Teutberga

Last updated
Teutberga
Queen consort of Lotharingia
Tenure855–869
Died11 November 875
Spouse Lothair II
House Bosonids
Father Boso the Elder
MotherEngeltrude

Teutberga (died 11 November 875) was a queen of Lotharingia by marriage to Lothair II. She was a daughter of Bosonid Boso the Elder and sister of Hucbert, the lay-abbot of St. Maurice's Abbey.

Contents

Life

For political reasons, to forge ties of kinship with the Carolingian dynasty, the imperial family of Francia, in 855 she was married to the Carolingian Lothair II, the second son of Emperor Lothair I. [1] It is very probably that Lothar II, at the time of marriage, already had a mistress named Waldrada, who, according to historian Baron Ernouf, was of noble Gallo-Roman family, [2] :3 whose brother, Thietgaud, was the bishop of Trier and her uncle, Ghunter, was archbishop of Cologne, [2] :5 while, according to the Annales Novienses, she was the sister of Ghunter. [3] According to the Vita Sancti Deicoli, Waldrada was related to Eberhard II, Count of Nordgau (included Strasbourg) family of Etichonids. [4]

Queen

Soon after their marriage, Lothair's father died and Lothair II inherited Middle Francian territory west of the Rhine stretching from the North Sea to the Jura mountains. Teutberga was allegedly not capable of bearing children and Lothair's reign was chiefly occupied by his efforts to obtain an annulment of their marriage, prompted also by his affection for Waldrada. His relations with his uncles Charles the Bald and Louis the German were influenced by his desire to obtain their support for this endeavor. Although quarrels and reconciliations between the three kings followed each other in quick succession, generally Louis favoured annulment, and Charles opposed it, while neither lost sight of the fact that Lothair had no legitimate sons to inherit his lands.

Separation

In 857 Lothair imprisoned Teutberga accusing her of incest with her brother Hucbert before their marriage. A church synod of all the bishops of Lotharingia held at the behest of Lothair II concerning his accusations was presided over by archbishops Ghunter and Thietgaud, both Waldrada's relations. [5] But Hucbert took up arms on her behalf, and after she had submitted successfully to the ordeal of boiling water, Lothair was compelled to restore her in 858.

Still pursuing his purpose, Lothair won the support of his brother, Emperor Louis II, by a cession of lands and obtained the consent of the local clergy to the annulment and to his marriage with Waldrada, which took place in 862. A synod of Frankish bishops met at Metz in 863 and confirmed this decision. Teutberga escaped and took refuge in the court of Charles the Bald. She appealed to Pope Nicholas I who voided the decision of the synod and Lothair's marriage to Waldrada. An attack on Rome by the emperor was without result, and in 865 Lothair was threatened with excommunication and was convinced that Louis and Charles at their recent meeting had discussed the partition of his kingdom. Lothair accepted the pope's ruling and again took Teutberga back.

Later life

Teutberga, however, either from inclination or compulsion, now expressed her desire for an annulment, and Lothair went to Italy to obtain the assent of the new pope, Adrian II. Placing a favourable interpretation upon the words of the pope, he set out on the return journey, when he was seized with fever and died at Piacenza on 8 August 869. Teutberga then retired to the abbey of St. Glossinde of Metz until her death on 11 November 875.

The illegitimate status of Lothair II's only son, Hugo, by Waldrada, was not rectified before Lothair's death, and Lothair's kingdom was divided between his uncles Charles the Bald and Louis the German by the Treaty of Meerssen.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles the Bald</span> King of West Francia from 843 to 877 and Holy Roman Emperor from 875 to 877

Charles the Bald, also known as Charles II, 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 the reign of his father, Louis the Pious, Charles succeeded, by the Treaty of Verdun (843), in acquiring the western third of the empire. He was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis the Pious by his second wife, Judith.

Pope Nicholas I, called Nicholas the Great, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority, exerting decisive influence on the historical development of the papacy and its position among the Christian nations of Western Europe. Nicholas I asserted that the pope should have suzerainty over all Christians, even royalty, in matters of faith and morals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lothair II</span> King of Lotharingia

Lothair II was the king of Lotharingia from 855 until his death in 869. He was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga, daughter of Boso the Elder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis II of Italy</span> Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 844 to 875

Louis II, sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lothair of France</span> King of West Francia from 954 to 986

Lothair, sometimes called Lothair II, III or IV, was the penultimate Carolingian king of West Francia, reigning from 10 September 954 until his death in 986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hincmar</span> Archbishop of Reims

Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia.

Judith of Flanders 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Burgundy</span> Frankish kingdom from 888 to 933

The Kingdom of Upper Burgundy was a Frankish dominion established in 888 by the Welf king Rudolph I of Burgundy within the territory of former Middle Francia. It grew out of the Carolingian margraviate of Transjurane Burgundy southeast of the Jura Mountains together with the adjacent County of Burgundy (Franche-Comté) in the northwest. The adjective 'upper' refers to its location upstream in the Rhône river valley, as distinct from Lower Burgundy and also from the Duchy of Burgundy west of the Saône river. Upper Burgundy reunited with the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy in 933 to form the Kingdom of Burgundy, later known as Kingdom of Arles or Arelat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Francia</span> State in Western Europe from 843 to 855

Middle Francia was a short-lived Frankish kingdom which was created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun after an intermittent civil war between the grandsons of Charlemagne resulted in division of the united empire. Middle Francia was allocated to emperor Lothair I, the eldest son and successor of emperor Louis the Pious. His realm contained the imperial cities of Aachen and Pavia, but lacked any geographic or cultural cohesion, which prevented it from surviving and forming a nucleus of a larger state, as was the case with West Francia and East Francia.

Gunther or Gunthar was Archbishop of Cologne in Germany from 850 until he was excommunicated and deposed in 863.

Engelberga was the wife of Emperor Louis II and thus Carolingian empress to his death on 12 August 875. As empress, she exerted a powerful influence over her husband.

Hugh or Hugo was an illegitimate son of Lothair II, king of Lotharingia, by his mistress Waldrada. His father made him Duke of Alsace in 867.

Theotgaud was the archbishop of Trier from 850 until his deposition in 867. He was the abbot of Mettlach prior to his election in 847 to succeed his uncle, Hetto, as archbishop.

Hucbert was a Frank and son of the count Boso the Elder. Therefore, he was a Bosonid, and the namesake for the Huberterian branch of the family. His rise to power commenced under Lothair I but continued under Lothair II, reaching its apex when his sister Theutberga married Lothair II, a prince of the Carolingian dynasty, the imperial family of Francia. Hucbert also served as the lay-abbot of the Abbey of Saint Maurice-in-Valais. This gave him control over the Mons Iovis pass, the main route between Francia and Italy. Hucbert later gained power in the region of Transjurane Burgundy (859) which is what helped him later to find safety within the kingdom of Charles the Bald.

The De divortio Lotharii regis et Theutbergae reginae is an extended mid ninth-century treatise written by Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims, which survives in a single manuscript, Paris BnF. lat. 2866. The front few pages of this manuscript have been lost, and so this is an assumed title. It explores the issues arising from the attempt by Lothar II, king of Lotharingia (855–869), to rid himself of his wife Teutberga and replace her with his concubine, Waldrada. Hincmar is primarily concerned with defining what marriage is and how it may be ended, and with the duties of bishops and of kings. However, in the course of discussing these questions, he touches on many other issues too, and gives much detail on ninth-century politics and religious practice in Francia.

Hincmar, called the Younger, was the Bishop of Laon in the West Frankish Kingdom of Charles the Bald from 858 to 871. His career is remembered by a succession of quarrels with his monarch and his uncle, archbishop Hincmar of Rheims. After initial loyalty to Charles trouble occurred from 868 due to the allocation of benefices on the see's estates. The conflict grew dangerous as it became embroiled in the larger dispute of Lotharingian succession following Lothair II’s attempted divorce from his wife. Hincmar’s struggle against his king provides a Carolingian example of early Medieval clerical exemption.

Gilbert (Giselbert), Count of Maasgau was a Frankish noble in what would become Lotharingia, during his lifetime in the 9th century. The Carolingian dynasty created this "middle kingdom" and fought over it, and he is mentioned as playing a role on both sides.

Waldrada was the mistress, and later the wife, of Lothair II of Lotharingia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adventius (bishop of Metz)</span> Bishop of Metz

Adventius was the Bishop of Metz from 855 until his death in 875. He was a prominent figure within the courts of the Carolingian kings Lothar II (855–869) and Charles the Bald (840–877).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis IV of France</span> King of West Francia from 936 to 954

Louis IV, called d'Outremer or Transmarinus, reigned as King of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son of king Charles the Simple and his second wife Eadgifu of Wessex, daughter of King Edward the Elder of Wessex. His reign is mostly known thanks to the Annals of Flodoard and the later Historiae of Richerus.

References

  1. Monumenta Germanica Historica, tomus I: Annales Lobienses, anno 855, p. 232
  2. 1 2 Baron Ernouf (1858). 'Histoire de Waldrade, de Lother II et de leurs descendants [The History of Waldrade, Lothair II and of his their descendants] (in French). Paris: Techener.
  3. Veterum Scriptorum: Annales Novienses, colonna 537.
  4. Monumenta Germanica Historica, tomus XV.2, Vita Sancti Deicoli, p. 679.
  5. Essay on the history of elections of Rome, the States-General of France and the Parliament of England. (Paris, 1789) T.1, pp. 212, 213: "He [Lothair II] forced, after several years of persecution, the queen, his wife, to appear before them [Assembly of bishops and lords met at Aix-la-Chapelle], and to them submit a declaration stating that recognizes not only guilty of incest with his own brother, Father Hucbert, who was married, but she acknowledges that she committed acts with her fornication against nature, and she certifies that she made all these confessions voluntarily and not coerced in any way. On this admission, so free and credible, this meeting is not the couch(?), slave of a despot, but led by the two archbishops of Cologne and Trier, condemns the unfortunate queen to be trapped forever in a cloister."

Bibliography