Desiderata (Longobard)

Desiderata is usually called a daughter of the Longobard king Desiderius , who was temporarily married to the Frankish king Charlemagne . Her actual name is not recorded in any source.

Life

Desiderata was the daughter of the Longobard king Desiderius and his wife Ansa.

She married Charlemagne in 768, probably at the instigation of his mother Bertha , who wanted to establish an alliance between Franks and Lombards. The marriage remained childless, and when the alliance with the Lombards broke, Desiderata was cast out by Charles in 771, who is now with Pope Stephan III. allied against the Lombards and finally dethroned Desiderius. Karl married Hildegard in the same year .

Desiderata's further fate is unknown.

Name theories

The historian Janet Nelson put forward the thesis that Desiderius's daughter was called Gerperga. She points out that in several sources Gerperga , the wife of Karl's brother Karlmann, was confused with the Lombard princess and was also mistakenly made a daughter of Desiderius. The reason for this could have been the sisters-in-law having the same name. In addition, Desiderius and Ansa had three other daughters with the names Anselperga, Adelperga and Liutperga , so that the name ending -perga is likely for the fourth.

In Italy she is also known as Ermengarda , as the Italian writer Alessandro Manzoni gave her this name in his work.

literature

• Janet L. Nelson : Making a Difference in Eighth-Century Politics: The Daughters of Desiderius . In: Alexander Callander Murray (Ed.): After Rome's Fall. Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History. Essays presented to Walter Goffart. University of Toronto Press, Toronto et al. 1998, ISBN 0-8020-0779-1 , pp. 171-190.

predecessor	Office	Successor
Bertrada the Younger	Queen of the Franconian Empire 768 to 770/771	Hildegard