JUDITH OF FLANDERS

'Judith of Flanders' (844 – 870) was a daughter of the Frankish king Charles the Bald and therefore she was a princess. Through her marriage to two kings of Wessex she first became queen, and later through her third marriage to Baldwin she became countess of Flanders.
Judith was probably born in October of 844, the daughter of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, and Ermentrude.
Her father gave her in marriage to Ethelwulf, King of Wessex on October 1, 856 at Verberie sur Oise, France.
Soon after this, Ethelwulf's son Ethelbald forced his father to abdicate. After his father's death on January 13, 858, Ethelbald married his widowed stepmother, but the marriage was annulled in 860 on the grounds of consanguinity.
She eloped with Baldwin I, Count of Flanders, in January 862. They were probably married at the monastery of Senlis before they eloped. The couple went into hiding until October from Judith's father King Charles the Bald, when they went to her uncle Lothair II for protection. From there they fled to Pope Nicholas I for protection. The pope took diplomatic action and asked Judith's father to accept the legal binding of the sacred marriage and welcome the young couple in his circles - which ultimately he did. The couple then went back to France and then officially married at Auxerre. Baldwin was accepted as son-in-law and was given the land directly south of the Scheldt to fight Viking attacks. Although among historians it is still disputed whether King Charles did this in the hope that Baldwin would be killed in the ensuing battles with Vikings, Baldwin managed the situation remarkably well, hunted the Vikings down, and expanded both his army and his territory quickly. He became one of the most strong, secure and faithful supporters of King Charles. The March of Baldwin became to be known as the County Flanders and was for a long time the most powerful principality of France.
They had a son, Baldwin II, Count of Flanders, born in 864.
Judith died in 870.

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Judith in fiction

Judith in fiction

Judith is a significant character in ''The Marsh King'', a juvenile historical novel by C. Walter Hodges, which gives her a fictional son by her marriage to Ethelbald.
Judith is also depicted in 'Judith of France' and the sequel, "Journey for a Princess" both by Margaret C. Leighton.