Alpaïde (Alpheid,
Elpheid) Alpaïde (Alpheid,
Elpheid)Wife of Bégon, count of Paris.
Abbess of Saint-Pierre-le-Bas in Reims.
Date of birth: say 797.
Place of birth: Unknown.
Louis was born in 778, and
Alpaïde was the mother of two sons by 817 at the latest, so the
estimate given should not be too far off.
Date of death: 23 July, after 852.
Place of
death: Unknown.
Alpaïde emboidered a pillow for
the saint's head when the relics of St. Remi were translated in
852, and the necrology of the cathedral of Reims states that she
died on 23 July ["Alpheidis Deo sacrata"
Werner (1967), 445-6].
Father: Louis/Ludwig I "the Pious", d. 28 June 840, Emperor.
["Picco, primus de amicis regis,
qui et filiam imperatoris [nomine Elpheid] duxit uxorem,
defunctus est." Annales Laurissenses Minores,
s.a. 816, MGH SS 1: 122; see also Werner (1967), 429-441; "...
Quod monasterium Ludowicus imperator Alpheidi, filiae suae, uxori
Begonis comitis, dono dedit, ..." Flodoard, iv, 46, MGH
SS 13: 595] Although the Annales Laurissenses Minores do
not state which imperator (Charlemagne or Louis) was the
father of Alpaïde, Louis was the current emperor, and Flodoard's
testimony also gives that parentage. Thus, the case (mainly
chronological) for making her a daughter of Charlemagne instead
is weak [see the discussion by Settipani (1993), 200-3].
Mother: Unknown.
As noted on the page of Louis I,
Alpaïde may have been illegitimate, but it is possible that her
mother was Louis's first wife Ermengarde..
Spouse: Bégon, bur. 28 October 816, count of Paris.
Children:
See the page of Bégon for details.
Leuthard, bur. 3 January, bef. 869, count
[of Paris?].
Eberhard, d. bef. 8 June 871.
Possible child:
Susanna;
m. Wulfhard.
Susanna may have been the daughter of
Bégon by an earlier wife. See the pages of Bégon and Adalhard for further details.
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Settipani (1993) = Christian Settipani, La préhistoire des Capétiens 481-987 (Première partie - Mérovingiens, Carolingiens et Robertiens) (Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1993).
Werner (1967) = Karl Ferdinand Werner, "Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen bis um das Jahr 1000 (1.-8. Generation)", Karl der Große 4 (1967): 403-483 & table.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 16 August 2012.