Bertha Broadfoot of Laon (Bertrada of Laon), Queen of the Franks (c727-783)
Bertha Broadfoot (Bertrada of Laon) is best known as the mother of Charlemagne. She is our 34th great grandmother. So, yes, Charlemagne is our 33rd great grandfather if you believe it is actually possible to trace a lineage that far back. I will not give the whole path here, but the starting off point is Deborah Scudder Hart, the wife of John Hart.
Bertrada was born circa 727 in Laon, Aisne, Nord-Pas-de-Calais Picardie, France and died June 12, 783 in Choisy, Haute-Savoie, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, France. Her burial is Basilique de Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France.
Her name has some interesting folklore associated with it. The Latin translation for “Broadfoot” is Regina pede aucae which means queen with the goose foot. There is some idea she might be the original “Mother Goose” although that is widely disputed. It has also been speculated that she may have had a clubfoot, but there is really no information to back that up.
Bertrada married Pepin “The Short” and they became the king and queen of the Franks in 751 after Pepin orchestrated a successful coup against the reigning Frankish monarch. Pepin tried to divorce Bertrada at one point, but the Pope objected so it didn’t happen. They had seven children, three of whom reached adulthood. The two surviving sons, Charlemagne and Carloman, inherited the two halves of Pepin’s kingdom when he died in 768. Bertrada lost her title of queen when her husband died. After Carloman died in 771, Charlemagne took over completely. Bertrada went to live in Choisy-au-Bac in a royal house set up for her by Charlemagne. She was reported to have had a very close relationship with her son Charlemagne.
Bertrada was the inspiration for an epic poem written by Adenes Le Roi in 1270. You can read about that poem on the following web page: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.france-pittoresque.com/spip.php%3Farticle2221&prev=search