Adelaide of Savoy, Duchess of Swabia

Duchess consort of Swabia

Guigues I of Albon (disputed)
Rudolf of Rheinfelden

Issue

Agnes of Rheinfelden
Adelaide of Rheinfelden
Bertha of Rheinfelden
Otto
Berthold of Rheinfelden (disputed)

FatherOtto of SavoyMotherAdelaide of Susa

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. When the Great Saxon Revolt broke out, Adelaide remained in Swabia, defending her husband's lands, whilst Rudolf campaigned against Henry IV in Saxony.^[4]

Adelaide died during the Easter period of 1079, apart from her husband at Hohentwiel Castle. She was buried in the monastery of St. Blasien.

Issue

With Rudolf, Adelaide had at least four children:

Agnes of Rheinfelden, married Berthold II of Zähringen
Adelaide of Rheinfelden, married King Ladislaus I of Hungary
Bertha of Rheinfelden, Countess of Kellmünz, married Ulrich X, Count of Bregenz
Otto (died young)
Berthold of Rheinfelden (disputed)

Notes

^ Hlawitschka, ‘Zur Herkunft,' pp. 180, 189; Previté-Orton, Early History, p. 205
^ Hlawitschka, ‘Zur Herkunft,’ pp. 191ff; Creber, Alison (2019-04-22). "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Dissolving Royal and Noble Marriages in Eleventh-Century Germany". German History. 37 (2): 149–171. doi:10.1093/gerhis/ghy108. ISSN 0266-3554..
^ Previté-Orton, Early History, p. 232
^ Bernold, Chronicon, a.1077, 289 Archived 2018-09-24 at the Wayback Machine; Meyer von Knonau, Jahrbücher, III, pp. 38f.

References

E. Hlawitschka, ‘Zur Herkunft und zu den Seitenverwandten des Gegenkönigs Rudolf,’ in Die Salier und das Reich, I, pp. 175–220
H. Bresslau, Jahrbücher des Deutschen Reichs unter Konrad II., 2 vols. (1884), accessible online at: archive.org
C.W. Previté-Orton, The Early History of the House of Savoy (1000-1233) (Cambridge, 1912), accessible online at: archive.org
Bernold of Constance, Chronicon, in Die Chroniken Bertholds von Reichenau und Bernolds von Konstanz 1054-1100, ed. I.S. Robinson, MGH SS rer Germ NS 14 (Hannover, 2003), pp. 383-540. Archived 2016-08-01 at the Wayback Machine
G. Meyer von Knonau, Jahrbücher des Deutschen Reiches unter Heinrich IV und Heinrich V, 7 vols (Leipzig, 1890-1909).

External links

Adelheid von Turin, deutsche Königin (in German)

Regnal titles
Adelaide of Savoy, Duchess of Swabia House of Savoy Born: c. 1050 Died: 12 October 1079
Preceded by Matilda of Germany	Duchess of Swabia c. 1062–1079	Succeeded by Agnes of Rheinfelden