Judith of Bavaria (797– 19 April 843) was the Carolingian empress as the second wife of Louis the Pious. Marriage to Louis marked the beginning of her rise as an influential figure in the Carolingian court. She had two children with Louis, Gisela and Charles the Bald. The birth of her son led to a major dispute over the imperial succession, and tensions between her and Charles' half-brothers from Louis' first marriage. She eventually fell from grace when Charles' wife, Ermentrude of Orléans, rose to power. She was buried in 843 in Tours.
Early life
Judith was the daughter of Count Welf of Bavaria and Saxon noblewoman Hedwig. No surviving sources provide a record of Judith's exact date and year of birth. Judith was probably born around 797. Most girls in the Carolingian world were married in adolescence, with twelve years as the minimum age, though her marriage to the 41-year-old King Louis occurred in 819, when she was probably around 22 years old.
Though the Welfs were noble, they were not part of the '"Imperial Aristocracy'" (Reichsaristokratie) that dominated high office throughout the Carolingian empire. The Welf clan's leaders, having lost influence in their home region of Alemannia (present-day southwestern Germany and northern Switzerland) eventually rose to power through cementing familial ties with the Carolingian Imperial Aristocracy in the 770s. Nonetheless, they remained a part of the upper aristocracy (Hochadel) of their region, given the numerous appearances of the noble titles of ducal (duke) and comital (counts) in primary sources. This noble status made Judith a suitable marriage prospect for the imperial family, and the Welf clan as a whole saw its prestige and power increase after Judith's marriage to the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious in 819.
Courtship and marriage
After the death on 3 October 818 of Louis' first wife Queen Ermengard, mother of his sons Louis the German, Peppin and Lothar, Louis was urged by his counselors to remarry. Shortly after Christmas in 819 he married Judith in Aachen (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). Like many of the royal marriages of the time Judith was selected, prior to the marriage through a bridal show. It is at the bride show that, at the age of forty one, Louis chose the young Judith "after inspecting noble maidens who were brought to his court from all districts". In Frankish society, only women of the nobility were eligible to compete; this specific trait is highlighted in the Regesta Imperii, where Judith is referred to as stemming from a noble lineage (Edlen Geschlecht). Contemporary witnesses such as Ermoldus Nigellus, Walahfrid Strabo, and Louis' biographer Thegan attributed Judith's selection to her extraordinary beauty, intelligence, and musical ability. It is just as likely, however, that Louis was attracted to the geographical and political advantages offered by Judith's family. While scholars differ as to whether the Welfs were of Frankish or Alemannian descent, it is clear that they controlled significant territories to the east of the Rhine, and were predominant political actors in both Bavaria and Alemannia. This fact would have made them desirable allies for Louis, since any military campaign in the empire's eastern frontiers would require the emperor to travel through this region. By marrying Judith, in other words, the emperor would effectively gain friends and allies, an important military and political stronghold, and the support of the nobility in that region.
Judith married Louis in 819 in Aachen. It was not uncommon that brides were given some form of dowry upon marrying into royalty. Judith's marriage was no exception to this practice and she received, according to sources, the monastery San Salvatore, which was located in Brescia (in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy). The monastery of San Salvatore and all the assets that fall under its jurisdiction, would fall under the protection with the protection of the King. Although, according to modern sources, the dowry was indicative that the marriage was in fact a "Vollehe" (full marriage), it did not mean that the dowry was static, insofar as it would remain solely within the possession of the Queen in perpetuity; rather it could be taken from her depending on the political climate, as would later be the case in Judith's life, after her fall from power and influence.