Luitgard (Frankish queen)

Template:Short description Template:Expand French Template:Infobox royalty Luitgard (born around 776, died 4 June 800) was the last wife of Charlemagne.<ref>According to historians such as Pierre Riché (The Carolingians, p.86.) and Lewis Thorpe (Two Lives of Charlemagne, p.216), she was his fourth wife. Other historians list Himiltrude, described by Einhard as a concubine, as Charlemagne's first wife, and reorder his subsequent wives; accordingly Luitgard is sometimes numbered as his fifth wife. See Dieter Hägemann (Karl der Große. Herrscher des Abendlands, Ullstein 2003, p. 82f.), Collins (Charlemagne, p. 40.).</ref>

Luitgard was the daughter of Luitfrid II of Sundgau, an Alamannian count, and Hiltrude of Wormsgau.<ref>Dictionnaire des reines de France, by Christian Bouyer, p.94.</ref> She married Charlemagne in 794, when he was around 50 years old.

Little is known of her, except that the king found in her a calm and virtuous woman; at court, she was even appreciated by his children.<ref>Adélaïde Celliez, Les reines de France, page 149.</ref> Alcuin praises Luitgarde's love of letters: of her he says, “The queen loves to converse with learned and learned men; after his devotional exercises, it is his dearest pastime. She is full of complaisance for the king, pious, blameless and worthy of all the love of such a husband." She also accompanied Charlemagne on the great hunt each year.<ref>Christian Bouyer, Dictionnaire des reines de France, page 94.</ref>

Luitgard seems to have been involved in the distribution of the Avar treasure, after Charlemagne's invasion of their polity.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Luitgard died of an unknown illness<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> on 4 June 800 at the monastery of Saint-Martin de Tours,<ref>René Coursault, Histoire de la Touraine 1980, p.58 </ref> during a tour with Charlemagne in Neustria, preceding his trip to Rome where, just over six months later, he was crowned Imperator Romanorum ("Emperor of the Romans"). She was buried there,<ref>Darras 18, 85</ref> and although the location of her tomb is not precisely known, reportedly it is under the Charlemagne Tower associated with Basilica of Saint Martin, Tours. She and Charlemagne had no children, and he did not remarry again.<ref>Jean-Baptiste-René Robinet, Dictionnaire universel des sciences morale, économique, politique et..., p.393 </ref>

According to 15th century chronicles from Oxford University, Luitgard had a sister, Redburga/Redburh, who met Ecgberht, later to be King of Wessex, while he was exiled in West Francia by Beorhtric of Wessex and Offa of Mercia; the two later married.