On Christmas Day in 800, the Pope crowned Charlemagne as the Emperor of the Romans, and right there with him were his daughters, Rotrude and Berta. These smart, independent, and single ladies were always by their dad’s side. But why didn’t they ever tie the knot? What part did they play during his rule?
Who Was Charlemagne Again?
If you’ve heard of Charlemagne, it’s likely because he was this badass warrior king who built a massive empire across most of Western Europe. He spent nearly every summer for 40 years fighting wars and converted a bunch of people to Christianity, sometimes by force. Plus, he gathered some of the smartest minds in Europe at his court.
Charles had a thing for collecting stuff. He loved gathering scholars, ancient Greek and Roman texts, the Lombard Crown, and even the huge Treasure of the Avars. He wore a piece of the True Cross around his neck for good luck. The Byzantine Empress, Irene, sent him the Sancte Chemise — the veil that Mary supposedly wore when she gave birth to Jesus. And the Caliph of Baghdad gifted him a water clock and later an elephant, which he took into battle with him.
The Father of Europe
Charles was a pretty influential guy in Europe, and not just because he had five wives and four concubines, plus a ton of kids—19 of whom he recognized. Most folks with Northern European roots can trace some of their DNA back to him. He led one of the most successful barbarian empires that popped up after Rome fell.
He set up his court in Aachen as a hub for learning and brought together some of the smartest people around. They bounced ideas off each other, translated ancient texts, and revived classical knowledge. They even created the Carolingian script, which mixed Roman and Insular styles and is still used today. Plus, they introduced spaces between words, capital letters at the start of sentences, and periods at the end. While languages like Italian, French, Romanian, and Spanish were starting to take shape, the scholars at his court standardized Latin’s spelling, grammar, and vocabulary, shaping the language of the Church and academia for the next 900 years.
What really stood out was that Charles pushed for education in a time when literacy wasn’t highly valued. He made monasteries set up local schools and founded the Palace School in Aachen, where noble kids could learn arts and sciences. He even brought in the famous scholar Alcuin to run the place.
Charles was a bit of a rebel; he preferred the simple attire of a Frankish soldier over the fancy Roman getup. When it came to education at the palace school, he treated all his kids equally, whether they were born from his marriages or his concubines. His children from concubines went on to have solid careers as abbots and ministers. And he didn’t stop there—he made sure his daughters got the same education as his sons.
The Daughters of Charlemagne Attend the Palace School
Rotrude, Berta, and their younger sisters (Gisela, Rualhaid, Hiltrud, and Theodrada) don’t really get much attention in history. Rotrude is mentioned in just three sentences in the Royal Frankish Annals, Berta has two lines, Gisela gets three, and the other three sisters are completely overlooked. The three older sisters do pop up in letters from Alcuin, a scholar who came to Charlemagne’s court after studying at the Cathedral School of Durham. He was tasked with starting the Palace School for young nobles in Francia and teaching them classical subjects. One of his favorite students was Charlemagne’s eldest daughter, Rotrude, whom he nicknamed Columba. Berta went by Delia, and an older student named Angilbert was called Homer. Alcuin referred to himself as Flaccus and called King Charles, David.
Alcuin Taught Reading, Writing, and Problem Solving
Alcuin was a really talented teacher who focused on the classic liberal arts with his students, covering subjects like grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, astronomy, music, and geometry. He even created a book filled with logic puzzles called Problems to Sharpen the Young that he used in class.
One of the puzzles goes like this: A guy needs to get a wolf, a goat, and some cabbages across a river. The only boat he has can only fit him and one other thing at a time. How does he manage to get everything across without leaving the wolf alone with the goat or the goat alone with the cabbages?
So, Charlemagne’s daughters didn’t just learn how to read and write; they also picked up some reasoning skills along the way.
Uncommon Princesses
At first, the oldest daughters, Rotrude and Berta, were on the same path as most princesses: they were set up for political marriages that would benefit their dad’s kingdom.
When she was just seven, Rotrude got engaged to Constantine VI, the Roman Emperor in Constantinople. Meanwhile, Berta caught the eye of Offa, the King of Mercia, who wanted her for his son, Egfrith, in exchange for letting Charles’ eldest son marry his daughter.
But when Charles decided to team up with the Pope in Rome, he called off Rotrude’s engagement. Then, when Offa, a king of just part of England, came asking for Berta, Charles was so offended that he shut down all ports in Francia to English ships.
A few years later, Charles made it clear that his daughters wouldn’t be marrying at all. He said it was because he just couldn’t stand the thought of being apart from them.
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Permanent Princesses
Most historians think Charles was trying to steer clear of the political mess that comes with having sons-in-law and their kids. Back in the Carolingian days, the usual way to handle inheritance was to split the kingdom among male heirs, so Charles got his plans in motion pretty early on.
His oldest son, also named Charles, was set to rule Francia alongside him. In 787, his second son, Carloman, got a name change to Pepin, after Charles’ dad, and was made king of Italy. The youngest, Louis, was sent off to Aquitaine, which is right by Muslim Spain.
Whatever his reasons were, it led to this: his five daughters who made it past childhood stayed at court instead of being shipped off to marry young.
The mother of Rotrude, Berta, and Gisela was Charlemagne’s first Christian wife, Hildegarde. Before that, he had a casual relationship with the mom of his first son, Pippin Hunchback, and his second marriage to a Lombard princess was set up by his mom. He ended up sending her back to her family when he fell for the 13-year-old Hildegarde.
Hildegarde had nine kids, but only six survived before she passed away at 25. Theodrada and Hildtrud, who were half-sisters to Rotrude and Berta, came from his fourth wife, Fastrada. His fifth wife, Liutgard, was just a year older than Rotrude and didn’t have any kids before she died in 799.
So, Charles’ kids grew up together at their dad’s court, along with the kids of his concubines. Even those kids seemed to do well, becoming abbesses and abbots in the Church, and they all likely studied together at the Palace School.
Rotrude, Berta, and Gisela were praised for their skills as students and writers. They shared meals with their dad and enjoyed chatting about poetry with Liutgard. After she passed away, Charles didn’t remarry, so for the last 15 years of his reign, his older daughters basically acted as his Queens, managing the court’s affairs.
Charlemagne was really smart, but he never learned to write. It’s easy to picture his educated daughters helping him out with writing the many laws he issued for his Empire. But they were doing more than just that too.
Confidants, Companions, and Independent Women
Two of Charles’ sons left the royal court pretty young—Louis went off to govern Aquitaine and Pepin took charge of Italy, both with some advisors since they were still kids. The only one who stuck around was the oldest, Charles, who was set to take over as Emperor and King of Francia. He stayed at court with his sisters, half-sisters, and the kids from his dad’s mistresses. In 810, when Carloman passed away, all six of his daughters were sent to Charlemagne’s court for their education. So, the court ended up filled with confident, single ladies.
The Crowned Doves
Alcuin’s letters to Charlemagne’s daughters are filled with warm wishes for their well-being and success in living virtuous lives. Rotrude was a lifelong scholar and even had Alcuin write a commentary on the Gospel of St. John for her. When she moved to the nunnery at Chelles, where her aunt was the Abbess, they established an important place for copying manuscripts.
But when Alcuin writes to a young cleric heading to court about the princesses, he takes a different approach. He warns him to be careful, saying something like, “May the Crowned Doves that flutter around the palace stay away from your windows, and may wild horses not burst through your doors. Be mindful of who you talk to.”
Even though Charlemagne’s daughters weren’t allowed to marry, they were surrounded by babies, concubines, and courtiers, so they seemed to think they could live like their dad. Since they couldn’t have husbands, they took lovers instead. Any kids they had just became part of the court scene.
Charles Blushes
Einhardt, who wrote Charlemagne’s biography, had some interesting things to say about his daughters. He was super protective of them and made sure to have all his kids around during meals at home. Whenever he traveled, his sons would ride alongside him while his daughters followed, with a few guards trailing behind for their safety. Oddly enough, even though his daughters were really beautiful and he cared for them a lot, he never let them marry anyone from their own country or even a foreigner. He kept them close until he passed away, claiming he just couldn’t bear to be without them. So, while he was generally happy, he still faced some tough luck regarding his daughters. He kept quiet about the gossip and doubts people had about their reputation.
The Wanton Heats of the Palace
Berta had a long-term fling with Angilbert, a noble who grew up in the royal court and became one of Charlemagne’s most trusted messengers to other courts. They had three kids: Nithard, who turned into a historian during Louis the Pious’s time, Hartnid, who became an abbot, and Bertrude, who ended up marrying a count.
On the other hand, Rotrude didn’t really get attached but had at least one son, likely with Rorgo, the Count of Maine. Their son, Louis, became the abbot of St. Denis, which was the most powerful abbey in France, and he also served as Archchancellor of Francia. Most of the younger daughters followed their older sisters’ lead, and honestly, they were pretty wild.
Charles either didn’t want to acknowledge his daughters’ escapades or just chose to ignore them, but everyone knew what was going on. One courtier described the vibe as filled with reckless passion and flirtation. The courts across Europe were shocked, including Rotrude’s and Berta’s brother, Louis.
Then in 810-811, a nasty cattle disease hit Europe hard. In 811, Pepin of Italy passed away, and shortly after, Rotrude died too. The following year, Charles, Charlemagne’s eldest son, also died.
Charlemagne was devastated. He crowned his youngest son, Louis, as King and Emperor just a year before he himself died in the winter of 814. He was so concerned about his daughters that he set up monasteries and nunneries for them in case no one wanted to marry them. He even told his sons not to block their sisters from getting married.
Louis the Pious and the Enormous Troop of Women
When Charlemagne passed away, it took his son Louis a whole month to get to Aachen. His sisters were in charge of preparing their dad’s body for burial. On the day he died, they cleaned him up, wrapped him in a fancy purple and gold silk cloth, and placed him in an old Roman sarcophagus that had carvings of the story of Persephone’s abduction.
Once Louis finally showed up and took over as emperor, he blew a third of his dad’s massive fortune on a memorial celebration and also made sure to fulfill his dad’s will, splitting the rest between himself and his legitimate sisters.
Then, Louis decided to clear out the court of all those women. He told his sisters to head straight to their monasteries. Charlemagne had set up places for most of them to go. Berta wasn’t too keen on leaving the court, but Louis didn’t really care about her feelings. So, she ended up becoming the Abbess of a nunnery, probably the one linked to St. Requier’s monastery in Amiens, where Angilbert had stepped back from politics to be the lay Abbot.
Unlike his father’s time, Louis’s reign was full of conflict; his sons were always fighting among themselves. It’s said that Berta, who died in 826, was buried near her sister Rotrude at the Nunnery in Chelles, but since that place got destroyed during the French Revolution, we can’t be sure. Whether Louis ever sought Berta’s advice when things got tough is something we’ll never know. Charlemagne’s daughters pretty much fade from history after this point and aren’t mentioned again.
