Ada ( – 1234/37) was Countess regnant of

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 provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

between 1203 and 1207, ruling jointly with her husband, Louis II of Loon. She was deposed and exiled by her paternal uncle,

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

.Marion van Bussel,
Ada van Holland
in Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland, 13/01/2014 (in Dutch)

Family

Ada was the only surviving daughter of Count Dirk VII of Holland and his wife Adelaide of Cleves. Huwelijk Ada van Holland met Lodewijk II met stervende Dirk VII van Holland

Huwelijk Ada van Holland met Lodewijk II met stervende Dirk VII van Holland

She succeeded her father but immediately had to deal with her uncle

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, who claimed Holland for his own. Ada married Count Louis II of Loon to strengthen her position. She was in such a hurry, that she married even before her father was buried, which caused a scandal.Ada van Holland
in Inghist (English) These events led to the outbreak of the Loon War (1203–1206).

Succession struggle

Ada was quickly captured by the supporters of William and taken prisoner in the citadel of

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

. She was first imprisoned on the island of

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

and afterwards she was taken to John Lackland in the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

. William had to accept Louis and Ada as count and countess at a treaty of

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

in 1206. Louis managed to free Ada in 1206, and the couple returned to Loon in 1207. Their reign was short-lived, since Emperor

Otto IV Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart, who made him Count of Poitou in 1196 ...

regarded William to have more right to the title Count of Holland in 1208. Ada did not accept the loss of her county, and she and Louis continued the fight. Ada remained childless. Louis died in 1218, leaving Ada to live out the rest of her life in obscurity. She was buried next to her husband in Herkenrode Abbey. The civil war in Holland became part of a major international war with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...

dynasty on one side and England and the Welfs on the other. William could get Holland through good manoeuvring between both sides. Ada and Louis had to give up their claims. Many period histories up to the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

do not include her in the list of rulers of Holland.

Family

Succession struggle

References

Further reading