Adela of Normandy, Countess of Blois

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

Credit – Wikipedia

Adela, a daughter of King William I of England (the Conqueror) and Matilda of Flanders, was born around 1167, probably in Normandy. She was the mother of King Stephen of England who fought a long civil war known as The Anarchy for the English throne with his first cousin Empress Matilda, the only surviving legitimate child of King Henry I of England.

Adela had at least nine siblings The birth order of her brothers is clear, but that of her sisters is not. It is fairly certain that Adela was her parents’ youngest daughter. The list below is not in birth order. It lists Adela’s brothers first in their birth order and then her sisters in their probable birth order.

Despite her royal duties, Adela’s mother Matilda oversaw the upbringing of her children and all were known for being well educated. Her daughters were educated and taught to read Latin at the Abbaye-aux-Dames (Holy Trinity) in Caen, Normandy. For her sons, Matilda secured Lanfranc, later Archbishop of Canterbury, as their teacher. Adela had a close relationship with her brother, the future King Henry I of England. They were probably the youngest children in the family and probably the only ones born after their father’s conquest of England in 1066.

The chronicler Orderic Vitalis says that Adela’s father wanted an alliance with Theobald III, Count of Blois and so a marriage was arranged between Adela and Theobold’s eldest son Stephen.  Adela and Stephen probably were married in 1081 in Chartres, one of the main cities in the County of Blois.

Adela and Stephen had ten children, listed below in their probable birth order:

Adela and three of her sons, William, Theobald, and Stephen; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1089, upon the death of his father Theobald, Adela’s husband Stephen became Count of Blois and inherited the counties of Blois, Chartres, Châteaudun, and Meux. Stephen left for the Holy Land in 1096 to participate in the First Crusade (1095 – 1099) along with Adela’s brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy. In her husband’s absence, Adela acted as regent. During the Siege of Antioch, Stephen, together with other Crusaders, considered their situation very weak and were sure of certain defeat, so they abandoned his comrades in arms. Stephen returned home in 1098 without having fulfilled his crusading vow to make his way to Jerusalem.

Because Stephen had returned home without fulfilling his vow to get to Jerusalem, he was pressured by Adela to join the Crusade of 1101, also called the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted because of the number of participants who joined this crusade after having turned back from the First Crusade. Stephen did manage to get to Jerusalem, but this time instead of returning home because he reached his goal, he chose to remain and continue fighting. On May 17, 1102, during the Second Battle of Ramla, Stephen II, Count of Blois was captured after being besieged in the tower of the city and beheaded at the age of 57.

The new Count of Blois was Adela’s eldest son William. However, Adela soon removed him from a number of his duties because of his erratic behavior. He was nicknamed William the Simple, possibly because of a mental deficiency. When the next eldest brother Theobold came of age in 1107, Adela made him Count of Blois. William retired to his wife’s home in Sully-sur-Loire.

Around the same time, Adela sent her youngest son Henry, destined for a life in the Church, to the Abbey of Cluny in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France.  In 1126, Henry’s maternal uncle King Henry I of England appointed him to be the Abbot at Glastonbury Abbey in England. Three years later, Henry was made Bishop of Winchester and because he so loved Glastonbury Abbey, he was allowed to remain as the Abbot. In 1139, Henry became a papal legate, a higher rank than the Archbishop of Canterbury, making him the most powerful person in the English Church. Henry was a power player during the reigns of his uncle King Henry I, his brother King Stephen, and his first cousin once removed King Henry II.

Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 25, 1120, the White Ship left Normandy, bound for England and carrying many of the heirs of the great estates of England and Normandy including William Ætheling, the only son and the heir of Adela’s brother King Henry I of England. Also on board was Adela’s daughter Lucia-Mahaut and her husband Richard d’Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester. Unfortunately, the White Ship hit a submerged rock, capsized, and sank. About 300 people drowned. The chronicler Orderic Vitalis writes that only two people survived the shipwreck by clinging on to a rock all night. For more information, see Unofficial Royalty: The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession.

The Sinking of the White Ship; Credit – Wikipedia

The tragedy of the White Ship left King Henry I with only one legitimate child, his daughter Matilda. Henry I’s nephews, including the sons of Adela, were the closest male heirs. In January of 1121, Henry I married his second wife Adeliza of Louvain, hoping for sons, but the marriage remained childless. On Christmas Day of 1226, King Henry I of England gathered his nobles at Westminster where they swore to recognize Matilda and any future legitimate heir she might have as his successors. That plan did not work out. Upon hearing of King Henry I’s death on December 1, 1135, Adela’s son Stephen of Blois, quickly crossed the English Channel from France, seized power, and was crowned King of England on December 22, 1135. This started the terrible civil war between Stephen and Matilda known as The Anarchy. England did not see peace for 18 years until Matilda’s son acceded to the throne as King Henry II of England in 1153.

King Stephen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Adela lived through the sinking of the White Ship, her son Henry becoming Bishop of Winchester, her son Stephen becoming King of England, and the beginning of the terrible civil war, The Anarchy. In 1120, Adela had retired to the Priory of the Holy Trinity of Marcigny-lès-Nonnains in Marcigny, now in the Burgundy region of France. There is some evidence that Adela served as the prioress. Although Adela was living out her life as a nun, she did not totally isolate herself. She continued to exert her influence and communicated with her children and the religious and political leaders of the lands she once ruled. Adela died on March 8, 1137, aged 69–70, at the Priory of the Holy Trinity of Marcigny-lès-Nonnains. She was buried at the Abbaye-aux-Dames in Caen, Duchy of Normandy, now in France, near the grave of her mother with these simple words on her grave, “Adele, fille du roi” (Adele, daughter of the king).

Abbaye-aux-Dames; Photo Credit – By I, Pradigue, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2441612

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited
“Adele d’Inghilterra.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2017.
“First crusade.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Jan. 2017. Web. 13 Jan. 2017.
Online, Catholic, and St Adela. “Adela of Normandy.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Jan. 2017. Web. 13 Jan. 2017.
“Stefano II di Blois.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2017.
“Stephen, count of Blois.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Nov. 2016. Web. 13 Jan. 2017.
Susan. “November 25, 1120 – the sinking of the white ship and how it affected the English succession.” British Royals. Unofficial Royalty, 25 Nov. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2017.