Adelaide of Paris

Adélaïde de Paris, also called Adelaide of Friuli ( _fr. Adélaïde de Frioul), or Aélis (c. 850/853 – 10 November 901) was the second wife of Louis the Stammerer, King of Western Francia, and was the mother of Charles the Simple.

Adelaide was the daughter of Aldalard, the Count of the Palace, Marquis of Friuli. Her grandfather was Bégon, the Count of Paris. Her grandmother, Alpaïs, wife of Bégon, was the illegitimate daughter of Louis the Pious by an unnamed mistress.

Adelaide was chosen by Charles the Bald, King of Western Francia, to marry his son and heir, Louis the Stammerer, despite the fact that Louis had secretly married Ansgarde of Burgundy, against the wishes of his father. Although Louis and Ansgarde already had two children, Louis and Carloman, Charles prevailed upon Pope John VIII, to dissolve the union. This accomplished, Charles married his son to Adelaide in February 875.

However, the marriage was called into question due to the close blood-kinship of the pair. When on 7 September 878 the Pope crowned Louis (who had succeeded his father in the previous year), the Pope refused to crown Adelaide. [cite book
last =McKitterick
first =Rosamond
authorlink =Rosamond McKitterick
coauthors =
title =New Cambridge Medieval History
publisher =Cambridge University Press
year =2005
location =
pages =p. 136
url =
doi =
id =
isbn =052136292X]

When Louis the Stammerer died in Compiegne on 10 April 879, he had no heirs by Adelaide; she was, however, pregnant, giving birth on September 17, 879 to Charles the Simple. [cite book
last =McKitterick
first =Rosamond
authorlink =Rosamond McKitterick
coauthors =
title =New Cambridge Medieval History
publisher =Cambridge University Press
year =2005
location =
pages =p. 138
url =
doi =
id =
isbn =052136292X] The birth of this child led to a dispute between Adelaide and her deceased husband's repudiated wife, Ansgarde. Ansgarde and her sons accused Adelaide of adultery; Adelaide in turn disputed the right of Ansgarde's sons to inherit. Eventually, Adelaide succeeded in winning the case; but despite this, Ansgarde's sons Louis and Carloman remained Kings until their deaths without heirs in 882 and 884 respectively, with the crown then being contested between Odo, Count of Paris and Charles the Fat.

Charles the Simple eventually succeeded to his father's throne in 898; his mother assisted in crowning him. She died in Laon in 901.

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