Æтельвульф әйелі: Юдит Фландрскаяның тарихы

the wife of King Æthelwulf

Judith of Flanders (circa 843 – 870 or later) was a Carolingian princess who became Queen of Wessex by two successive marriages and later Countess of Flanders. Judith was the eldest child of the Carolingian emperor Charles the Bald and his first wife, Ermentrude of Orléans. In 856, she married Æthelwulf, King of Wessex. After her husband's death in 858, Judith married his son and successor, Æthelbald. King Ætheldbald died in 860. Both of Judith's first two marriages were childless. Her third marriage was to Baldwin I, Margrave of Flanders, with whom she had several children.

Judith was born around 843 or in early 844 as the eldest child of Charles II, King of West Francia ("Charles the Bald"; 823–877) and his first wife Ermentrude of Orléans (823–869) and was named after her paternal grandmother, Judith of Bavaria, Empress of the Romans (797–843). She was a great granddaughter of Charlemagne (747–814). Judith had nine younger full siblings and five half siblings from her father's second marriage, but three of her full siblings and all of her half siblings were born after she had been married off and left her home for Wessex.

In 855, the widower Æthelwulf, King of Wessex (died 858) made a pilgrimage to Rome with his youngest son Alfred (848/849–899). On the way there, he visited the court of Charles the Bald and negotiated for a marriage with 12 year old Judith, despite probably being in his mid fifties and having six children, three or five of them older than Judith. He was looking for an ally as both he and Charles suffered from Viking attacks. Marrying into the prestigious Carolingian dynasty was an additional advantage for Æthelwulf. On the way back, in 856, he stayed at Charles' court again, and married Judith on 1 October 856 at the royal palace of Verberie sur Oise. This was an extraordinary event as Carolingian princesses rarely married and were usually sent to convents. It was practically unprecedented for them to marry foreigners. During the ceremony, which was celebrated by Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, the bride put on a wedding ring and was presented with magnificent gifts. As a part of the ritual, Judith was crowned and anointed with myrrh. Æthelwulf honoured his bride by calling her queen after the ceremony. According to the customs of Wessex, the wife of a king could not be called queen or sit on the throne with her husband. However, all chroniclers pay attention to the fact that Charles the Bald insisted on the coronation of his daughter, probably wishing to secure her position in her new home:

author=|When the Bishop of Rheims, Hincmar, blessed the marriage and placed the crown on her head, he declared her queen, which neither he nor his people had in the past in the custom.|title=Annales Bertiniani

author=Flodoard|Judith, daughter of King Charles, was recently married to Æthelwulf, King of England, accepting the title of queen and royal consecration.|title=Annals

After the celebrations, Æthelwulf, his new wife and his son returned to Wessex. Judith, a well educated lady like most Frankish princesses of the time, probably brought the "aura of the Carolingian monarchy" to the court of Wessex. Back in his kingdom, Æthelwulf faced difficulties: his eldest surviving son, Æthelbald, supported by Eahlstan, Bishop of Sherborne and Eanwulf, Ealdorman of Somerset, were conspiring to dethrone him. The marriage with Judith may have played a role in this as Æthelbald probably feared that his father's young wife, the great granddaughter of Charlemagne, would give birth to a higher born heir than himself. In addition, some of the nobles were outraged that Judith was crowned and called queen, contrary to local custom. According to other explanations, Æthelbald had already been rebelling before his father's new marriage, and this was why Æthelwulf stayed at the court of Charles the Bald and married his daughter, demonstrating to his subjects that he had strong supporters abroad. In the end, father and son negotiated a compromise under which Æthelwulf kept the eastern districts of the kingdom and Æthelbald received the western. It is not known whether this meant that Æthelwulf took Kent and Æthelbald Wessex, or Wessex itself was divided.|author=Asser|title=Life of Alfred the Great

Asser's additional comment on the "great disgrace" was not reflected in contemporary Frankish records. His assertion that marriage is contrary to even pagan practice is refuted by the marriage of Eadbald, King of Kent (died 640) to his father's widow Emma of Austrasia in 616. visited the monastery in 861, and according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, he fell in love with Judith. There are claims that he had already been interested in her before her first marriage. Around the Christmas of 861, or in early 862, It is usually assumed that Charles died young, as no other reference to him has been found. Baldwin (c. 865/867 – c. 10 September 918), named after his father and succeeded him in 879 as Baldwin II, Margrave of Flanders. He married Ælfthryth of Wessex between 893 and 899. Guinidilde or Gunhild (died before 19 February 904), who married Wilfred the Hairy, Count of Barcelona before 27 June 875. According to Allison Weir, this parentage is confirmed in the Gestis Comitum Barcinonensium, which records that Charles the Bald gave an unnamed daughter of the count of Flanders in marriage to a certain Pilosi at the same time as granting him the County of Barcelona.