Richardis of Swabia

Richardis of Swabia (c.840 - c.895) was the daughter of a count. That and her reputation for piety made her a suitable choice to marry Charles the Fat, a son of Louis the German, in 862.

Over the next 20 years, her own status was elevated when Charles (almost through no actions of his own) became King of West Francia, King of Italy, King of East Francia, and finally Emperor of the Carolingian Empire in 881, when Richardis was crowned empress along with her husband. Charles was not very effective—he was just in the right place at the right time. He was traveling frequently to Italy and fumbling dealing with internal and external strife.

We know little about Richardis' life during this time. We do know that they had no children, which is a problem for rulers who want to leave their kingdoms to their offspring. The common solution to this for a ruler is to divorce the wife and marry again. Charles seemed to decide the best way to do this in 887 was to accuse Richardis of adultery with Charles' archchancellor, Bishop Liutward of Vercelli.

Richardis was subjected to Trial by Ordeal, which despite the 15th century depiction above, was usually having the defendant hold a piece of red-hot iron, then examining their hands for damage. She passed the ordeal. The pope put together a commission to handle Charles' request for annulment. An examination of Richardis by the commission concluded that she was still a virgin.

In 880, she had founded Andlau Abbey on her ancestral lands in northeast France, 20 kilometers north of where Charles had built his new palace in Selestat. She retired there now under the abbess Rotrud, her niece. She died on 18 September 880.

Then the legends began, of a virtuous wife harried by a mad husband. She finally agrees to go through ordeal by fire, being tied to a stake above a fire. Despite wearing a simple shirt covered in wax and being barefoot (see illustration), she survives with no marks on her. Afterward, she leaves her husband and wanders in the woods. An angel appears to her and tells her to found a convent where a bear indicates. This becomes Andlau Abbey. (Of course, Andlau was founded years earlier than the ordeal.)

The bear became part of her iconography. The nuns at Andlau kept a live bear on the grounds, and gave free lodging to bear-keepers. She is sometimes pictured with a bear. She was canonized by Pope Leo IX in 1049, the patron saint of protection against fire.

And speaking of Pope Leo IX...his reign was very consequential, and he is responsible for the final break between the Western Roman and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Let's talk about him next.

Charles and Succession

Although Charles the Fat seemed to have solved the problem of Viking attacks by converting Godfrid and bribing Sigfred to leave, the problem with "Danegeld" is that they always come back for more. Sigfred sailed a fleet up the Seine in 885 and besieged Paris while Charles was in Italy (he was King of Italy after all).

Sigfred wanted another bribe. The Count of Paris, Odo, managed to sneak some men past the siege and get word to Charles, but Charles refused to authorize payment. In 886, disease started sweeping through Paris, and Odo himself snuck out to beg Charles for help.

Charles finally brought an army and surrounded the besiegers, but not to attack them: to try to get them to give up. When they finally left the following spring, it was with 700 pounds (in weight, not the unit of currency) of silver.

Charles had got married in 862 to the very devout Richardis of Swabia, who had been crowned empress with him in 881. Unfortunately for the succession, they had no children. Charles had one known illegitimate son, Bernard (c.870 - 891), whom he tried to name his successor. His bishops opposed this, but Charles got the support of Pope Adrian III, who intended to travel to an assembly in October 885 to eliminate the opposing bishops. Unfortunately, the pope died along the way. Charles tried again with Pope Stephen V, but the pope would not travel to meet with Charles, which was a sufficient warning to give up on Bernard. (Bernard would later become the focus of unsuccessful attempts to take over Alemannia.) Defeated, Charles ultimately adopted Louis the Blind as his heir when Louis' mother, Ermengard of Italy, brought her very young son to Charles for protection.

Over the next two years, Charles' support among his people wavered and collapsed. Many more qualified adults were upset that they were not chosen as his successor, and his wife abandoned him after he accused her of an affair. In November of 887 Arnulf of Carinthia started a rebellion in West Francia. One week later East Francia turned against Charles. He quickly fell out of power and requested merely some estates in Swabia to live out his days. He died on 13 January 888 at Donaueschingen at the southwest border of Germany. The empire that had come together under him would never be restored. He was the last Carolingian emperor.

As for his wife, Richardis, his accusation turned into a trial by fire for her, and ultimately she achieved a title he would never receive. I'll tell you that story tomorrow.