Adelheid af SusaAge: 71 years1020–1091
- Name
- Adelheid af Susa
- Given names
- Adelheid
- Surname
- af Susa
Birth | about 1020 28 |
Death of a father | Ulric Manfred II af Turin 29 October 1034 (Age 14 years) |
Birth of a son #1 | Amadeus II af Savoyen 1046 (Age 26 years) |
Death of a husband | Otto af Savoyen about 1057 (Age 37 years) |
Death | 19 December 1091 (Age 71 years) |
Family with parents |
father |
Ulric Manfred II af Turin Birth: about 992 Death: 29 October 1034 |
mother | |
herself |
Adelheid af Susa Birth: about 1020 28 Death: 19 December 1091 |
Family with Otto af Savoyen |
husband |
Otto af Savoyen Death: about 1057 |
herself |
Adelheid af Susa Birth: about 1020 28 Death: 19 December 1091 |
son |
Amadeus II af Savoyen Birth: 1046 26 Death: 26 January 1080 |
Shared note | Adelaide of Susa (also Adelheid, Adelais, or Adeline; c 1014/20 – 19 December 1091[1]) was the Marchioness of Turin from 1034 to her death. She moved the seat of the march from Turin to Susa and settled the itinerant court there. She was the last of the Arduinici.
Born in Turin to Ulric Manfred II and Bertha, daughter of Oberto II around 1014/20, Adelaide's early life is not well-known. Her only brother predeceased her father in 1034, though she had two younger sisters, Immilla and Bertha. Thus, on Ulric's death, the great margraviate was divided between his three daughters, though the greatest part by far went to Adelaide. She received the counties of Ivrea, Auriate, Aosta, and Turin. The margravial title, however, had primarily a military purpose at the time and, thus, was not suitable for a woman.
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, therefore arranged a marriage between Adelaide and Herman IV, Duke of Swabia, to serve as margrave of Turin after Ulric's death (1034). The two were married in January 1037, but Herman died of the plague while fighting at Naples in July 1038.[2]
Adelaide remarried in order to secure her vast march to Henry of Montferrat (1041), but he died in 1045 and left her a widow for the second time. Immediately, a third marriage was undertaken, this time to Otto of Savoy (1046). With Otto she had three sons, Peter I, Amadeus II, and Otto. She also had two daughters, Bertha and Adelaide. Bertha, the countess of Maurienne, married the Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, while Adelaide married Rudolf of Rheinfeld, who opposed Henry as King of Germany.
After 1060, Adelaide acted as regent for her sons. In 1068, Henry tried to divorce Bertha and consequently drove Adelaide to an intense hatred of him and his family. However, through the intervention of Bertha, Henry received Adelaide's support when he came to Italy to submit to Pope Gregory VII and Matilda of Tuscany at Canossa. Adelaide and Amadeus accompanied the humiliated emperor to Canossa. In gratitude for her mediation, Henry donated Bugey to Adelaide and her family and took back Bertha as his wife, returning to Germany.
Adelaide later played the mediator between her two royal sons-in-law, Henry and the aforementioned Rudolf during the wars of the 1080s in Germany. She was an opponent of the Gregorian reform, though she honoured the papacy, and defender of the autonomy of abbacies.
In 1091, Adelaide died, to the general mourning of her people, and was buried in the parochial church of Canischio (Canisculum), a small village on the Cuorgnè in the Valle dell'Orco, to which she had retired in her later years.[3] In the Cathedral of San Giusto in Susa, in a niche in the wall, there is a statue of walnut wood, beneath a bronze veneer, representing Adelaide, genuflecting in prayer. Above it can be read the inscription: Questa è Adelaide, cui l'istessa Roma Cole, e primo d'Ausonia onor la noma.
Adelaide had passed her childhood amongst the retainers of her father and had even learned the martial arts when young, bearing her own arms and armour. She was reputed to be beautiful and virtuous. She was pious, putting eternal things ahead of temporal. Strong in temperament, she did not hesitate to punish even the bishops and grandees of her realm. She patronised the minstrels and always received them at her court, urging them to compose songs emphasising religious values. She was a founder of cloisters and monasteries that transmitted the history of the region. The only failure of Adelaide's career was the loss of the County of Albon. Greatly admired in her own time, she was compared to Deborah of Biblical fame and was known affectionately as the "marchioness of the Italians." Peter Damian summed up her life and career in the admiring words:
“ Tu, senza l'aiuto di un re, sostieni il peso del regno, ed a te ricorrono quelli che alle loro decisioni desiderano aggiungere il peso di una sentenza legale. Dio onnipotente benedica te ed i tuoi figlioli d'indole regia.
You, without the help of a king, sustain the weight of a kingdom, and to you return those who wish to add to their decisions the weight of legal pronouncement. Omnipotent God bless you and your regal children. ”
[edit] Children
Adelaide and Herman IV, Duke of Swabia had at least three children:
* Gebhard I, Count of Sulzbach
* Adalbert I, Count of Windberg
* Adelaide, married Hermann von Peugen
Adelaide and Otto of Savoy had five children:
* Peter I of Savoy
* Amedeus II of Savoy
* Otto, Bishop of Asti
* Bertha of Savoy, married Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
* Adelaide (died 1080), married Rudolf von Rheinfeld |
Shared note | Otto (or Othon in French, Oddone in Italian), (1010 or 1020 – c. 1057) was Count of Savoy from 1051 (or 1056) until his death. He was son of Humbert I, the first Count of Savoy, and his wife Ancilla, and ascended the throne after the death of his elder brother, Amadeus I of Savoy.
Otto substantially enlarged his lands through his marriage with Adelaide of Susa, countess of Turin and Lady of the Italian Mark, a title she had inherited from her father Olderico Manfredi. After this acquisition the House of Savoy concentrated their expansion efforts towards Italy instead of outside the Alps as they had done before. Savoy's lands occupied much of modern Savoy and Piedmont, although several other small states could be found between them.
[edit] Family
In 1046 he married Adelaide, heiress of Turin and Susa. They had five children.
1. Peter I, Count of Savoy
2. Amadeus II, Count of Savoy
3. Otto, Bishop of Asti
4. Bertha of Savoy, Countess of Moriana (d. 1087) married Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.
5. Adelaide, (d. 1080) married Rudolf of Swabia (Rodolphe de Rheinfelden) |
Shared note | Adelaide of Susa (also Adelheid, Adelais, or Adeline; c 1014/20 – 19 December 1091[1]) was the Marchioness of Turin from 1034 to her death. She moved the seat of the march from Turin to Susa and settled the itinerant court there. She was the last of the Arduinici.
Born in Turin to Ulric Manfred II and Bertha, daughter of Oberto II around 1014/20, Adelaide's early life is not well-known. Her only brother predeceased her father in 1034, though she had two younger sisters, Immilla and Bertha. Thus, on Ulric's death, the great margraviate was divided between his three daughters, though the greatest part by far went to Adelaide. She received the counties of Ivrea, Auriate, Aosta, and Turin. The margravial title, however, had primarily a military purpose at the time and, thus, was not suitable for a woman.
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, therefore arranged a marriage between Adelaide and Herman IV, Duke of Swabia, to serve as margrave of Turin after Ulric's death (1034). The two were married in January 1037, but Herman died of the plague while fighting at Naples in July 1038.[2]
Adelaide remarried in order to secure her vast march to Henry of Montferrat (1041), but he died in 1045 and left her a widow for the second time. Immediately, a third marriage was undertaken, this time to Otto of Savoy (1046). With Otto she had three sons, Peter I, Amadeus II, and Otto. She also had two daughters, Bertha and Adelaide. Bertha, the countess of Maurienne, married the Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, while Adelaide married Rudolf of Rheinfeld, who opposed Henry as King of Germany.
After 1060, Adelaide acted as regent for her sons. In 1068, Henry tried to divorce Bertha and consequently drove Adelaide to an intense hatred of him and his family. However, through the intervention of Bertha, Henry received Adelaide's support when he came to Italy to submit to Pope Gregory VII and Matilda of Tuscany at Canossa. Adelaide and Amadeus accompanied the humiliated emperor to Canossa. In gratitude for her mediation, Henry donated Bugey to Adelaide and her family and took back Bertha as his wife, returning to Germany.
Adelaide later played the mediator between her two royal sons-in-law, Henry and the aforementioned Rudolf during the wars of the 1080s in Germany. She was an opponent of the Gregorian reform, though she honoured the papacy, and defender of the autonomy of abbacies.
In 1091, Adelaide died, to the general mourning of her people, and was buried in the parochial church of Canischio (Canisculum), a small village on the Cuorgnè in the Valle dell'Orco, to which she had retired in her later years.[3] In the Cathedral of San Giusto in Susa, in a niche in the wall, there is a statue of walnut wood, beneath a bronze veneer, representing Adelaide, genuflecting in prayer. Above it can be read the inscription: Questa è Adelaide, cui l'istessa Roma Cole, e primo d'Ausonia onor la noma.
Adelaide had passed her childhood amongst the retainers of her father and had even learned the martial arts when young, bearing her own arms and armour. She was reputed to be beautiful and virtuous. She was pious, putting eternal things ahead of temporal. Strong in temperament, she did not hesitate to punish even the bishops and grandees of her realm. She patronised the minstrels and always received them at her court, urging them to compose songs emphasising religious values. She was a founder of cloisters and monasteries that transmitted the history of the region. The only failure of Adelaide's career was the loss of the County of Albon. Greatly admired in her own time, she was compared to Deborah of Biblical fame and was known affectionately as the "marchioness of the Italians." Peter Damian summed up her life and career in the admiring words:
“ Tu, senza l'aiuto di un re, sostieni il peso del regno, ed a te ricorrono quelli che alle loro decisioni desiderano aggiungere il peso di una sentenza legale. Dio onnipotente benedica te ed i tuoi figlioli d'indole regia.
You, without the help of a king, sustain the weight of a kingdom, and to you return those who wish to add to their decisions the weight of legal pronouncement. Omnipotent God bless you and your regal children. ”
[edit] Children
Adelaide and Herman IV, Duke of Swabia had at least three children:
* Gebhard I, Count of Sulzbach
* Adalbert I, Count of Windberg
* Adelaide, married Hermann von Peugen
Adelaide and Otto of Savoy had five children:
* Peter I of Savoy
* Amedeus II of Savoy
* Otto, Bishop of Asti
* Bertha of Savoy, married Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
* Adelaide (died 1080), married Rudolf von Rheinfeld |