In 855 King Æthelwulf of Wessex made a pilgrimage to Rome, and on his way back in 856 he stayed at the court of the West Frankish king Charles the Bald. In July Æthelwulf became engaged to Charles's daughter, Judith, who was twelve or thirteen years old, while Æthelwulf was probably in his mid-fifties. On 1 October 856 they were married at Verberie in northern France. The marriage was a diplomatic alliance: both men were suffering from Viking attacks, and for Æthelwulf the union had the advantage of associating him with Carolingian prestige. In addition, the wedding was considered an extraordinary event by contemporaries, as by modern historians. Carolingian princesses rarely married and were usually sent to nunneries, and it was almost unknown for them to marry foreigners. Judith was crowned queen and anointed by Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims; in Wessex it was not customary for kings' wives to be queens, but Charles insisted that his daughter be crowned queen. Although empresses had been anointed before, this is the first definitely known anointing of a Carolingian queen. In addition, West Saxon custom was that the wife of a king of Wessex could not be called queen or sit on the throne with her husband—she was merely the king's wife. Judith was a "cultivated lady" like most Frankish princesses of the time, and her queenship probably brought the "aura of the Carolingian monarchy" to the court of Wessex. The marriage provoked a rebellion by Æthelwulf's eldest surviving son, Æthelbald, probably because he feared displacement by a higher-born half-brother. However, father and son negotiated a compromise under which Æthelwulf received the eastern districts of the kingdom and Æthelbald the western. It is not known whether this meant that Æthelwulf took Kent and Æthelbald Wessex, or whether Wessex itself was divided.
Controversial remarriage
Judith had no children by Æthelwulf, who died on 13 January 858. She then married the new king, her stepson Æthelbald, who probably intended to enhance his status because she was the daughter of the West Frankish king. The marriage was condemned by Asser in his Life of Alfred the Great:
Once King Æthelwulf was dead, Æthelbald, his son, against God's prohibition and Christian dignity, and also contrary to the practice of all pagans, took over his father's marriage-bed and married Judith, daughter of Charles, king of the Franks, incurring great disgrace from all who heard of it.
Judith was still childless when Æthelbald died in 860 after a reign of two-and-a-half years.
Widowhood
Following Æthelbald's death, Judith sold her properties in Wessex and returned to France. According to the Chronicle of St. Bertin, her father sent her to the Monastery at Senlis, where she was to remain "under his protection and royal episcopal guardianship, with all the honour due to a queen, until such time as, if she could not remain chaste, she might marry in the way the apostle said, that is suitably and legally." Presumably, Charles may have intended to arrange another marriage for his daughter.
Elopement
Around Christmas 861, Judith eloped with a count named Baldwin. The two were likely married unofficially in the Flemish city of Harelbeke at this time. The record of the incident in the Annals depicts Judith not as the passive victim of bride theft but as an active agent, eloping at the instigation of Baldwin and apparently with her brother Louis the Stammerer's consent. Unsurprisingly, Judith's father was furious and ordered his bishops to excommunicate the couple. They later fled to the court of Judith's cousin Lothair II of Lotharingia for protection, before going to Pope Nicholas I to plead their case. The pope took diplomatic action and asked Judith's father to accept the union as legally binding and welcome the young couple into his circle—which ultimately he did. The couple then returned to France and were officially married at Auxerre on 13 December 862. Baldwin was given the March of Flanders to ward off Viking attacks. It is disputed among historians as to whether King Charles did this in the hope that Baldwin would be killed in the ensuing battles with the Vikings; however, Baldwin managed the situation remarkably well. He succeeded in quelling the Viking threat, expanded both his army and his territory quickly, and became a faithful supporter of King Charles. Judith's children by Baldwin I of Flanders included:
