Adelaide of Savoy, Duchess of Swabia

Adelaide of Savoy (German: Adelheid von Turin; c.1050/2 - 1079),[1] a member of the Burgundian House of Savoy, was Duchess of Swabia from about 1062 until 1079 by her marriage with Rudolf of Rheinfelden, who also was elected German anti-king in 1077.

Biography

Adelaide’s parents were Count Otto of Savoy and his wife Adelaide of Susa from the Arduinici noble family. Her maternal grandparents were Margrave Ulric Manfred II of Turin and Bertha of Milan. Adelaide was the younger sister of Bertha of Savoy, who was betrothed to the future king Henry IV of Germany in 1055.

According to the Europäische Stammtafeln genealogy, she first was married to Count Guigues I of Albon, though this assumption seems highly unlikely. Actually Adelaide, around 1060/62 and aged about ten, married the Swabian duke Rudolf of Rheinfelden.

In 1069 Rudolf attempted to repudiate Adelaide for an alleged affair with Count Werner of Habsburg.[2] In 1071 Adelaide cleared herself of the accusation of adultery in the presence of Pope Alexander II. Rudolf was required to reconcile with Adelaide.[3] At the same time, Henry IV attempted to repudiate her sister Bertha, also without success.

In 1077, an assembly of revolting German princes elected Rudolf anti-king. He was crowned by Archbishop Siegfried I of Mainz on March 26, with Adelaide as his consort. The Great Saxon Revolt broke out and Adelaide died during the Easter period of 1079, apart from her husband at Hohentwiel Castle.

Adelaide was buried in the monastery of St. Blasien.

Issue

With Rudolf, Adelaide had at least four children:

Notes

  1. ↑ Hlawitschka, ‘Zur Herkunft,' pp. 180, 189; Previté-Orton, Early History, p. 205
  2. ↑ Hlawitschka, ‘Zur Herkunft,’ pp. 191ff.
  3. ↑ Previté-Orton, Early History, p. 232

References

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