Alpaida (also Alpaïde, Alpaide, Alphaida, Alpoïde, Elphide, Elfide, Alféïde, Chalpaida; c. 654 – c. 714) was a Frankish noblewoman who hailed from the Liège area.
[1][2] She became the second wife, concubine or mistress of Pepin of Herstal and mother to his son Charles Martel and possibly another, Childebrand I.
[9] Saint Lambert of Maastricht was a vocal critic of the relationship between Pepin and Alpaida.
[10] A tradition would eventually develop that, Pepin's domesticus (manager of state domains) Dodon, whose troops would murder Lambert, was in fact the brother of Alpaida; however, the historical accuracy of Dodon being her brother has been questioned.
This is reflected in the historiography around Alpaida, who was once called a second wife in eighth-century writings, re-labeled a concubine in later ninth century writings, and finally, as a result of possible anti-Charles Martel or anti-Carolingian sentiment, tenth-century written sources now called Charles Martel's legitimacy and claim to Pepin II's inheritance into question by challenging Alpaida's role within the Pippinid family.