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- [S6040] FindAGrave Old World, Hildegarde de Vintzgau Herstal 757-783.
Queen Hildegard of Vinzgouw
She was the daughter of Gerold I Duke of Swabia, Count of Vinzgouw and Count in the Anglachau and Imma Duchess of Swabia. Granddaughter of Gerold Bishop of Mayence and Hnabi, Duke of Alamannia. Born about 757 and died in 783.
Hildegard was the second wife of Charlemagne. They were married before 30 April 771 when she was about 12 or 13. The marriage strengthened Charlemagne's position east of the Rhine. they had the following children:
* Charles, Count of Maine, joint King of the Franks
* Adelaide, died as an infant
* Pippin/Pepin Carloma, King of Italy
* Rotrude, mistress of Rorgo of Rennes, became a nun
* Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine and Emperor
* Lothair, twin brother of Louis, died young
* Bertha, mistress of Angilbert
* Gisela, died early
* Hildegarde, died 40 days old
Hildegarde accompanied her husband on many of the military campaigns as their first daughter was born during the Seige of Pavia and the twins were born at Aquitane. Hildegarde reportedly died form the birth of her last daughter who died within days of her birth, and was buried 01 May 783.
She became the benefactress of the Monastery of Kempten which was founded in 752. It was rumored this was her burial location and became a place of pilgrimage and reported miracles. She was considered to be a saint and revered in the Allgau, a region in Swabia that includes parts of Bavaria, Baden and Austria.
After her death, Charlemagne married a third wife, Fastrada. in 784, and had a fourth wife, Luitgard.
Her feast day is April 30th.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84021764/hildegarde-de-herstal
- [S339] Wikipedia: Hildegard of the Vinzgau, Hildegard de Vinzgau.
Hildegard (ca. 754[1] – 30 April 783 at Thionville,[2] Moselle), was the second[3] wife of Charlemagne and mother of Louis the Pious. Little is known about her life, because, like all women of Charlemagne, she became important only from a political background, recording her parentage, wedding, death, and her role as a mother.
She was the daughter of the Germanic Count Gerold of Kraichgau (founder of the Udalriching family) and his wife Emma, in turn daughter of Duke Nebe (Hnabi) of Alemannia and Hereswintha vom Bodensee (of Lake Constance).[5] Hildegard's father had extensive possessions in the dominion of Charlemagne's younger brother Carloman, so this union was of significant importance for Charlemagne, because he could strengthen its position in the east of the Rhine and also could bind the Alemannian nobility to his side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_the_Vinzgau
- [S320] Wikipedia: Charlemagne, Emperor Charlemagne.
Charlemagne (2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 800, all until his death in 814. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of Western Central Europe, and he was the first recognized emperor to rule in the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire approximately three centuries earlier. Charlemagne's rule saw a program of political and societal changes that had a lasting impact on Europe in the Middle Ages.
A member of the Frankish Carolingian dynasty, Charlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. With his brother Carloman I, he became king of the Franks in 768 following Pepins's death, and became sole ruler in 771. As king, he continued his father's policy towards the protection of the papacy and became its chief defender, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy in 774. Charlemagne's reign saw a period of expansion that led to the conquests of Bavaria, Saxony, and northern Spain, as well as other campaigns that led Charlemagne to extend his rule over a vast area of Europe. He spread Christianity to his new conquests, often by force, as seen at the Massacre of Verden against the Saxons.
In 800, Charlemagne was crowned as emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III. While historians debate about the exact significance of the coronation, the title represented the height of prestige and authority he had achieved. Charlemagne's position as the first emperor in the West in over 300 years brought him into conflict with the contemporary Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople. By his assumption of the imperial title, he is considered the forerunner of the line of Holy Roman Emperors that lasted into the nineteenth century. As king and emperor, Charlemagne engaged in a number of reforms in administration, law, education, military organization, and religion which shaped Europe for centuries. The stability of his reign saw the beginning of a period of significant cultural activity known as the Carolingian Renaissance.
Charlemagne died in 814, and was laid to rest in the Aachen Cathedral, in his imperial capital city of Aachen. He was succeeded by his only surviving son Louis the Pious. After Louis, the Frankish kingdom would be divided, eventually coalescing into West and East Francia, which would respectively become France and the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne's profound impact on the Middle Ages, and the influence on the vast territory he ruled has led him to be called the "Father of Europe". He is seen as a founding figure by multiple European states, and many historical royal houses of Europe trace their lineage back to him. Charlemagne has been the subject of artwork, monuments, and literature since the medieval period, and has received veneration in the Catholic Church.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne
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758 - 783 (25 years)
[1, 2] 
