Feb 24 Adela b. 1062 d. 1137

Thommy and John

Good morning
I love you

February 24 St. Adela b. ~ 1062 d. 1137

Adela meets none of the usual criteria. But, I figured I’d digress. I have the time [well, I should be working on getting work] and there’s a connection to the criteria... sorta. Adela is the daughter of William the Conqueror. And Billy-boy has some history we all should know, even if he weren’t a William.

William the conqueror, born 1027, the illegitimate son of Robert, Duke of Normandy and Herleva of Falaise. Robert persuaded Herleva to marry one of his friends. William was Robert’s only son. Before Robert headed off on a pilgrimage, he forced his lords to accept his son as his heir. Robert died on that pilgrimage in 1035.

William was 8 when he inherited his father’s title. Several of Robert’s lords became William’s guardians.

In 1040, barons opposed to the illegitimate Duke rebelled. Although they failed in their attempt to kill William, one of the leaders was added to the roster of the guardians as leader of the army.

In 1045, William began his rule of Normandy. In 1047 lords in the west of the duchy rebelled; William quashed them.

In 1051, William visited Edward the Confessor, king of England. William claimed that Edward promised that William would be his heir. [hmmmm…. Ya think that William was a conniver?  ]]

In 1053, William married Matilda of Flanders, daughter of the Count of Flanders. Different sources give different accounts about the number of children they had.

Adela was born to them about 1062
When Edward the Confessor became seriously ill in 1065, there were several claimants to the throne. Right after Edward died on January 5, 1066, there was a meeting of the Witan to decide who would be the next king of England. On January 6th, the Witan chose Harold to be their king. Dumdeedumdum….
And from here you know a lot more about William the Conqueror, the Battle of Hastings and all that…. King of England and much of France was William our illegitimate Norman. … Until he fell off his horse celebrating a revenge-battle victory in August 1087; he died 9/9/1087. His second son, William, ascended to the throne of England – his other son Robert had tried to get a chunk of his inheritance before good ole dad died; his rebellion was quashed but after dad’s death, Robert got a chunk of France in a deal with his brother, William Rufus aka William II.

William Rufus was a successful conqueror himself – taking back parts of Normandy et al. from his brother, repelling and overtaking the invading Scots, suppressing recalcitrant English Lords. William II ruled and the lords wanting to be on the winning side usually chose him. However, William Rufus was not popular with either ‘the people’ or the Church. Unlike his father, instead of spending lots of money to build up the Church, when William II needed money he took it from the monasteries et al.

On August 2, 1100, William Rufus was killed in a hunting accident.

On August 5, 1100, Henry Beauclerk edged out his older brother Robert, and got declared King of England. Maybe there are benefits to being a girl? Or of being not the oldest brother? Watch your back? Competition abounds everywhere!  Henry I was born 1068.

Henry the Learned went to Normandy in 1106, defeated his brother, and brought him back to spend the rest of his life as a prisoner.

Henry I’s only son died in 1120 and he declared his daughter, his only remaining legitimate child [among his claim of over 20 illegitimate children (privilege of being a king?)], to be his heir.

However, when Henry I died in December 1135, his nephew, Adela’s son, Stephen, who’d been in Henry’s court since 1114, became king. [so, the English kings are really French, i.e., Celts?]




ADELA was the youngest daughter of William the conqueror.

In 1080 Adela married Stephen, count of Meaux and Brie [love their cheese! Heated, some nuts and a slice of fruit, preferably apple… yum]. Throughout her life, Adela took an active role in English politics [her father having declared all of the island his personal property – except that which he gave back to the lords who supported him.] Adela was famed for endowing churches and monasteries – maybe the ticket, along with her piety, that got her sainthood?

You want details? Sure!

Adela was a beautiful and valorous woman of the period. So much was happening in France, England, the Church – and she was in the mix of things directly and through her siblings and children….

For marriage, Adela was promised to the son of a royal member of her father’s court. When the time came in 1077, this man was not up to the task and instead entered a monastery. [a good a place as any to hide from William the Conqueror after rejecting his daughter, I suppose.]

But, in 1075, Stephen, earl of Meaux and Brie, son and heir to Theobald, earl of Blois and Chartres, a powerful neighbor of William, demanded Adela in marriage. He was turned down. But, he repeated his demand in 1080 and William accepted it – and the wedding didn’t wait long to happen. They celebrated in both Normandy and Chartres! The poets described Adela as equal to her father in bravery, a Latin and Greek scholar, and a generous patron of poetry. [hmmmm.]

In 1090, Stephen inherited his father’s countships of Blois and Chartres. Stephen included Adela in all aspects of their public life. Adela’s name commonly appears on the charters of time – Stephen the earl and countess Adela declare such and such ….

Adela took an active interest in rebuilding the Cathedral of Chartres in stone. This woman knew how to build political, personal, important bridges…. Bishop Ivo became her life long supporter. And the city, freed from taxes as long as the Cathedral offered Mass every year for Stephen and Adela, took her to heart…. She was active in civil and ecclesiastical affairs of the times – such affairs inevitably inseparable.

Adela was also close friend/consultant with the bishop of Mans, Hildebert. Friends, if not relatives, abound in high places. Can’t have too many of either. Stay close to all.

In 1095, at Adela’s urging, Stephen went off on the First Crusade to the Holy Land. In his absence, Adela served as regent. Anselm, the archbishop of Canterbury, became Adela’s guest and teacher in 1097. Stephen returned in 1099. [According to one source on the net, Stephen returned in disgrace because of his failure of valor. Then she persuaded him to return on the Second Crusade. And her motive here was what? The plot thickens….  ]

In 1098, Adela took seriously ill. At the peak of her illness, Adela had her couch placed in their chapel before a statue of St. Agiles to whom she prayed for intercession. [This could not be Saint Raymond Agiles, apparently a priest contemporary of Adela who went on the First Crusade. See foot note quote from Catholic encyclopedia. Just follow the bouncing balls…. Research can be lots of fun!]

Stephen joined the Second Crusade in 1101. Stephen died that year at Ramula. Adela continued as regent for her minor sons, thus becoming even more involved in public affairs.

Between 1103 and 1105, Archbishop Anselm frequently visited with Adela. In 1107, Adela helped reconcile Anselm and Adela’s brother, the new King Henry I, her brother. Apparently, the Archbishop didn’t approve of this younger brother’s putting his army around the treasury and, thus, declaring himself king over his brother Robert. Anselm wrote to the Pope about how helpful Adela was.

In 1107, Adela played hostess to Pope Paschal II during Easter. This woman was a player!

In 1108, Hugh of Puiset, a powerful neighbor, attacked Adela. [Maybe as a shot at her before Theobold took majority?] Adela and Theobold went to Philip, King of France, for help. France and Blois put Hugh back into his place.

In 1109, Adela made Theobold her successor, passing over her oldest son, William, whom everyone acknowledged was not as talented as Theobold. The family concurred and everyone arranged to take care of one another. Adela entered the convent in Autun but continued to wield influence in secular and clerical affairs.

1117 Adela persuaded Theobold to support his uncle, her brother, Henry I, against the King of France. [I guess Normans weren’t French….?  ]

Adela continued to grant munificent gifts to monasteries and churches – being in a convent did not require poverty. She also provided her substantial mediation skills to many clerical disputes. Adela was Hugh of Fleury’s benefactor in his writing his history of France – which he dedicated to Adela’s niece Matilda.

In 1135, Adela received from Peter, abbot of Clugny, a full account of the death of her brother, Henry I.

Adela 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.


I love you
dad


p.s.


Raymond d'Agiles
(Or AGUILERS.)
A chronicler and canon of Puy-en-Velay, France, toward the close of the eleventh century. He accompanied the Count of Toulouse on the First Crusade (1096-99), as chaplain to Adhémar, Bishop of Puy, legate of Pope Urban II. With Pons de Balazuc he undertook to write a history of the expedition, but, Pons having been killed, he was obliged to carry on the undertaking alone. At a sortie of the crusaders during the siege of Antioch (28 June, 1098) Agiles went before the column, bearing in his hands the Sacred Lance. He took part in the entry into Jerusalem, accompanied the Count of Toulouse on his pilgrimage to the Jordan, and was at the battle of Ascalon. After this he is lost sight of. His "Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Hierusalem" (P.L., CLV, 591-668) is the account of an eyewitness of most of the events of the First Crusade. It was first published by Bongars (Gesta Dei per Francos, I, 139-183), and again in the "Recueil des historiens occidentaux des croisades" (1866), 235-309; it is translated into French in Guizot, "Memoires sur l'histoire de France" (1824), XXI, 227-397. The narrative is largely devoted to the visions of Pierre Barthélemy, and the authenticity of the Holy Lance found on the eve of battle. Molinier says of the author that he is partial, credulous, ignorant, and prejudiced. "He may be utilized, but on condition of close criticism."