[Emperor Louis II, Chronicon Casauriense, Johannes Berardi, 12th century]
[Source: Wikimedia Commons]
Though she had no sons, which for most queens would mean decline into obscurity, Angelberga remained a powerful player on the political stage after her husband’s death in 875. She presided over the council that decided who would succeed Louis as Holy Roman Emperor. No one ignored her power and several courted her help by confirming her lands and titles. In the 880, the council decided on Charles the Fat, no ally of Angelberga, but no enemy of hers either. He was wary enough of her to imprison her in a monastery until he felt secure enough to release her in 882. She then retired to another monastery, her own this time. She didn’t take vows though and continued to involve herself in politics until 887, after which point there is no record of her.
*Also spelled Engelberga and Angilberga
**We have the word of a single writer who claims to have fourth-hand knowledge that she tried to seduce one Hucbald. Considering that the story reads like someone took a common accusation against noblewomen and queens and replaced the names to fit his purposes, the fact that he has it fourth-hand, and the fact that the writer was one of her political enemies, it seems highly likely that the entire story is false. As for the rebellion, well, you sound a lot better if you call her arrogant than if you say “I wanted more power.”
Stafford, Pauline. Queens, Concubines, and Dowagers: The King's Wife in the Early Middle Ages. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1983.
Angelberga - Epistolae: Medieval Women's Latin Letters [Note: this website includes some of Pope John VIII's letters to her]