Judith of Flanders

[5][6] During the ceremony, which was celebrated by Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, the bride put on a wedding ring and was presented with magnificent gifts.

[9] However, all chroniclers pay attention to the fact that Charles the Bald insisted on the coronation of his daughter,[10][11] probably wishing to secure her position in her new home:[12] When the Bishop of Rheims, Hincmar, blessed the marriage and placed the crown on her head, he declared her queen, which neither he nor his people had in the past in the custom.Judith, daughter of King Charles, was recently married to Æthelwulf, King of England, accepting the title of queen and royal consecration.After the celebrations, Æthelwulf, his new wife and his son returned to Wessex.

Judith, a well-educated lady like most Frankish princesses of the time, probably brought the "aura of the Carolingian monarchy" to the court of Wessex.

[13] Back in his kingdom, Æthelwulf faced difficulties: his eldest surviving son, Æthelbald, supported by Eahlstan, Bishop of Sherborne and Eanwulf, Ealdorman of Somerset, were conspiring to dethrone him.

[14] The marriage with Judith may have played a role in this as Æthelbald probably feared that his father's young wife, the great-granddaughter of Charlemagne, would give birth to a higher-born heir than himself.

According to other explanations, Æthelbald had already been rebelling before his father's new marriage, and this was why Æthelwulf stayed at the court of Charles the Bald and married his daughter, demonstrating to his subjects that he had strong supporters abroad.

[17] Judith's name appears in several charters during the reign of Æthelbald, including in S1274 as regina, which confirms her continued exceptional status.

[18] Asser, Bishop of Sherborne condemned the marriage in his Life of Alfred the Great: Once King Æthelwulf was dead, Æthelbald, his son, against God's prohibition and Christian dignity, and also contrary to the practice of all pagans, took over his father's marriage-bed and married Judith, daughter of Charles, king of the Franks, incurring great disgrace from all who heard of it.

[10][20]According to the most likely account, a certain Baldwin (born probably in the 830s – 879), traditionally regarded as the son of a forester called Odoacre[21] visited the monastery in 861, and according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, he fell in love with Judith.

[7]Flodoard's description is similar: Judith followed Count Baldwin with the assistance and consent of her brother Louis.The couple probably married in the monastery of Senlis before eloping.

According to Hincmar, the king ordered (or, by Flodoard's account, asked) the bishops to pass a canonical verdict on Baldwin and Judith, as commanded by the decrees of Pope Gregory II: “if anyone marries, having kidnapped a widow, let him be anathematized himself, as well as those who contributed to this”.

Some scholars have suggested that the king hoped for Baldwin's early death by giving him land just south of the Scheldt river, a region frequently attacked by the Vikings.

As it was in ruins, Baldwin built a new fortress with a personal residence, a chapel, houses for the servants and a cathedral where the relics of Saint Donatian of Reims were placed.

[10] If Judith was alive at this time, she probably played an instrumental role in the marriage negotiations due to her knowledge of the Wessex court.

In the middle of the 10th century, Judith was described by the compilers of the genealogy of the counts of Flanders as "the wisest and most beautiful", the woman who brought Carolingian blood to the comital dynasty.

[10] The anointing and coronation of Judith as Queen of Wessex allowed the restoration of the status of wives of kings and improved their position.