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Bertrada of Laon
 
 
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Bertrada of Laon, also called Bertha Broadfoot (cf. latin: Regina pede aucae i.e. the queen with the goose-foot), (710/27 – July 12, 783
783

Events...
) was a Frank
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
ish queen. She was born in Laon
Laon

Laon is a city in Picardie in northern France, capital of the Aisne Departments of France....
, in today's Aisne, France
Aisne

Aisne is a departments of France in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River....
, the daughter of Caribert of Laon
Caribert of Laon

Caribert , Count of Laon, son of Martin of Laon, was the maternal grandfather of Charlemagne. He was the father of Charles's mother, Bertrada of Laon....
. She married Pepin the Short, the son of the Frankish Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel
Charles Martel

Charles "The Hammer" Martel was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace and ruled the Franks in the name of a Titular ruler. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms....
, in 740, although the union was not canonically sanctioned until several years later. Eleven years later, in 751, Pepin and Bertrada became King and Queen of the Franks, following Pepin's successful coup against the Frankish Merovingian monarchs.

Bertrada and Pepin are known to have had four children, three sons and one daughter: of these, Charles
Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
 (Charlemagne), Carloman
Carloman, son of Pippin III

Carloman I was the king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771. He was the second surviving son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon....
, and Gisela survived to adulthood, whilst Pepin died in infancy.






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Bertrada of Laon, also called Bertha Broadfoot (cf. latin: Regina pede aucae i.e. the queen with the goose-foot), (710/27 – July 12, 783
783

Events...
) was a Frank
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
ish queen. She was born in Laon
Laon

Laon is a city in Picardie in northern France, capital of the Aisne Departments of France....
, in today's Aisne, France
Aisne

Aisne is a departments of France in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River....
, the daughter of Caribert of Laon
Caribert of Laon

Caribert , Count of Laon, son of Martin of Laon, was the maternal grandfather of Charlemagne. He was the father of Charles's mother, Bertrada of Laon....
. She married Pepin the Short, the son of the Frankish Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel
Charles Martel

Charles "The Hammer" Martel was proclaimed Mayor of the Palace and ruled the Franks in the name of a Titular ruler. Late in his reign he proclaimed himself Duke of the Franks and by any name was de facto ruler of the Frankish Realms....
, in 740, although the union was not canonically sanctioned until several years later. Eleven years later, in 751, Pepin and Bertrada became King and Queen of the Franks, following Pepin's successful coup against the Frankish Merovingian monarchs.

Bertrada and Pepin are known to have had four children, three sons and one daughter: of these, Charles
Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
 (Charlemagne), Carloman
Carloman, son of Pippin III

Carloman I was the king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771. He was the second surviving son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon....
, and Gisela survived to adulthood, whilst Pepin died in infancy. Charlemagne and Carloman would inherit the two halves of their father's kingdom when he died, and Gisela became a nun
Nun

A Nun is a woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life. She may be an monasticism who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent....
.

Bertrada lived at the court of her elder son Charles, and according to Einhard
Einhard

Einhard was a Franks courtier, a dedicated servant of Charlemagne, of whom he wrote his famous biography, Vita Karoli Magni, and Louis the Pious....
 their relationship was excellent. She recommended he marry his first wife, Desiderata, a daughter of the Lombard
Lombards

The Lombards were a Germanic peoples originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italian peninsula in 568 under the leadership of Alboin....
 king Desiderius
Desiderius

Desiderius was the last king of the Lombards of northern Italy . He is chiefly known for his connection to Charlemagne, who married his daughter and conquered his realm....
, but he soon divorced her. Einhard claims this was the only episode that ever strained relations between mother and son. Bertrada lived with Charlemagne until her death in 783; the king buried her in Saint Denis Basilica
Saint Denis Basilica

The Basilica of Saint Denis is the List of cemeteries of almost all the List of French monarchs since Clovis I . Saved and restored by the architect Viollet le Duc, the basilica is located in Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris....
 with great honors.

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