[Countess Of Bloise Adela Princess Of England [Countess Of Bloise 
Adela Princess Of was born about 1062 in Normandy, France. Adela Princess Of's father was William I "The Conqueror" King Of England and her mother was Matilda (Maud) Flanders [Queen England]. Her paternal grandparents were Robert I "The Magnificent" Duke Of Normandy and Arlette Herleve De Falaise; her maternal grandparents were Baudouin V Count Of Flanders and Adele Princess Of France. She had four brothers and eight sisters, named Robert II "Curthose" Duke Of, Richard, William II "Rufus", Henry I "Beauclerc", Gundred-Gundrada Of, Adelaide (Adeliza The Nun) Of, Cecilia, Margaret, Constance Of, Agatha, Anna and Matilda Dau Of William Of. She died in Marsigny, Charente-Maritim, France. She was buried in Caen, Calvados, France.General Notes
Adela, French AD.LE (b. 1062?--d. 1137), daughter of William I the Conqueror of England and his wife, Matilda of Flanders, and mother of Stephen, king of England, whose right to the throne derived through her. She was married to Stephen, earl of Meaux and Brie, in 1080 at Breteuil. Upon the death of his father in 1090, her husband succeeded to the earldom of Blois and Chartres. She appears to have played an active role in the administration of her husband's lands, regularly witnessing his charters, took an active interest in civil and ecclesiastical affairs, and was instrumental in rebuilding the catherdral of Chartres in stone. Having inherited her father's appetite and ability to rule, she became regent in 1095 when she persuaded her popular but weak-willed husband to join the First Crusade to the Holy Land. Although in charge of the central funds of the Crusade, Stephen deserted at Antioch in 1098, understandably enough in face of overwhelming odds. Unfortunately for his reputation, the crusaders survived and succeeded in capturing Jerusalem in 1099. After Stephen's return home in 1099, Adela waged a sustained campaign of bullying and moral blackmail that extended into their bedroom where, between intercourse, she would urge Stephen to think of his reputation and return to the Holy Land. In the end, her nagging worked and Stephen departed east once more in 1101, to meet a satisfactorily noble death at Ramlah in 1102. No longer a coward's wife but more congenially a hero's widow, Adela continued to rule Blois-Chartres during the minority of her sons. Anselm, her guest and teacher in 1097, was often entertained by her during 1103 and 1105 and she affected a temporary reconciliation between him and her brother, Henry I, who lavished patronage on her second son, Stephen, and appointed a third, Henry, bishop of Winchester, the richest see in England. In 1107 Adela entertained Pope Pascal during Easter and in the following year was hostess to Bohemund of Antioch. She made her son Theobald her successor in 1109, and persuaded him to join her brother Henry I against France in 1117. In 1120 she retired to the abbey of Marcigny-sur-Loire where she died in 1137. By all accounts a forceful personality, Adela's qualities were not uncommon among women artistocrats, although more often they found an outlet in the running of nunneries. Adela's secular career, as de facto ruler for more than a decade of one of the most powerful principalities of northern France, is exceptional testimony to the power of breeding as well as to her own determination. She was a benevolent patroness of churches and monasteries. Although married to a French count and living to see a son crowned king of England, she chose to be buried beside her mother at Caen under an inscription 'Adela, filia regis'. She was always the Conqueror's daughter. [Sources: Who's Who in Early Medieval England, Christopher Tyerman, Shepheard-Walwyn, Ltd., London, 1996; EncyclopEdia Britannica CD, 1997]
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Ancestor Pedigree Chart
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*There are earlier generations for the ancestor(s) indicated. See their page(s) for details (click name)
- b.~ 0891 in Rouen, Normandy, France d.17 Dec 0942 in Killed At Picardy, France
- b.28 Aug 0933 in Normandy, France d.20 Nov 0996 in Fecamp, Seine-Inferieure, France
- b.~ 0911 in Bretagne, France d.~ 0972
- b.28 Aug 0933 in Faecamp, Normandie d.20 Nov 0996 in Faecamp, Normandie
- b.~ 0913 in Denmark d.01 Nov 0987
- b.~ 0936 in Arque, Normandy, France d.1031 in France
- b.0923 in Sweden d.Unknown
- b.~ 0999 in Normandy, France d.02 Jul 1035 in Nicaea, Bithynia, Turkey
- b.~ 0875 in Rennes, France d.0970
- b.0927 in Bretagne, France d.29 Jun 0992 in Killed In Action, Conquereuil
- b.~ 0924 in Bretagne, France
- b.0956 in Bretagne, France d.16 Jun 1017 in Normandy, France
- b.11 Nov 0938 in Anjou, France d.21 Jul 0987
- b.~ 0952 in Of, Anjou, France d.27 Jun 0992
- b.~ 0934 in Vermandois, Normandy, France d.> 0984
- b.14 Oct 1027 in Falais, Calvados, France d.09 Sep 1087 in Hermenbraville, Seine-Maritime, France
- b.0978 in Falaise, Calvados, France d.Unknown in France
- b.~ 1003 in Falaise, Calvados, France d.1050 in Abbey Of St Grestain, France
- b.~ 0980 in Falaise, Clavados, France d.Unknown
- b.~ 1062 in Normandy, France d.8 Mar 1136-1137 in Marsigny, Charente-Maritim, France
- b.~ 0933 in Flanders, France d.01 Nov 0962
- b.~ 0961 in Flanders d.30 Mar 0987 in Chapel DE St Laurent, France
- b.0949 in Saxony d.25 May 1008
- b.~ 0980 in Flanders, Belgium d.30 May 1036 in Flanders, Belgium
- b.~ 0919 in Italy d.06 Aug 0966 in Bomberg
- b.~ 0952 in Of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, West Europe d.26 Jan 1003 in Gent, Luxembourg, Belgium
- b.~ 0924 in Of, Tuscany, Italy d.> 0974
- b.1012 in Flanders, France d.01 Sep 1067 in Lille, Nord, France
- b.~ 0918 in Of, Luxembourg d.28 Oct 0998
- b.~ 0945 in Of, Moselgau, France d.06 Oct 1019
- b.~ 0934 in Alsace, France d.13 Dec 0992
- b.~ 0986 in Flanders, France d.21 Feb 1030 in Flanders, France
- b.~ 0914 in Kinzig, Hessen, Germany d.~ 0992
- b.0964 in Luxemburg, Luxemburg
- b.~ 0945
- b.1032 in Flanders, France d.03 Nov 1083 in Caen, Calvados, France
- b.~ 0900 in Paris, Seine, France d.16 Jun 0956 in Dourdan, France
- b.0939 in Paris, Seine, France d.24 Oct 0996 in Paris, Seine, France
- b.~ 0910 in Saxony, Germany d.14 Mar 0965 in Aix-La-Chapelle (Aachen)
- b.27 Mar 0972 in Orleans, France d.20 Jul 1031 in Meulan, France
- b.~ 0915 in Of, Poitiers, Vienna, France d.03 Apr 0963
- b.~ 0952 in Of, Germany d.1004
- b.~ 0897 in Normandy, France d.>14 Oct 0962
- b.~ 1010 in France d.8 Jan 1078-1079 in Monastere DE L'o, Messines, France
- b.~ 0908 in Autun, Bourgogne, France d.0967
- b.0950 in Arles, Provence, France d.0994 in Arles, Provence, France
- b.0946 d.0965
- b.~ 0986 in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France d.25 Jul 1032 in Meulan, Yvelines, Ile-DE-France, France
- b.~ 0909 in Anjou, France d.11 Nov 0958 in Tours, France
- b.~ 0942 in Anjou, France d.1026 in Arles, Provence, France
- b.0915 in Gatinais, Orleanais, France d.0952
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