Bertha (c. 780 – after 11 March 824) was the seventh child and third daughter of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

, King of the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

, by his second wife, Hildegard.

Life

Bertha was raised with her brothers and sisters in the royal household of Charlemagne, who had all of his children educated by tutors. An offer by

Offa of Mercia Offa ( 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of ...

to arrange a marriage between Bertha and his son, Ecgfrith, led to Charlemagne breaking off diplomatic relations with Mercia in 790, and banning English ships from his ports. Like her sisters, Bertha never formally married; it has been speculated that Charlemagne did not want his daughters married for strategic reasons, fearing political rivalry from their potential husbands. Bertha was in a long relationship with Angilbert, a court official, which produced three children. During 794–5, Angilbert presented a poem as a court entertainment, praising the beauty and charms of Charlemagne's daughters; Bertha is praised in particular for having critical discernment and appreciation for poetry, which Angilbert points out is a cause for him to be concerned about how she might receive his poem. Bertha's children with Angilbert were sons Hartnid, about whom little is known, the historian Nithard, Abbot of St. Riquier a daughter, Bertha, who went on to marry Helgaud II, Count of Ponthieu and a daughter Arsinde, who married Remigius de Reims and whose daughter Bertha married Raymond de Toulouse. Angilbert ended his affair with Bertha and entered a monastery, becoming Abbot of St. Riquier, according to a biography written by their son, Nithard. Angilbert remained an important advisor to Charlemagne, however. The children of Bertha and Angilbert were likely educated in Charlemagne's court. Nithard was a distinguished soldier and politician, and acted as an advisor to

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

of France. Following the death of Charlemagne, his successor,

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

, exiled his sisters to the convents that had been left for their inheritance by their father.

References

{{Reflist Frankish princesses 9th-century French women 9th-century French people Carolingian dynasty Children of Charlemagne Women from the Carolingian Empire Daughters of emperors Daughters of kings