Adelaide Norman

Adelaide was the daughter of Robert II the Magnificent , Duke of Normandy , from an unknown rivalry , and thus was half-sister to William the Conqueror . According to another version ^[1] , Adelaide’s mother was Gerleva Falezskaya , which makes her the sister of William I. This assumption, however, is less likely, given the direct evidence of Robert de Torigny , that Adelaide was not a daughter of Gerlev ^[2] .

The first husband of Adelaide was Angerrand II , Count de Pontier and Senior Omalsky , one of the largest Norman landowners in the middle of the XI century . Angerrand II in 1051 took part in the rebellion of William d'Arc against the young Duke of William and was killed on October 25, 1053 in a skirmish near Saint-Aubins-sur-Ski in Upper Normandy . After the death of Angerran, the Duke William confiscated the Omale County , which was in vassal dependence on Normandy, and transferred it to his sister Adelaide ^{[K 1]} . She, in turn, was soon married to Lambert II , Count of Lans and the younger brother of Eustachius II of Boulogne . Probably this marriage was intended to strengthen the allied relations between Normandy and Flanders , since Lambert II was one of the proxies of Baudouin V , Earl of Flanders . However, already in 1054, Lambert was killed during the siege of Lille by the troops of Emperor Henry III .

Around 1060, Adelaide married for the third time - to Ed III de Blois , Count of Troyes and Moe , who, according to legend, found refuge in Normandy after the murder of a certain champagne nobleman. Ed de Blois became close to the Duke William and in 1066 took an active part in the Norman conquest of England . Although his ancestral possessions in Champagne were seized by Thibault III , Ed received vast lands in England from William the Conqueror, primarily Holderness in Yorkshire , and in 1069 (according to other sources, in 1081 ) he was recognized by Count Omalsky in his own right. The descendants of Ed III de Blois and Adelaide of Normandy after their death inherited Omal and Holderness, and during the late 11th – first half of the 12th centuries they played significant roles in the political development of the Anglo-Norman monarchy .

From the 1st marriage to Angerrand II (d. 1053), Count de Pontieu and Senior Omalsky , Adelaide had two daughters:

• Adelaide de Pontier (mentioned under 1098 );
• Elissenda de Pontier , married (1091) to Hugo II (d. 1130), Count of Saint-Paul .

From the 2nd marriage to Lambert II (d. 1054), Count Lance , son of Eustachius I , Count of Boulogne , Adelaide had a single daughter:

• Judita Lanska (d. After 1086), married (1070) to Waltheof (d. 1075), count of Northumbria . The daughter of Judita and Waltof Matilda Huntingdon later became the wife of the Scottish king David I and, thus, is the ancestor of all subsequent kings of Scotland and Great Britain .

From the 3rd marriage to Ed III de Blois (d. 1115), Count de Trois and Moe , Adelaide had a single son:

• Stefan Omalsky (d. 1127), Count d'Omale (since 1082), a repeated participant in the unrest of the Anglo-Norman barons and a contender for the English throne, the founder of the line of Counts of Omalsky and Albemarles from the house of de Blois .

• Adela Norman

• Pierre Bauduin . La première Normandie (Xe-XIe siècles). - 2004
• David C. Douglas . William the Conqueror. - 1964

• Genealogy of Adelaide of Normandy on the website of the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy