A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Ermengarde, or Hermengarde
ERMENGARDE, or HERMENGARDE.
The life of this queen is but a relation of her misfortunes. She is not the only woman to whom misery has been a monument—to whom the tranquillity of private life would have been oblivion—and to whom the gifts of fortune have brought sorrow and celebrity. The precise date of her birth is not known. She was the daughter of Desiderio or Didier, as he is generally named by our writers. King of the Lombards, and his Queen Ansa. Desiderio was born at Brescia of noble race, and had succeeded to the throne of Lombardy by the testament of Astolfo, the last monarch of the dynasty of Alboinus. Desiderio was a renowned general, and also a zealous defender of the Christian church, which at that time was not so firmly established as to need no support from the temporal powers.
Charlemagne ascended the throne of France in 768; two years after, his mother Bertrade, making a journey into Italy, was struck by the flourishing state of Desiderio's kingdom, as well as by the beauty and attractive charms of his daughter Ermengarde. She then formed the plan of a double marriage with this family, allotting Ermengarde to Charlemagne, and her own Ciola to Adelchi, son of Desiderio. This scheme was opposed by the existing Pope, Stephen the Third, who used many arguments to dissuade France from the connection. The influence of Bertrade, however, prevailed, and she had the satisfaction of taking home with her the young princess, for whom she cherished so warm an affection.
At first everything was done to bring pleasure and happiness to the young queen; the particular friendship subsisting between her and her mother-in-law has been commemorated by Manzoni in beautiful and touching poetry. A terrible reverse, however, awaited her. Charlemagne, from causes impossible now to ascertain, repudiated her, and sent her ignominiously back to her family. His mother and his nearest kinsman remonstrated, and entreated him to revoke this cruel mandate, but in vain. After a year of deceptive happiness, Hermengarde returned to the court of Lombardy. Her father and brother received her with the utmost tenderness. Unfortunately their just indignation at the unmerited disgrace of the young princess, induced them to attempt a fruitless vengeance against one too decidedly superior in power for any petty sovereign to cope with. A plan was set on foot to bring forward another claimant to the throne of France, to the succession of which, in modern days of direct inheritance, Charlemagne would not be considered wholly eligible. For this purpose armies were raised, and secret alliances courted.
In the mean time Ermengarde received intelligence that her faithless husband had just united himself to the young and lovely Ildegarde. This was to her a death-blow. She retired to a monastery founded by her parents, and of which her sister Anoperge was abbess. Here her existence was soon terminated. She died in 773.