Countess Bertrada "Broadfoot" de Laon ¹

  General Notes:

She was a Frankish Queen.

SOURCES: Berthe=Bertrada de Laon (Andre Roux: Scrolls, 191.) (Stuart, Royalty for Commoners, Page 158, Line 214-42). Married Name: Le Bref. Married Name: des Francs. Also Known As: Berthe "au Grand Pied". Born: circa 720, daughter of Charibert, Count de Laon and Bertrade N? Berthe was known as Berthe-au-grand-pied because one foot was larger than the other. Married circa 740: Pepin III, King des Francs , son of Charles Martel and Rotrude=Chrotrud, Duchesse d'Austrasie (3598); Berthe was for may years, at least since 740, the concubine of Pepin III. In 749 she convinced him to marry her. Note - in 770: The winds of history in the year 770 no longer blow from Aquitaine but from Lombardy. This Kingdom, north of a strange Italy of the time [Italy being bitten into little pieces by the aspirations of the Lombards to the North, the Byzantines and the Pope. Charles, though the "devoted defender of the Holy Church and its auxilliaries in all things" as he refers to himself, should logically and normally have followed the politics of his father with respect to Rome, and therefore to protect the papacy from its enemies, the Lombards. But he would hear none of it. Carloman casts a benign eye on the Lombards, where Didier, the ancient Duke of Tuscanny still reigned. Bertrada, the widow of Pippin, despairing at the level of hate which separated her two sons, took matters into her hands, as a strong-willed woman is sometimes wont to do when endowed with power. She visits Carloman near Seltz [in Alsace] , and secures his agreement from him. She crosses the Alps under the pretext of "worshiping in Rome the temples of the Holy Apostles" and visits Pope Stephen III. In fact, she had but one thing on her mind: To reconcile her two sons by bringing Charles closer to the Lombards, since Carloman is the friend of the ruler of Lombardy. The politics of the two brothers then would become tied to a common interest, That could be a first step. One could also marry Gisele, sister of Charles and Carloman to Didier's son. Unfortunately, Gisele is not yet nubile. In the meantime, Bertrada proposes the marriage of her son Charles with Desiree, Didier's daughter! The King of the Lombards accepts the proposal as does Charles. However, the future emperor is already attached to a young frankish woman, Himiltrude, who has born him a son and a daughter -- unfortunately, the son is hunchback. Although Himiltrude is only a concubine of the King, the Pope being furious with the developments bringing together his natural protectors, the Francs, with his natural enemies, the Lombards, calls the union of Charles to Desiree diabolical. How can the Francs, a race ".. endowed with such beautiful women ..." posibly consider a union with "...this fetid race of Lombards, the most perfidious, and odious of all races, who have never been counted in the race of civilized nations, and from whom leprosy came ..." Pope Stephen III exclaimed. Whiles Charles considers the matter, Bertrada gets Desiree and brings her to her son in Pavia. His first look at Desiree immediately caused him to miss Himiltrude. It seems that Desiree was the epitomy of ugliness. The marriage takes place anyway. Bertrada died on the fourth of the Ides of July. ⁶

  Research Notes:

My information and source can be found at Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

Bertrada married Pippin "The Younger" Martel, King of the Franks, son of Charles Martel, Mayor of the Palace, Duke of the Franks and Duchess Chrotrude of Alemania and Austrasia. (Pippin "The Younger" Martel, King of the Franks was born about 715 in Jupille near Liége (Belgium), died on 24 Sep 768 in Aachen (Aix-la-chapelle), Rhineland, Germany and was buried in Saint Denis, France.)