Gisela, daughter of Charlemagne

This article is about the daughter of Charlemagne. For her aunt, see Gisela (daughter of Pepin the Short).
Gisela
Bornin or before 781
Diedafter 808
DynastyCarolingian
FatherCharlemagne
MotherHildegard

Gisela, (in or before 781 – 808 or later) was a daughter of Charlemagne from his marriage to Hildegard.[1]

She was baptized at the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in 781 by Thomas, Archbishop of Milan.[2] She was educated at the castle in Aachen, with Alcuin who gave her the nickname "Delia".[3] According to Alcuin she took a particular interest in astronomy.[4] Alcuin refers to "Delia" in some of his poetry.[5][6]

Like her sisters Bertha and Rotrude, Gisela never married.[citation needed]

Sources vary regarding her later life, some sources state 808 as a death date,[7] others state that in 814 she was sent to a convent by her brother Louis the Pious.[8]

  1. ^ Story, Joanna (2005). Charlemagne: Empire and Society. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719070891. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  2. ^ Davis, Jennifer R. (2015). Charlemagne's Practice of Empire. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107076990. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  3. ^ Alcuin: His Life and His Work, Charles Jacinth Bellairs Gaskoin
  4. ^ Daily Life in the World of Charlemagne, Pierre Riche, page 205
  5. ^ Anglo-Latin Literature, 600–899, Michael Lapidge, page 63
  6. ^ Becoming a Poet in Anglo-Saxon England, Emily V. Thornbury, page 28
  7. ^ Icons of the Middle Ages: Rulers, Writers, Rebels, and Saints, Volume 1, Lister M. Matheson, page 148
  8. ^ The Franks, Lewis Sergeant, page 270