Adela of France, known also as Adela the Holy or Adela of Messines; (1009 – 8 January 1079, Messines) was, by marriage,

Duchess of Normandy The Duchess of Normandy was the wife of the Duke of Normandy. Duchess of Normandy First Creation House of Normandy, 911–1135 House of Blois, 1135–1154 House of Plantagenet, 1144–1204 Second Creation House of Valois, 13 ...

(January – August 1027), and

Countess of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the c ...

(1035–1067).

Family

Adela was the second daughter of King

Robert II of France Robert II ( 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious () or the Wise (), was List of French monarchs, King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his father on military matters ...

and

Constance of Arles Constance of Arles ( 986 – 28 July 1032), also known as Constance of Provence, was Queen of France as the third wife of King Robert II of France. Life Born Constance was the daughter of William I of Provence, William I, Count of Provence and A ...

. Adela married Count Baldwin V of Flanders in 1028.

Countess of Flanders

Adela managed to gain influence in the policy of Flanders, through her family connections, and was described as very proud of her rank, a pride she passed on to her children. She had been given a higher education than normal for a woman by monks from the St Peter's convent in Ghent and could speak and read Latin, which she taught to her children. It is evident that she was an active political partner of her spouse. Half of the charters issued by him are co-signed by her (often with the title "Sister to the King of France"), which was far from a given thing for a consort. She was particularly active within church reform, such as enforcing the

clerical celibacy Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because thes ...

. On the death of her brother, King Henry I, the guardianship of his seven-year-old son King

Philip I Philip(p) I may refer to: * Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC) * Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC) * Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor * Philip I of France (1052–1108) * Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) ( ...

fell jointly on his widow,

Anne of Kiev Anne of Kiev or Anna Yaroslavna ( 1030 – 1075) was a princess of Kievan Rus who became Queen of France in 1051 upon marrying King Henry I of France, Henry I. She ruled the kingdom as regent during the minority of their son Philip I of France, ...

, and on his brother-in-law, Adela's husband, so that from 1060 to 1067, they were regents of France. Adela had a strong interest in Baldwin V's church reforms and was behind her husband's founding of several

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

es. Directly or indirectly, she was responsible for establishing the Colleges of Aire (1049), Lille (1050) and Harelbeke (1064) as well as the abbeys of Messines (1057) and Ename (1063).

Monastic life

After Baldwin's death in 1067, she went to Rome, took the nun's veil from the hands of

Pope Alexander II Pope Alexander II (1010/1015 – 21 April 1073), born Anselm of Baggio, was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1061 to his death in 1073. Born in Milan, Anselm was deeply involved in the Pataria reform mo ...

and retired to the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

convent of Messines, near

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

. In 1071, Adela's third son, Robert the Frisian, planned to invade Flanders even though at that time the count of Flanders was Adela's grandson, Arnulf III. When she heard about Robert's plans, she asked

to stop him. Philip sent soldiers to support Arnulf including a contingent of ten Norman knights led by William FitzOsborn. Robert's forces attacked Arnulf's numerically superior army at Cassel before it could organize, and Arnulf was killed along with William FitzOsborn. Robert's overwhelming victory led to Philip making peace with Robert and investing him as count. A year later, Philip married Robert's stepdaughter,

Bertha of Holland Bertha of Holland ( 1055 – 15 October 1094), also known as Berthe or Bertha of Frisia and erroneously as Berta or Bertrada, was Queen of France from 1072 until 1092, as the first wife of King Philip I of France. Bertha's marriage to the king ...

, and in 1074, Philip restored the seigneurie of Corbie to the crown. Adela died in the convent of Messines and was buried at the convent. Honoured as a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, her commemoration day is 8 September.

Family

Adela married, in 1028,

Baldwin V, Count of Flanders Baldwin V ( 1012 – 1 September 1067) was Count of Flanders from 1035 until his death. He secured the personal union between the counties of Flanders and Hainaut and maintained close links to the Anglo-Saxon monarchy, which was overthrown by ...

(died 1067). Their children were: *

Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders Baldwin VI ( 1030 – 17 July 1070), also known as Baldwin the Good, was the count of Hainaut from 1051 to 1070 (as Baldwin I) and count of Flanders from 1067 to 1070. Baldwin was the eldest son of Baldwin V of Flanders and Adela of France, Ade ...

(–1070) * Matilda of Flanders (–1083). In she married William, Duke of Normandy, the future King of England and had issue. *

Robert I, Count of Flanders Robert I ( – 13 October 1093), known as Robert the Frisian, was count of Flanders from 1071 until his death in 1093. He was a son of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, and the younger brother of Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders. He usurped the countsh ...

(–1093).

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{s-end 1009 births 1079 deaths 11th-century French nobility 11th-century French women 11th-century French people 11th-century Norman women 11th-century Normans Countesses of Flanders Duchesses of Normandy French princesses House of Capet House of Normandy

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

Daughters of kings Remarried duchesses consort