Elizabeth of Blois, sometimes Isabelle of Blois ( – after 1175), was a French noblewoman, the duchess of Apulia by marriage (1143–1149) and a nun at

Fontevraud Fontevraud-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the western French department of Maine-et-Loire. It is situated both in the Loire Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an interna ...

Lineage and marriage negotiations

Elizabeth was born around 1130. She was a daughter of Count

Theobald IV of Blois Theobald is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Normans. The name occurs in many spelling variations, including Theudebald, Diepold, Theobalt, Tybal ...

, a niece of King

Stephen of England Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne '' jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 u ...

and a great-granddaughter of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

. According to

Alberic of Trois-Fontaines Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (french: Aubri or ''Aubry de Trois-Fontaines''; la, Albericus Trium Fontium) (died 1252) was a medieval Cistercian chronicler who wrote in Latin. He was a monk of Trois-Fontaines Abbey in the diocese of Châlons-sur-M ...

, she was Theobald's third daughter. Her illustrious lineage made her a suitable match for a king's daughter. By 1140, she was betrothed to Duke

Roger III of Apulia Roger III (1118 – 2 or 12 May 1148) was the eldest son of King Roger II of Sicily and Elvira of Castile (Sicilian queen), Elvira of Castile. He was the Duke of Apulia from 1134 until his death. Roger's first public act took place at Melfi in 11 ...

, eldest son and heir of King

Roger II of Sicily Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Rog ...

. During the negotiations for the marriage, Theobald received an "exquisite"

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dy ...

rock crystal ewer, which he later gave to Abbot

Suger Suger (; la, Sugerius; 1081 – 13 January 1151) was a French abbot, statesman, and historian. He once lived at the court of Pope Calixtus II in Maguelonne, France. He later became abbot of St-Denis, and became a close confidant to King Lo ...

and is now the Ewer of Saint-Denis in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. It is very likely that

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...

acted as mediator in the marriage negotiations. He had previously mediated between Roger II and Pope

Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

, which bore fruit in the

treaty of Mignano The Treaty of Mignano of 1139 was the treaty which ended more than a decade of constant war in the Italian Mezzogiorno following the union of the mainland duchy of Apulia and Calabria with the County of Sicily in 1127. In 1130, Antipope Anacletus ...

of 1139. According to a surviving letter of Bernard to Roger II, dated to August 1140, the Sicilian envoys were expected soon to arrive in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. From there, they would escort the bride and some

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monks back to Sicily. Three further letters from Bernard to Roger deal with the foundation of the first Cistercian monastery in southern Italy, which seems to have been a kind of payment for Bernard's mediation. The monastery of may be the foundation in question, although this is not certain.

First marriage

Elizabeth probably arrived in Sicily in 1141. Her marriage, however, seems to have been delayed. In early 1143, Roger II was negotiating with the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

for a better marriage alliance. By late 1143, however, Roger III and Elizabeth had been married. She took the title "duchess" after her marriage. Although Roger had already fathered two children out of wedlock, there is no record he had any with Elizabeth. Elizabeth may have had a brief reunion with some of her family when her brother,

Henry the Liberal Henry I (December 1127 – March 16, 1181), known as the Liberal, was count of Champagne from 1152 to 1181. He was the eldest son of Count Theobald II of Champagne, who was also count of Blois, and his wife, Matilda of Carinthia. Biography Henr ...

, stopped in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

on his return voyage from the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1145–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusa ...

in late 1148. She may also have played a role in acquiring the porphyry for her father's tomb, since Roger II had a similar tomb of porphyry. Her husband died unexpectedly on 2 May 1149, and Elizabeth returned to France. She continued to use the title of duchess until her death.

Second marriage and retirement

Between about 1150 and 1155, Elizabeth married

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

, lord of . According to Alberic, they had two daughters: Matilda, who married Hervé III of Donzy, and Agnes, who married Rotrou of Montfort. Matilda was the mother of Count Hervé of Nevers. William died in the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

while on a pilgrimage in 1168. He was buried in the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

in Sebastia, the purported site of the tomb of John the Baptist. That year, Elizabeth made a donation to the cathedral for the sake of his soul. Their eldest daughter and her husband, Matilda and Hervé, succeeded to the lordship, but Elizabeth remained influential in the Perche-Gouët. Sometime after William's death, Elizabeth entered

Fontevraud Abbey The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault (in French: ''abbaye de Fontevraud'') was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preache ...

, where her sisters Margaret and Mary, widow of Duke Odo II of Burgundy, were already nuns. This probably took place between 1173, when she met her sister Matilda, wife of Count Rotrou IV of Perche, at Bonneval Abbey, and 1175, when Henry the Liberal made a grant to Fontevraud.This is the conclusion of , who had previously accepted the date of 1180 for her becoming a nun (see ). On her the meeting at Bonneval, see . Henry was persuaded by his brother, Archbishop William of Reims, to increase his original grant by 10 ''

livres The (; ; abbreviation: ₶.) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in Early Modern France. The 1262 monetary reform established the as 20 , or 80.88 gr ...

'' "because our sisters are nuns there". The

necrology An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

of the priory of lists the death under 13 August of "Lady Elizabeth, venerable nun, duchess, sister of the duchess Lady Mary" (''Domina Elisabeth, venerabilis monacha, ducissa, soror domine Marie ducissa'').

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{refend 1120s births 12th-century French women 12th-century French people Duchesses of Apulia Fontevraud Abbey