Adelaide of Holland ( nl, Aleide (Aleidis) ; – buried 9 April 1284), Countess of Hainaut, was a Dutch regent. She was a daughter of

Floris IV, Count of Holland Floris IV (24 June 1210 – 19 July 1234) was the count of Holland from 1222 to 1234. He was born in The Hague, a son of William I of Holland and his first wife, Adelaide of Guelders. Floris succeeded his father in 1222. His regent was Baldwin o ...

and

Matilda of Brabant Matilda of Brabant (14 June 1224 – 29 September 1288) was the eldest daughter of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and his first wife Marie of Hohenstaufen. Marriages and children On 14 June 1237, which was her 13th birthday, Matilda married her f ...

. She was also a sister of William II,

Count of Holland The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century. House of Holland The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...

and

King of Germany This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the collapse of the German Empir ...

. She acted as regent for her nephew Count Floris V during his minority.

Life

On 9 October 1246, Adelaide married

John I of Avesnes John of Avesnes (1 May 1218 – 24 December 1257) was the count of Hainaut from 1246 to his death. Life Born in Houffalize, John was the eldest son of Margaret II of Flanders by her first husband, Bouchard IV of Avesnes. As the marriage of Marg ...

Count of Hainaut The Count of Hainaut (; ; ) was the ruler of the county of Hainaut, a historical region in the Low Countries (including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany). In English-la ...

. Like her mother, she was a patron of religious houses. Her religious interest is reflected in that three of her sons became bishops, and her one daughter became an abbess. She also insisted on a bilingual education for them. Between 1258 and 1263, Adelaide was

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of Holland in the name of her nephew

Floris V Floris V (24 June 1254 – 27 June 1296) reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler. He is credited with a mostly peaceful reign, moder ...

. She called herself Guardian of Holland and Zeeland (Tutrix de Hollandie et Zeelandie). After he came of age, she continued to advise him. She died in 1284 at

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, but in 1299, with the death of Floris' son

John I John I may refer to: People * John I (bishop of Jerusalem) * John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople * John of Antioch (died 441) * Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526 * John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna * John I o ...

, it was her own son John II who inherited Holland through her. She gave

Town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

, which afterward had the right to be called a city. In it, she founded

Te Riviere Castle Te Riviere Castle (also known as ''Huis Mathenesse'') is a ruinous castle located in Schiedam, Netherlands. Location and Name Location The first reference to the place was in 1268 as (House on the new Schie). The new Schie was the extension ...

, which was then the second-largest castle in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

. She ordered the construction of the

Schielands Hoge Zeedijk Schielands Hoge Zeedijk, formerly called ''Hoogendijk'' ("high dike") is a Dutch dike in the province of South Holland that stretches from the Schie at Schiedam to the Gouwe (rivier), Gouwe near Gouda, South Holland, Gouda. Constructed in the 13th c ...

, which today continues to protect 3 million inhabitants in a wide area around Rotterdam.

Jacob van Maerlant Jacob van Maerlant (c. 1230–40 – c. 1288–1300) was a Flemish poet of the 13th century and one of the most important Middle Dutch authors during the Middle Ages. Biography Jacob van Maerlant was born near Bruges. He becam ...

dedicated his first poem, ''Geesten'', to Adelaide.

Issue

With John I, she had the following issue: #

John II, Count of Hainaut John II (1247 – 22 August 1304) was Count of Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland. Life John II, born 1247, was the eldest son of John I of Hainaut and Adelaide of Holland.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der ...

and

(1247–1304) #Baldwin (born after 1247, lived in 1299) #Joanna, abbess of Flines (died 1304) #Bouchard,

Bishop of Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Es ...

(1251–1296) # Guy,

Bishop of Utrecht List of bishops and archbishops of the diocese and archdioceses of Utrecht. Medieval diocese from 695 to 1580 Founders of the Utrecht diocese * * * * * Bishops * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

(1253–1317) #William,

Bishop of Cambrai The Archdiocese of Cambrai ( la, Archdiocesis Cameracensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Cambrai'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France, comprising the arrondissements of Avesnes-sur-Help ...

(1254–1296) # Floris,

stadholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and H ...

of Zeeland and

Prince of Achaea The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). Though more or less autonomous, the principality was never a fully independent s ...

(1255–1297)

References

Sources

External links

Aleid van Holland
at the Institute of Netherlands History (Dutch)

Letters from and to Aleid collected and translated by Professor Joan Ferrante of Columbia University {{DEFAULTSORT:Adelaide of Holland 13th-century women rulers 1230 births 1284 deaths Countesses of Hainaut Avesnes family

Life

Issue

See also

References

Sources

External links