Plectrude ( la, Plectrudis; german: Plektrud, Plechtrudis) (died 718) was the consort of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, from about 670. She was the daughter of Hugobert, seneschal 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 la ...

during the minority of her grandson Theudoald 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 house. Plectrude was the daughter of Hugobert, seneschal 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 Gauli ...

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 fath ...

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 Theudoald, 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 Theudoald. 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 state ...

, Pepin II's son with his second wife Alpaida, 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, 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 th ...

, 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. ...

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 architecture, 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 Capi ...

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 * 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