Pope Stephen III
Very little is known of Gerberga. Her family and background are otherwise unknown: references to her being a daughter of Desiderius appear to be based upon confusion between herself and her sister-in-law, the Lombard princess Desiderata, who had married Carloman's brother, Charlemagne, as part of a pact between the Franks and the Lombards. That she in fact was a Frank is attested by Pope Stephen III: when the Pope, hearing of the marriage between Desiderata and Charlemagne, wrote a scolding letter to Carloman and Charlemagne, he claimed to the pair that "by your father's [i.e. Pepin the Short] explicit order, you were united in marriage to beautiful Frankish women..."