Adela of France

Adela of France, known also as Adela the Holy or Adela of Messines; (1009 – 8 January 1079, Messines), was, by marriage, Duchess of Normandy (January – August 1027), and Countess of Flanders (1035–1067). Family Adela was the second daughter of King Robert II of France and Constance of Arles. She is usually identified with Adela who in January 1027 married Duke Richard III of Normandy. The marriage was short-lived for on 6 August of that same year Richard III suddenly died. This identification is in doubt as Adela was sent in infancy to be raised in the Flemish court. Adela married Count Baldwin V of Flanders in 1028. Countess of Flanders Adela managed to gain influence in the policy of Flanders, through her family connections, and was described as very proud of her rank, a pride she passed on to her children. She had been given a higher education than normal for a woman by monks from the St Peter's convent in Ghent and could speak and read Latin, which she taught to her children. It is evident that she was an active political partner of her spouse. Half of the charters issued by him are co-signed by her (often with the title "Sister to the King of France"), which was far from a given thing for a consort. She was particularly active within church reform, such as enforcing the clerical celibacy. On the death of her brother, King Henry I, the guardianship of his seven-year-old son King Philip I fell jointly on his widow, Anne of Kiev, and on his brother-in-law, Adela's husband, so that from 1060 to 1067, they were regents of France.