Blessed Hildegard of Vinzgouw

Hildegard (c. 757/758 – 30 April 783) was a Frankish queen and the wife of Charlemagne from c. 771 until her death. Hildegard was a noblewoman of Frankish and Alemannian heritage. Through eleven years of marriage with Charlemagne, Hildegard helped share in his rule as well as having nine children with him, including the kings Charles the Younger and Pepin of Italy and the emperor Louis the Pious. Hildegard was the daughter of the Frankish count Gerold and his wife, the Alemannian noblewoman Imma. Thegan of Trier, a ninth-century biographer of Hildegard's son Louis emphasizes her Alemannian heritage and descent from duke Gotfrid through her mother, indicating that Imma was of higher status than Gerold. Hildegard was likely born in 757 or 758. Gerold held lands in the vicinity of the Middle Rhine under the Frankish king Carloman I. Carloman died on 4 December 771 and his brother king Charlemagne sought to bring Carloman's lands under his rule. Charlemagne arranged to marry Hildegard and gain Gerold's support. Hildegard married Charlemagne shortly after Carloman's death, certainly before 30 April 772. She was thirteen or fourteen years old at the time of the marriage. By marrying Hildegard, Charlemagne ended his marriage to a daughter of the Lombard king Desiderius. Charlemagne had also had a previous relationship (perhaps a marriage) with the Frankish noblewoman Himiltrude, and had a son with her named Pepin. As queen, Hildegard would have been responsible for administering the royal household and estates. She also joined her husband as the co-signer of charters, including grants of patronage to monasteries. Charlemagne took Hildegard to the Frankish royal palace at Thionville, where they stayed for two months before he set off on a campaign in Saxony. At the end of the campaigning season, Charlemagne returned to Thionville, and during this period the couple's son Charles was born.