Raedburgh was a cousin of Charlemagne

1. Sorry, links on the Slideshare are not recognized
on the first tree pages, so go to the next page.

2. The people and places important to King Egbert
&
The origins of Redburh or Rædburh (a conjecture)

3. Carlos Martel, m.741
Prefeito dos palácios de Austrasia,
Neustria e Borgonha
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Alda of France Pepin, the Short, King of France
Natronai al-Makir/Teodoric Princesa Bertha
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Redburga Charlemagne,King of France

4. The subject of Redburh (Rædburh, also Redburga), wife of Egbert of Wessex (King of Wessex
802-839), and her ancestry has been a matter of debate for some time. Described by "regis
Francorum sororia" [sister <better, sister-in-law> of the king of the Franks] in an early, but
possibly not contemporary record, she has been variously identified as a sister or
sister-in-law of Charlemagne [
1
]. (http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GEN-
MEDIEVAL/2006-09/1157552388)
Egbert’s spouse, Redburga, was said to be the sister of Charlemagne, though his only known sister
was named Gisela. Redburga may have been his sister-in-law, as the sister of his fourth wife,
Luitgarde. Some sources describe her as his niece, and another as the great-granddaughter of
Charles Martel. She appears in a medieval manuscript from Oxford described as “Regis
Francorum sororia” which translated as “sister to the King of the Franks.” More specifically
“sororia” means “pertaining to someone’s sister,” so it could mean sister-in-law.
(http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~emty/People&Places_Important_to_Egbert_Peop
le.html)
Researching about the subject above, the kinship of the wife of King Egbert of Wessex, Redburh/
Rædburh/ Redburga, to the King of the Franks Charles the Great, the famous Charlemagne, I
found that the propositions above are in error because of a rendering error about the latin word
“Sororia”.
“Sororia” is a latin word related to the latin word “Soror (sister)”. However in the latin language
there is two types of “Soror”, the “Soror” alone, meaning “Sister”, and another type of “Soror”, the
“Soror Patruelis” that means “Cousin”. These two types are included in the kinship “Sororia”.
Thus, “Regis Francorum sororia” could be translated to “Sister of the King of the Franks” or
“Cousin of the King of the Franks”, but never “Sister-in-law of the King of the Franks”, because
“Sister-in-law” in the latin language is “Glos”.
Indeed, the accurate rendering of “Regis Francorum sororia” in the manuscripts – based in the
conjecture that Redburh/ Rædburh/ Redburga was really a daughter of the Frank Princess Alda,
who in turn was a daughter Charles Martel, that is to say that Redburh/ Rædburh/ Redburga was a
granddaughter of Charles Martel – is “Cousin of the King of the Franks”, so, Redburh/ Rædburh/
Redburga, was a cousin of a King of the Franks. And who was this King of the Franks? By the
genealogy showed above and based in the same conjecture described above we can see that
Redburh/ Rædburh/ Redburga was cousin of Charlemagne.
1
William George Searle, Anglo-Saxon Bishops, Kings and Nobles: The Succession of the Bishops
and the Pedigrees of the Kings and Nobles [Cambridge: the University Press, 1899], p. 343. Text
and annotations (entitled Anglo-Saxon Pedigrees Annotated-Part 1, transcribed by Michael Wood)
courtesy Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, http://fmg.ac/