Ermengard of Provence

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Ermengard (also Ermengarda, Ermengarde, or Irmingard) was the only daughter of Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor. In 876, she married Boso V, Count of Vienne, who declared himself King of Provence in 879.

In May 878, she and her husband sheltered Pope John VIII, who was taking refuge from the Saracens, in Arles. After her husband's coup d'état in October 879, she helped defend his cities from her Carolingian relatives. In 880, she successfully defended Vienne itself, the capital, from the combined forces of Charles the Fat and the kings of France, Louis III and Carloman. In August 881, the newly-crowned Emperor Charles the Fat pillaged and burned Vienne, focing Ermengard and her children to take refuge in Autun with her brother-in-law Richard, Duke of Burgundy. Meanwhile, Boso fled into Provence.

On Boso's death in January 887, the Provençal barons elected Ermengard to act as his regent, with the support of Richard. In May, Ermengard travelled with her son Louis to the court of Charles the Fat, and received his recognition of the young Louis as king. Charles adopted Louis as his son and put both mother and son under his protection. In May 889, she travelled to Charles' successor, Arnulf, to make submission anew.

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