| Notes |
- She married Stephen II Henry, Comte de Blois, son of Thibaud III, Comte de Blois and Gersende de Maine, in 1080 at Breteuil, France, in a, and again in 1081 at the Chartres Cathedral marriage. She was buried at Abbey of the Holy Trinity, Caen, Normandy, France.
She was a nun circa 1122 at Cluniac Priory, Marcigny-sur-Loire, France. She has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.
Dictionary of National Biography
Adela 1062?-1137, mother of Stephen, king of England, and the fourth, and probably the youngest, daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, was born about 1062. Her beauty and valour in her early years are described by many contemporary Norman chroniclers. While she was still a child she was affianced to Simon Crispin, earl of Amiens, the son and heir of Ralph, earl of Valois and Mantes, who received his military training at the court of William the Conqueror. But soon after his father's death in 1074 Simon fell into a settled melancholy; and on being summoned in 1077 to marry Adela, he refused, and withdrew to a monastery. But already in 1075 Adela had been demanded in marriage by Stephen, earl of Meaux and Brie, son and heir of Theobald, earl of Blois and Chartres, a powerful neighbour of William the Conqueror in Normandy; and although Stephen's suit had at first been unfavourably received, it was repeated in 1080, and readily accepted by William and his nobles. Adela was married in the same year at Breteuil, and the ceremony was repeated with much splendour at Chartres, the chief town in her father-in-law's dominion. Baldric of Anjou, abbot of Bourgeuil, and other courtly poets, speak of her at the time as being her father's equal in bravery, a Latin and Greek scholar, and a generous patron of poetry, at which she was herself an adept (Histoire Littéraire de la France, vii. 152, ix. 131).
In 1090, on the death of Theobald, her husband's father, Stephen succeeded to his rule, and Adela played an active part in public life. In most of the charters issued by Stephen her name was mentioned, and an inscription, until recently legible, on a gate at Blois testifies to a grant of privileges to the town from Stephen the Earl and Adela the Countess conjointly. Disputes between monasteries, and ecclesiastical affairs generally, she seems to have controlled by her own authority, with the aid of her intimate friend Ivo, bishop of Chartres. It was through her energy and beneficence that the cathedral of Chartres was rebuilt in stone, and freed from all taxation on condition that anniversary services should be performed for ever in honour of her husband and herself. With Hildebert, bishop of Mans, she maintained throughout her married life very friendly relations, and many of his letters to her on ecclesiastical subjects are still extant. In 1095 her husband, at her desire, left Blois to join the first crusade, and she was nominated regent in his absence. At the moment she was much occupied with domestic duties. A large family was growing up about her, and although she sent her two eldest sons, William and Theobald, to a monastic school at Orleans, the rest she zealously educated herself. But she contrived to perform her public business with due thoroughness. In you, wrote Bishop Hildebert to her, is all that is needed to guide the helm of the state. She aided Louis VI of France with a hundred soldiers, equipped under her supervision, to repress a rebellion about 1096. In 1097 she entertained Anselm, while passing from England to Rome during his quarrel with her brother William II, and became his pupil in order to benefit her children by the instruction she obtained of him. In 1098 Adela was taken seriously ill, and she piously attributed her recovery to the intercession of St. Agiles, before whose shrine, in a chapel of Resbac in La Brie, she had her couch placed at a very critical moment of her sickness. About 1099 her husband returned home; he had behaved with doubtful courage in an attempt to raise the siege of Antioch, and Adela resented his disgrace. In 1101 she induced him to join William, earl of Poitou, in a second expedition to the Holy Land, where he was slain fighting at the siege of Ramula.
After her husband's death, Adela continued in the regency in behalf of her sons, all of whom were still in their minority; she frequently, however, associated their names, and especially that of Theobald, the second son and deemed by her the most able of her children, with her own in official documents. Between 1103 and 1105 Anselm was often her guest. He stayed with her from the spring to the autumn of 1103, and when he, with Eadmer, came from Rome to Blois some months later, he stated to Adela his grounds of dispute about investitures with her brother, Henry I. She attempted to arbitrate between them; she summoned Henry and Anselm to meet her at the castle of L'Aigle in Normandy, and there a temporary reconciliation was arranged. On 24 May 1105, Anselm, in a letter to the pope, praises highly Adela's skill in the mediation. About the same time the countess granted an asylum at her court to Agnes of Ponthieux, the ill-used wife of the Norman baron, Robert of Belesme. In 1107 Adela was engaged in a quarrel with Ivo of Chartres, as to the qualifications for admission to the chief monastery of his diocese, and Pope Pascal, who had been visiting the king of France, came to Adela at Chartres to settle the dispute. Anselm had already addressed him in the countess's behalf, but Pascal decided the question in favour of Ivo. Nevertheless Adela gave him a sumptuous reception, and he celebrated Easter in her dominions. In 1108 Adela received Boemund of Antioch, an enthusiastic crusader, and at her earnest request he celebrated his marriage with Constance, daughter of Philip I of France, at Chartres. Later in 1108 Hugh of Puiset, a powerful neighbour, attacked Adela, and she, with her son Theobald, went to Paris to demand aid of Philip I. The request was granted, and Hugh was defeated by the joint forces of France and Blois. In 1109 Adela resigned the government to Theobald. She passed over her eldest son William as mentally and physically Theobald's inferior. In accordance with a previous suggestion of Anselm, she spent the last years of her life in a convent. She took the veil at the Cluniac priory of Marcigny on the Loire, in the diocese of Autun. But the countess for some years afterwards still exerted herself in public affairs. She induced Count Theobald to ally himself with his uncle Henry I against France in 1117-8. She continued to bestow munificent gifts on monasteries and churches, especially on that of Ste. Foy at Colomiers, her favourite retreat; and she settled many clerical disputes. She urged Hugh of Fleury to write his valuable chronicle of French history, which was dedicated to her niece, the Empress Matilda, after her death. She corresponded with Hildebert of Mans, and visited Thurstan, archbishop of York, when he passed through France to appeal to Rome in his quarrel with the archbishop of Canterbury; in 1135 she received from Peter, abbot of Clugny, a full account of the death of her brother, Henry I. She died in 1187 at the age of about seventy-five, and was buried at Caen beside her mother and her sister Cecilia in the abbey of the Holy Trinity. Her grave bore the inscription Adela, filia regis.
Of Adela's children, William, the eldest son, played a very unimportant part in history. Theobald, her successor, proved a capable ruler; he named his only daughter Adela, and she became the wife of Louis VII of France, and mother of Philip Augustus. The countess in 1114 sent Stephen, her third son, to the court of Henry I, and she lived long enough to see him crowned king of England. Her sons, Henry and Philip, she devoted to the church, and the former became an eminent bishop of Winchester, while the latter held the see of Chalons. Another son, Humbert, died young, and of a seventh, Eudo, mentioned in one of Adela's charters, nothing is known beyond the name. Of Adela's daughters, Matilda married Ralph, earl of Chester, and, with her husband and her cousin Prince William, was drowned in the White Ship in 1120. Adela married Milo de Brai, lord of Montlheri and viscount of Troyes, a marriage that Ivo of Chartres subsequently annulled on the ground of consanguinity. Some authorities mention two other daughters, Alice, who became the wife of Reynald III, earl of Joigni, and Eleanora, the wife of Raoul, earl of Vermandois (L'Art de vérifier, xi. 362-3).
Sources:
Ordericus Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica, is the chief contemporary authority. The best account of Adela's life will be found in Mrs. Green's Lives of the Princesses of England, i. 34-72, where very full references to all the original authorities are given
see also Freeman's Norman Conquest, iii. and iv., and his William Rufus.
Contributor: S. L. [Sidney Lee]
Published: 1885
Adela of Normandy also known as Adela of Blois and Adela of England (c. 1062 or 1067 - 8 March 1137) was, by marriage, Countess of Blois, Chartres, and Meaux. She was a daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. She was also the mother of Stephen, King of England and Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester.
Family
Her birthdate is generally believed to have been between 1060 and 1064; however, there is some evidence she was born after her father's accession to the English throne in 1066. She was the favourite sister of King Henry I of England; they were probably the youngest of the Conqueror's children. Adela was a high-spirited and educated woman, with a knowledge of Latin.
Marriage
She married Stephen Henry, son and heir to the count of Blois, in 1080[1]. Stephen inherited Blois, Chartres and Meaux in 1089, and owned over 300 properties, making him one of the wealthiest men of his day. He was a pious and revered leader who managed huge areas of France which he inherited from his father and added to by his sharp administrations. He was, essentially a king in his own right. Stephen-Henry joined the First Crusade, along with his brother-in-law Robert Curthose. Stephen's letters to Adela form a uniquely intimate insight into the experiences of the Crusade's leaders. The Count of Blois returned to France in 1100 bringing with him several cartloads of maps, jewels and other treasures, which he deposited at Chartres. He was, however, under an obligation to the pope for agreements made years earlier and returned to Antioch to participate in the crusade of 1101. He was ultimately killed in an ill-advised charge at the Battle of Ramla.
Issue
Adela and Stephen's children are listed here as follows. Their birth order is uncertain.
William, Count of Sully married Agnes of Sully (d. aft 1104) and had issue
Odo of Blois, aka Humbert. died young
Theobald II, aka Thibaud IV Count of Champagne
Lithuise, Lady of Montlhéry (d. 1118) married Milo I of Montlhéry(Divorced 1115)
King Stephen of England, married Matilda of Boulogne
Lucia-Mahaut, Countess of Chester, married Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester. Both drowned on 25 November 1120
Philip (d. 1100) Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne
Agnes de Puiset, married Hugh de Puiset and were parents to Hugh de Puiset
Alix of Joigni (d. 1145) married Renaud III of Joigni (d.1134) & had issue
Henry, Bishop of Winchester b.1101- d. 1171 oblate child raised at Cherite sur Loire (Cluny Abbey) 1103
Eléonore, Countess of Vermandois (d. 1147) married Raoul I of Vermandois (d.1152) and had issue, they were divorced in 1142
Regent
Adela filled in as regent for her husband's duties during his extended absence as a leader of the First Crusade (1095-1098). During the expedition he wrote her two letters containing news about the crusaders' activities. He returned to Blois and ruled his vast holdings until he was asked to fulfill an earlier pledge to defend Jerusalem. He was killed in an ill-advised battle charge at Ramalah in 1101 during this second expedition. Adela again acted as regent after her husband's death. Orderic Vitalis praises her as a "wise and spirited woman" who ably governed her husband's estates and her own. Her combined estates in 1102-1110 nearly exceeded the wealth of the King of France at that time.
Adela, a devout Benedictine sympathizer, employed several high-ranking tutors to educate her children including troubadour poets, as well as Peter Abelard and Peter of Morlait. Her youngest son, Henry, was conceived during the single year Stephen was in France between crusading duties. At two years of age Henry was pledged to the Church at Cluny, Chreit sur Loire as an Oblate child. Henry turned out to be a great genius, who went on to be appointed Abbot of Glastonbury and Bishop of Winchester which eventually made him far more powerful than the king and wealthier than anyone in England. In that capacity he sponsored hundreds of constructions including bridges, canals, palaces, forts, castles and whole villages. In addition, Bishop Henry built dozens of abbeys and chapels and sponsored books including the treasured Winchester Bible.
Adela quarrelled with her eldest son William, who was described by unsympathetic authors, as: "deficient in intelligence as well as degenerate". Recent research indicates that he was boisterous and prone to violent bouts of temper but was not degenerate or retarded. Adela appointed his younger brother Theobald to replace him as heir in 1107. Her son Stephen moved to London in 1111 to join his uncle's court and became the favorite of his uncle King Henry I (Beauclerc). Upon Beauclerc's death in Normandy (1135), Stephen of Blois seized the English throne. He was crowned King when his cousin Empress Matilda failed to act quickly. This action led to numerous battles and an era known as "The Anarchy."
Adela retired to Marcigny Convent in 1120. Later that same year, her daughter Lucia-Mahaut, was drowned in the wreck of the White Ship alongside her husband. Adela lived long enough to see her son Stephen on the English throne, and took pride in the ascension of her youngest child Henry Blois to the bishopric of Winchester. She died on 8 March 1137 in Marsilly, Poitou-Charentes, France.
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1062 - 1137 (75 years)
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