Judith, Countess of Flanders
Up to this time in Wessex they did not allow queens. The king's wife was just that, the king's wife. When Æthelwulf first ordered his new queen to sit beside him it caused concern among his people. In Wessex there were old superstitions regarding the evil of having a queen. But his order was obeyed without any objections from his nobles. Judith had no children by Æthelwulf, who died in 858. He was succeeded by his son Æthelbald, who married Judith, his step-mother. The marriage was condemned by Asser as well as, according to him, all who heard of it. Two and a half years later Æthelbald died leaving her a widow a second time.