This is the story of my 33rd(!) great-grandmother, Judith Martel (844-870 C.E.). That was her English name; she was also known as Judith of France, and as Judith of Flanders. We are related through my paternal grandmother, Anna Moen, according to the research of cousin Orrin Moen.
Judith was the first daughter of Charles the Bald, Holy Roman Emperor and grandson of the emperor Charlemagne. Are you with me so far? There is also a close connection (newly discovered, and Judith Martel is just one of several connecting threads) back in these ancient times, with ancestors of my maternal grandfather, Dan Myers. Stay tuned for more on this fascinating development.
Getting back to Judith: when she was twelve years old(!), her father expediently married her off to the King of Wessex (England), Ethelwulf, at that time 45 years of age and a widower. Trouble was, Ethelwulf died before Judith even reached puberty. Ethelwulf’s son Ethelbald succeeded to the throne of Wessex, and soon married Judith himself. This earned them the censure of the Church, on the grounds of “consanguinity” (incest (!) – not a correct judgment, biologically).
The same year that the marriage was annulled (860), Ethelbald died. So, by the age of sixteen, Judith was twice Queen of England (part of it anyway), twice widowed, and childless. She sold her properties in Wessex and moved back to her father’s court. He sent her to the monastery at Senlis, presumably intending to marry her off again when the politically correct opportunity presented itself.
Judith, however, had other ideas. She eloped with Baldwin (later Baldwin I, Count of Flanders) around Christmas of 861. Not surprisingly, her father was furious; the couple was forced into refuge at the court of another noble relative. Eventually, the Pope himself intervened on Judith’s behalf, and the family was reconciled.
Baldwin I and Judith Martel had three children, one of whom (Baldwin II) became an ancestor of not only Anna Moen and myself, but a slew of royal personalities, including (ironically, through later alliances) the reigning Queen of England, Elizabeth II. Judith died at the age of 26, a short but eventful life, to put it mildly.
So there you have it – we are cousins of the Queen.
Bonnie
Jan 12, 2010
Great tale, well told. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go fix myself a spot of tea.
Lois Larson Hall
Jan 13, 2010
George! I am a little over half-way through a book Steve loaned to me, “1066: THE HIDDEN HISTORY IN THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY,” by Andrew Bridgeford. It’s a scholarly and sometimes complex account explaining in detail who’s who and the meaning of the images in the Bayeux tapestry. It describes events leading up to the Norman invasion of England and the 1066 Battle of Hastings.
Well, guess what. On page 181 here’s what it says about a Count Eustace II of Boulogne (one of the un-named embroidered images but someone who is known to be represented through written research and documentation of the story told in this ancient piece of embroidery.)
“Count Eustace’s father, too could trace his ancestry to Charlemagne, through the ninth-century union of Judith, the emperor’s great-granddaughter, with Count Baldwin I of Flanders.”
I just KNEW when I started reading this book last week that I would find somewhere in there a connection to an obscure distant relative and was prepared to compare the pedigree charts at the beginning of the book with the on-line chart when I get to the end of the book. Then–yesterday–there was the connection, right in front of me on page 181, just two short days after reading your post about our 33rd grandmother Judith!
Now–I think I will join Bonnie in having a cup of tea while continuing on to read the rest of the story.