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 b ...

, 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 and

Eadhild Eadhild (died 937) was an English princess, the second wife of Hugh the Great, Hugh, duke of the Franks. She was a daughter of Edward the Elder, king of the Anglo-Saxons and his second wife Ælfflæd, wife of Edward the Elder, Ælfflæd. In 926 ...

, 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 E ...

. Eadgifu became the second wife of

(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 of ...

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 w ...

. 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 fir ...

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

* * *Schwennicke, Detlev (1984) ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten'', Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 1 (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt), Tafel 49 *

External links

* , -
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 {{France-noble-stub

Queen

Flight to England

References

References

Further reading

External links