Queen 'Judith' or 'Iudit' (
805 -
April 19 or
23,
843), also known as 'Judith of Bavaria', was the daughter of Count
Welf and a
Saxon noblewoman named
Hedwig, Duchess of Bavaria (
780 -
826). Judith ensured that her son
Charles received a share of the kingdom, just like his three half-brothers from
Louis' first marriage. This contributed to the ensuing civil war among Louis and his sons. Rebels temporarily imprisoned Judith in the
convent of
Poitiers on allegations of adultery during 830. From 833 to 834, she was exiled in
Tortona.
Judith was the first member of the
Elder House of Welf to have a leading role in the Frankish kingdom. Whether by coincidence or through Judith's influence, in the years following her marriage to Louis her mother and both of her brothers gained important offices in the kingdom. Her sister
Hemma married
Louis the German, a son of Louis the Pious from his first marriage, in 827. Judith was buried in St. Martin in
Tours.
Marriage and issue
Judith was the second wife of
Louis the Pious,
Holy Roman Emperor and
King of the Franks; they
married in
Aachen in
819 and had the following children:
★
Gisela (
820 -
July 5,
874), married
Eberhard of Friuli
★
Charles the Bald
Reference
★ ''The Royal Ancestry Bible Royal Ancestors of 300 Colonial American Families'' by Michel L. Call (chart 2022) ISBN 1-933193-22-7