Research Notes:

The Annales Laureshamenses record the death in 724 of "Hortrudis". The Annales Mosellani record the death in 725 of "Chrothrud". Settipani quotes a name list in the Liber confraternitatum augiensis which reads in part "Karolus maior domus, Pippin rex…Karolus imperator…Ruadtrud, Ruadheid, Svanahild regina, Bertha regina, Hiltikart regina, Fastrat regina, Liutkart regina…". He makes the obvious links between "Karolus maior domus…Svanahild regina", "Pippin rex…Bertha regina" and "Karolus imperator…Hiltikart regina, Fastrat regina, Liutkart regina", deducing that "Ruadtrud, Ruadheid" must also be linked logically to "Karolus maior domus" because of the order in which the names are listed. The Annales Petaviani record the death in 725 of "Chrotrudis" but do not specify that she was Charles’s wife. ¹

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"...Rotrude is believed to be the daughter of Lambert, Count of Hesbaye, although this designation is not without controversy, as discussed below. She is also referred to as Rotrude of Treves.

Traditionally, the information available about the family background of Rotrude was the indication that Wido (Guy), Count of Hornbach and Lay Abbot of Fontenelle, was a propinquus of Martel. This kinship term, vague enough, means a close relationship with women: a brother, a cousin by women or a cousin by marriage. Wido is the brother of Milo, Bishop of Trier, and son of Saint Leudwinus, Bishop of Trier.

Christian Settipani, in his seminal work on the ancestors of Charlemagne, details an analysis by Anton Halbedel, first issued in 1915, and echoed by historians Jean Depoin, Maurice Chaume and Szabolcs Vajay. According to this analysis, the word propinquus implies "brother", so that Wido was Rotrude’s brother. Rotrude has therefore often been identified as the daughter of Saint Leudwinus.

However, in Settipani’s Addendum to the Ancestors of Charlemagne, he returns to this problem, reflecting thoughts of medieval history professor Richard Gerberding, who believed that Rotrude’s background was related directly to the Robertians. He noted that Charles Martel had three wives and that Wido may be a relative of the other two.

Settipani concludes that Rotrude was the daughter of Lambert, Count of Hesbaye, and so sister of Robert I, Duke of Neustria. In addition, Rotrude’s sister was named Landrada and was married to Sigramnus, Count of Hesbaye.... ²