Fastrada

Fastrada (765-794) was an East Frankish noblewoman. She became the third wife of Charlemagne, [As described by historians such as Pierre Riché ("The Carolingians", p.86.), Lewis Thorpe ("Two Lives of Charlemagne", p.216) and others. Other historians list Himiltrude, described by Einhard as a concubine, as Charlemagne's first wife, and reorder his subsequent wives; accordingly Fastrada is sometimes numbered as his fourth wife. See Dieter Hägemann ("Karl der Große. Herrscher des Abendlands", Ullstein 2003, p. 82f.), Collins ("Charlemagne", p. 40.).] marrying him in 784. She bore him two children:

*Theodrada (b. 784), abbess of Argenteuil
*Hiltrude (b. 787).

She died during the synod of Frankfurt and had been buried in St. Alban's Abbey, Mainz, long before the abbey was finalized. Due to archbishop Richulfs influence, Fastrada was not buried in the Basilique Saint-Denis, the burial site of almost all the Frankish and French monarchs, nor St. Arnulf's Abbey near Metz. After the destruction of St. Alban's Abbey in 1552, her tombstone had been transferred to Mainz Cathedral, where it can be seen today in the wall of the southern nave. [Franz Dumont, Ferdinand Scherf, Friedrich Schütz: Mainz - Die Geschichte der Stadt, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1998]

Her stylized role was played by Leland Palmer in the musical Pippin by Stephen Schwartz.

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