Introduction:
Too many church history books leave out the stories of the thousands of women who had a part to play in God’s kingdom. Over the course of the last few months on this blog we have seen that even in the earliest centuries, women evangelized, prayed, taught, preached, pastored, went on pilgrimages, reigned over kingdoms, founded monasteries, and took care of the poor. These women contributed greatly to the Kingdom of God, not so they could be remembered, but so they could serve the Lord Jesus by serving others.
For the last few weeks, we have been presenting a series on women in the Medieval Era. It was not a golden age for women. Because men thought that the “daughters of Eve” were more prone to sin than the “sons of Adam” women were treated as inferiors. And yet women found ways to serve as preachers, missionaries, and ecclesiastical leaders. We have learned in the writings of many medieval biographers that they did not hold the biases that modern church historians would have us believe. The stories of Christian women in the Medieval Era are proof that God uses women in His kingdom. That is why we must tell them.
So far, we have looked at the stories of women from the earliest Middle Ages such as Genovefa, Brigid of Ireland and Radegund (5th and 6th centuries). Then we moved on to the 7th and 8th centuries with stories of abbesses and queens such as Gertrude, Frideswide, and Lioba. For the last few weeks we recounted the stories of 9th and 10th century women such as Dhuoda (writer and Theologian), as well as Irene, Euphrosyne, and Theodora who were Byzantine empresses. Last week we presented the story of the amazingly gifted Hrotsvitha, a poet and a playwright whose works are still influential today. This week we present the story of a strong, passionate queen, Adelheid.
Adelheid (931-999)
We have related the stories of many queens. Their lives were inspirational and often filled with much drama. Adelheid’s story would make a good movie. Adelheid went from a life as a royal princess in Burgundy to queen of Italy to prisoner of a wicked usurper to a fugitive on the run, to empress of the Holy Roman Empire, and but always remaining a friend to the church. Her courage and faith in God saw her through all of these phases in her life.
Adelheid was also one of the most aristocratic of the queens whose stories we have recounted. Her mother, Bertha was
the daughter of Duke Burchard of Swabia. Her father was Rudolf II, king of Burgundy. Adelheid (sometimes spelled Adelaide) was born in Burgundy in 931 as a royal princess.
During this period of time kings were struggling for power and ways to enlarge the kingdoms where they dominated. Adelheid’s father, Rudolf II fought with King Hugh of Arles but was unsuccessful and later was supplanted by this southern French ruler. As was typical of male rulers in the Middle Ages, Rudolf used his daughter Adelheid as a political object. In a peace settlement with King Hugh, Rudolf betrothed Adelheid to Hugh’s son Lothar. In 937 when Rudolf died, Hugh married the widow Bertha. In effect, this meant that Adelheid was now betrothed to her stepbrother.
In 947, when she was about sixteen years old, Adelheid and Lothar married and lived at Hugh’s court in Pavia, Italy. When King Hugh died, Lothar and Adelheid began to rule the Italian kingdom. Adelheid gave birth to a daughter, Emma, who would later become a queen of France. Unfortunately, Lothar’s reign would only last three years. It was widely believed that a powerful rival for the throne, Margrave Berengar, poisoned Lothar. This left Adelheid vulnerable.
It was not unusual for women of wealth or status to be the targets of men who were seeking more power through a marriage to a royal person. We have seen this played out many times. So, when Lothar died there were many claimants to the throne who took advantage of Adelheid, the young widow and mother. The most powerful claimant was Margrave Berengar of Ivrea, the very man who may have assassinated Adelheid’s husband. Berengar tried to seal his claim to the throne by arranging a marriage between his captive, Queen Adelheid and his son, Adalbert. Adelheid refused in spite of the fact that she knew she would be imprisoned in Berengar’s Castle in Garda. The nineteen-year old Queen Adelheid was held hostage while Berengar waited for her to change her mind. She became a “lady in distress”, but Adelheid did not wait for a prince charming to come and rescue her. This daring woman plotted and executed her own escape while trusting in God to help her.
Here in the words of Odilo of Cluny is one account of her flight to freedom.
Adelheid sprang form a royal and religious lineage. While still a young girl of sixteen years, she attained through God’s generosity a royal marriage to King Lothar, the son of the wealthy king of Italy, Hugh. …
Lothar, however, died before the third year of his marriage to the domina Adelheid had passed, leaving her widowed from her husband, deprived of the kingdom, and bereft of marital counsel. …
After the death of her husband Lothar, a certain man by the name of Berengar, who had a wife named Willa, attained the dignity of the Italian kingdom. The innocent Adelheid was captured by them and afflicted with diverse tortures, her flowing hair pulled out, her body frequently struck with blows from fists and feet, until finally she was confined in loathsome captivity with a single maidservant as her companion.
Liberated by divine providence, she was afterwards raised by God’s command to the imperial heights.
On the night when she was led out of prison, she stumbled into a swampy thicket where she remained for days and nights with nothing to eat or drink, beseeching God to send her aid.
After four months of imprisonment, Adelheid and her companion spent a night tunneling for hours to escape. She and her handmaiden headed north to Reggio where Adelheid planned to appeal to Otto, the king of Germany for refuge. Running away as fast as they could toward the north, she and her handmaiden stopped to hide among tall stalks of wheat when they heard the sound of soldiers approaching. They did not know who to trust. One time the soldiers actually came within feet of the hidden Adelheid as they parted the grass looking for the fugitives. Miraculously, God prevented her discovery.
In the midst of these dangers, a fisherman in a boat suddenly appeared, carrying with him a fish known as a sturgeon. Upon seeing them, he asked who they were and what they were doing there.[1]
Adelheid explained to the fisherman that they were alone and hungry. While this was going on, a friendly cleric appeared who helped the women make their way to a fortress.
Eventually Adelheid made her way to King Otto. Her choice of King Otto as an ally showed just how wise and resourceful Adelheid was. Otto’s kingdom bordered Italy to the north. He was a strong military and political leader. Not only that, but Otto was a friend of the family, having served as a tutor to Adelheid’s brother, Conrad. When Adelheid’s father died, Otto tried to help Conrad secure his right to the throne of Burgundy. Otto was also ambitious. He wanted to establish the Holy Roman Empire as a unification of Germany and Italy. If he helped Adelheid defeat Berengar and ascend to her rightful place as queen of Italy, he could accomplish his dream.
In 951, only a few months after her escape from Berengar’s prison, Adelheid and Otto were married. Otto wasted no time in pressing his advance into Italy. The usurper Berengar was defeated. With the help of Adelheid’s influence and popularity among her people, Otto eventually realized his dream. After eleven years of campaigning, Otto and Adelheid were crowned Emperor and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope John XII.
Adelheid began her new future as empress and mother of the future Emperor Otto II. She continued as a wise and beneficent ruler until her retirement to church work.
Next time, in part 2, we will look at her accomplishments in the latter part of her life.
[1] The italicized excerpts are from: Sean Gilsdorf, Queenship and Sanctity: The Lives of Mathilda and the Epitaph of Adelheid (Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2004) 129-131.
