, Adelaide Of Susa

Adelaide of Susa or Adelaide of Turin (also Adelheid, Adelais, orAdeline; c.?1014/1020 – 19 December 1091)[1] was the Marchioness of Turinfrom 1034 to her death. She was the last of the Arduinici.

Early life
Born in Turin to Ulric Manfred II and Bertha around 1014/1020, Adelaide''searly life is not well known.[2] Adelaide had two younger sisters,Immilla and Bertha. She may also have had a brother, whose name is notknown, who predeceased her father.[3] Thus, on Ulric Manfred''s death (inDecember 1033 or 1034), the great margraviate was divided between histhree daughters, though the greatest part by far went to Adelaide.[4] Shereceived the property in the counties of Turin, especially in the SusaValley, Auriate, and Asti. Adelaide also inherited property, but probablynot comital authority, in Albenga, Alba, Bredulo and Ventimiglia.[5] Itis likely that Adelaide''s mother, Bertha, briefly acted as regent forAdelaide after Ulric Manfred''s death.

Marriages
Since the margravial title primarily had a military purpose at the time,it was thus was not considered suitable for a woman. Emperor Conrad IItherefore arranged a marriage between Adelaide and his stepson, HermanIV, in January 1037. Herman was then invested as margrave of Turin.[6]Herman died of the plague while fighting for Conrad II at Naples in July1038.

Adelaide remarried in order to secure her vast march. Probably in 1041,and certainly before 19 January 1042, Adelaide married Henry, Marquess ofMontferrat.[7] Henry died c.1045 and left Adelaide a widow for the secondtime. Immediately, a third marriage was undertaken, this time to Otto ofSavoy (1046).[2] With Otto she had three sons, Peter I, Amadeus II, andOtto. The couple also had two daughters, Bertha, who married Henry IV ofGermany, and Adelaide, who married Rudolf of Rheinfelden (who lateropposed Henry as King of Germany).

Widowhood and rule
After the death of her husband Otto, c.1057/60, Adelaide ruled the marchof Turin and the county of Savoy alongside her sons, Peter and Amadeus.
It is sometimes said that Adelaide abandoned Turin as a capital and beganto reside permanently at Susa. This is incorrect. Adelaide is documentedfar more frequently at the margravial palace in Turin than anywhereelse.[8]

In 1070 Adelaide captured and burned the city of Asti, which had rebelledagainst her.[9]

Relationship with empire
In 1069 Henry IV tried to repudiate Adelaide''s daughter, Bertha,[10]which caused Adelaide''s relationship with the imperial family to cool.However, through the intervention of Bertha, Henry received Adelaide''ssupport when he came to Italy to submit to Pope Gregory VII and Matildaof Tuscany at Canossa. In return for allowing him to travel through herlands, Henry gave Bugey to Adelaide.[11] Adelaide and her son Amadeusthen accompanied Henry IV and Bertha to Canossa, where Adelaide acted asan oath-helper, alongside Matilda and Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan,among others.[12] Bishop Benzo of Alba sent several letters to Adelaidebetween 1080 and 1082, encouraging her to support Henry IV in the Italianwars which formed part of the Investiture Controversy.[13] Adelaide''sdealings with Henry IV became closer after this. She offered to mediatebetween him and Matilda and Tuscany, and may even have joined him oncampaign.[14]

Relationship with the church
Adelaide made many donations to monasteries in the march of Turin. In1064 she founded the monastery of Santa Maria at Pinerolo.[15]
Adelaide received letters from many of the leading churchmen of the day,including Pope Alexander II, Peter Damian, and Pope Gregory VII.[13]These letters indicate that Adelaide sometimes supported Gregorianreform, but that at other times she did not. Peter Damian (writing in1064) and Gregory VII (writing in 1073), relied upon Adelaide to enforceclerical celibacy and protect the monasteries of Fruttuaria and SanMichele della Chiusa. By contrast, Alexander II (writing c.1066/7)reproached Adelaide for her dealings with Guido da Velate the simoniacArchbishop of Milan.

Death
In 1091, Adelaide died, to the general mourning of her people, and wasburied in the parochial church of Canischio (Canisculum), a small villageon the Cuorgnè in the Valle dell''Orco, to which she had retired in herlater years.[16] In the cathedral of Susa, in a niche in the wall, thereis a statue of walnut wood, beneath a bronze veneer, representingAdelaide, genuflecting in prayer. Above it can be read the inscription:Questa è Adelaide, cui l''istessa Roma Cole, e primo d''Ausonia onor lanoma.[citation needed]

Because of a late Austrian source, Adelaide and Herman IV, Duke of Swabiaare sometimes mistakenly said to have had children together.[17] This wasnot the case. Herman was on campaign for much of his short marriage toAdelaide and he died without heirs.[18] Nor did Adelaide have childrenwith her second husband, Henry.

Adelaide and Otto of Savoy had five children:
Peter I of Savoy
Amadeus II of Savoy
Otto[19]
Bertha of Savoy, married Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Adelaide of Savoy, married Rudolf von Rheinfelden