmina of Oeren. She was the regent of

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 late ...

during the minority of her grandson

Theudoald Theudoald (or Theodald; c. 708 – 741)''Monumenta Epternacensia'' ("''Theodaldum, filium Grimoaldi…ex Theodesina filia regis Rabodi''"). ''Monumenta Epternacensia'', MGH SS XXIII, p. 59. was the Frankish mayor of the palace, briefly unoppose ...

from 714 until 718.

Biography

Marriage and children

Plectrude was described as politically active and influential upon her husband and his reign. She brought a large amount of property to the

Arnulfing The Pippinids and the Arnulfings were two Frankish aristocratic families from Austrasia during the Merovingian period. They dominated the office of mayor of the palace after 687 and eventually supplanted the Merovingians as kings in 751, founding ...

house. Plectrude was the daughter of Hugobert,

of Clovis IV, and lady Irmina of Oeren. While there is no hard evidence for the identification of Irmina as her mother, it is highly probable as both women held land which was inherited from the same source. Irmina came from one of the most powerful families in the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...

kingdom. After the death of Hugobert in 697, Irmina gave the monk

Willibrord Willibrord (; 658 – 7 November AD 739) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary and saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands. He became the first bishop of Utrecht and died at Echternach, Luxembourg. Early life His fathe ...

the land on which to build the Abbey of Echternach.Much of Pepin's wealth came from his marriage to Plectrude. During the reign of Pepin, she appears as his joint signatory in every legal instrument issued by him that is still preserved, which was unusual for this time period. She had two sons by Pepin, Drogo and Grimoald. Both her sons died before Pepin, Drogo died in 707 and Grimoald was murdered in 714. She ensured Pepin II's assent that

, Grimoald's son, would be his main heir. When Pepin died soon thereafter at the end of 714, she took power in Neustria as regent of the under-age

. This appointment of a child as mayor of the palace was unprecedented.

Imprisonment of Charles Martel

To ensure her reign, she imprisoned

Charles Martel Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesm ...

, Pepin II's son with his second wife

Alpaida Alpaida (also Alpaïde, Alpaide, Alphaida, Alpoïde, Elphide, Elfide, Chalpaida; 654 – c. 714) was a Frankish noblewoman who hailed from the Liège area. She became the wife of Pippin of Herstal (635 or 640 – 16 December 714) and mother to ...

, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. Charles is often said to have been illegitimate, but this is considered by many today an anachronistic interpretation of his status. Charles' contemporaries most likely did not consider him illegitimate, as he was born while his mother Alpaida was married to Pepin the Frank, and noblemen practiced polygamy in this period. In 715, the Neustrian nobility rebelled against her in alliance with Radbod of Friesland and defeated her in the Battle of Compiègne, which took place on September 26, 715, causing her to take refuge in Cologne. Cologne was the homeland of her family clan and where she kept Pepin's money. In 716, Chilperic II, the

king of the Franks The Franks, Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who c ...

, and

Ragenfrid Ragenfrid (also Ragenfred, Raganfrid, or Ragamfred) (died 731) was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy from 715, when he filled the vacuum in Neustria caused by the death of Pepin of Heristal, until 718, when Charles Martel finally ...

, the mayor of the palace, led an army into

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the ...

, near Cologne, where Plectrude had gone. They defeated her and freed

. Plectrude acknowledged Chilperic as king, gave over the Austrasian treasury, and abandoned her grandson's claim to the mayoralty.Egmond, Wolfert S. van. "Plectrudis", Online Dictionary of Dutch Women, Huygens Instituut, January 13, 2014
/ref> The king and his mayor then turned to besiege their other rival in the city and claimed it. The treasury shortly after received recognition by the king and mayor.

Death

The juncture of these events favored Charles. In 717, he chased the king and the mayor to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

before turning back to deal with Plectrude in Cologne. He then took the city and dispersed her supporters. Plectrude entered a convent, and died shortly after in the same year in Cologne, where she was buried in the monastery of

St. Maria im Kapitol St. Maria im Kapitol (St. Mary's in the Capitol) is an 11th-century Romanesque church located in the Kapitol-Viertel in the old town of Cologne, Germany. The name “im Kapitol“ refers to the Roman temple for the Capitoline Triad that was bu ...

which she had founded. Her grandson Theudoald lived under his uncle's protection until Martel's death in 741.

Issue

Her sons by Pepin were: * Drogo, duke of

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

* Grimoald, mayor of the palace of Neustria

References

{{Authority control 718 deaths 8th-century women rulers Year of birth unknown 8th-century Frankish nobility 8th-century Frankish women