, Adèle Of France, Countess Of Flanders

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Adèle of France, Countess of Flanders
b: 1009
d: 8 JAN 1079
Biography
Adèle of France[a] known also as Adela the Holy or Adela of Messines;(1009 – 8 January 1079, Messines), she was the Countess of Normandy(January 1027–August 1027), Countess of Flanders (1035–1067)

Adèle was the second daughter of Robert II (the Pious), and Constance ofArles.[1] In January 1027 she married Richard III, Duke of Normandy.[2]The marriage was short-lived for on 6 August of that same year RichardIII suddenly died.[2] Adela then married Baldwin V, Count of Flanders in1028.[3]

Adèle''s influence lay mainly through her family connections. On the deathof her brother, Henry I of France, the guardianship of his seven-year-oldson Philip I fell jointly on his widow, Ann of Kiev, and on hisbrother-in-law, Adela''s husband, so that from 1060 to 1067, they wereRegents of France.[4]

In 1071, Adela''s third son, Robert the Frisian, planned to invadeFlanders even though at that time the Count of Flanders was Adela''sgrandson, Arnulf III. When she heard about Robert''s plans, she askedPhilip I to stop him. Philip sent soldiers to support Arnulf including acontingent of ten Norman knights led by William FitzOsborn. Robert''sforces attacked Arnulf''s numerically superior army at Cassel before itcould organize, and Arnulf was killed along with William FitzOsborn.Robert''s overwhelming victory led to Philip making peace with Robert andinvesting him as Count of Flanders. A year later, Philip married Robert''sstepdaughter, Bertha of Holland, and in 1074, Philip restored theseigneurie of Corbie to the crown.

Adèle had a strong interest in Baldwin V’s church reforms and was behindher husband’s founding of several collegiate churches. Directly orindirectly, she was responsible for establishing the Colleges of Aire(1049), Lille (1050) and Harelbeke (1064) as well as the abbeys ofMessines (1057) and Ename (1063). After Baldwin’s death in 1067, she wentto Rome, took the nun’s veil from the hands of Pope Alexander II andretired to the Benedictine convent of Messines, near Ypres. There shelater died and was buried at the convent. Honoured as a saint in theRoman Catholic Church, her commemoration day is 8 September.

Her first marriage was in 1027 to Richard III, Duke of Normandy (died1027). They had no children.

Her second marriage was in 1028 to Baldwin V, Count of Flanders (died1067).[3] Their children were:
Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders (c.?1030–1070).[3]
Matilda of Flanders (c.?1032–1083). In c.?1053 she married William, Dukeof Normandy, the future King of England and had issue.[3]
Robert I, Count of Flanders (c.?1035–1093).[3]
Facts
  • 1009 - Birth -
  • 8 JAN 1079 - Death - ; Messines
Ancestors
   
 
   
  
  
Adelaide of Aquitaine
ABT 945 - 1004
 
  
 
  
 
   
  
  
Adelaide-Blanche
ABT 940 - 1026
 
Family Group Sheet - Child
Family Group Sheet - Spouse
PARENT (M) Richard III, Duke of Normandy
Birth
Death6 AUG 1027
MarriageJAN 1027to Adèle of France, Countess of Flanders
FatherRichard II of Normandy
MotherJudith of Brittany
PARENT (F) Adèle of France, Countess of Flanders
Birth1009
Death8 JAN 1079 Messines
MarriageJAN 1027to Richard III, Duke of Normandy
Marriage1028to Baldwin V of Flanders
FatherRobert II of France
MotherConstance of Arles
CHILDREN
Family Group Sheet - Spouse
Descendancy Chart
William I b: ABT 1028 d: 9 SEP 1087
Adela b: ABT 1067 d: 8 MAR 1137
Edward II b: 25 APR 1284 d: 21 SEP 1327
Adèle of Champagne b: ABT 1140 d: 4 JUN 1206
Marie of Brabant, Queen of France b: 13 MAY 1254 d: 12 JAN 1321
Edward I b: 17 JUN 1239 d: 7 JUL 1307
Agnes of Merania d: JUL 1201
Henry I of England d: 1 DEC 1135
Henry II of England b: 5 MAR 1133 d: 6 JUL 1189
John of England b: 24 DEC 1167 d: 19 OCT 1216
Isabella of Angoulême b: 1188 d: 31 MAY 1246
Henry III b: 1 OCT 1207 d: 16 NOV 1272
Edward I b: 17 JUN 1239 d: 7 JUL 1307
Eleanor of Castile b: ABT 1245 d: 1290
Edward II b: 25 APR 1284 d: 21 SEP 1327
10 Edward III b: 13 NOV 1312 d: 21 JUN 1377
Isabel of Gloucester b: 1173 d: 14 OCT 1217
Richard FitzRoy b: ABT 1190 d: JUN 1246
Isabel de Dover d: 7/07 JUL 1276/1277
Maurice de Berkeley b: 1218 d: 4 APR 1281
Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley b: 1245 d: 23 JUL 1321
Joan de Ferrers d: 19 MAR 1309
Alfonso VIII of Castile b: 11 NOV 1155 d: 5 OCT 1214
Alfonso IX of León b: 15 AUG 1171 d: 23/24 SEP 1230
Eleanor of Castile b: ABT 1245 d: 1290
Edward I b: 17 JUN 1239 d: 7 JUL 1307
10 Edward II b: 25 APR 1284 d: 21 SEP 1327
Marie of Brabant, Queen of France b: 13 MAY 1254 d: 12 JAN 1321
Edward I b: 17 JUN 1239 d: 7 JUL 1307
Edward II b: 25 APR 1284 d: 21 SEP 1327
?
Robert de Quincy d: 1217
Joan de Ferrers d: 19 MAR 1309
Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley b: 1245 d: 23 JUL 1321
Adeliza of Louvain b: ABT 1103 d: 23 APR 1151
Swanhilde d: 1132
Marie of Brabant, Queen of France b: 13 MAY 1254 d: 12 JAN 1321
Edward I b: 17 JUN 1239 d: 7 JUL 1307
Marie of Brabant, Queen of France b: 13 MAY 1254 d: 12 JAN 1321