| Emma of France | |
|---|---|
 Depiction of two kings, Emma's husband Rudolph of France (right, enthroned) and Charles the Simple (left centre). No physical depictions of Emma have been found. | |
| Queen of West Francia | |
| Tenure | 13 July 923 – 934? |
| Born | 894 |
| Died | 934? (aged about 40) |
| Spouse | King Raoul |
| House | Robertians |
| Father | Robert I of France |
| Mother | Aelis |
Emma of France (died 934 or 935) was a Frankish queen. The daughter of Robert I of France, she was a descendant of the powerful aristocratic Robertian family; her younger half-brother was Hugh the Great, the duke of the Franks and count of Paris.[1]
In 921, she married Duke Raoul (Rudolf) of Burgundy.[1] Raoul was elected king on 13 July 923 in the church of St Médard at Soissons, by Walter, archbishop of Sens; upon his coronation, Emma became queen.[2] After assuming the crown, Raoul did not relinquish his duchy unlike his Robertian predecessor Odo (Eudes) of France, who had stepped down as count of Paris upon being elected king of West Francia in 888.[2] When Raoul was called away from Burgundy, which was often, Emma administered the duchy on his behalf.
Emma wielded substantial military and political power during her reign, in large part due to her influence as intermediary between Raoul and her brother, Hugh the Great.[3] Her conflicting loyalties afforded her a position of substantial ambiguity and great power. In 931, Emma captured the fortress of Avallon; in 933, she conducted a successful siege of Château-Thierry, the stronghold of her brother-in-law, Count Herbert II of Vermandois.[2]
She was the first Frankish queen who is known to have been formally crowned; her coronation was performed in Reims by Archbishop Séulf sometime in 923, after her husband's coronation.[3]
- ^ a b Le Jan, Régine (2001). Femmes, pouvoir et société dans le haut Moyen Age. Paris: Picard.
- ^ a b c McKitterick, Rosamond (1983). The Frankish Kingdoms Under the Carolingians, 751-987. London ; New York: Longman.
- ^ a b Maclean, Simon (2017). Ottonian Queenship (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.