Adelaide Of Cleves
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Adelaide of Cleves (died 1238), also known as Aleid and Adelheid was, by her marriage to Dirk VII,
Countess of Holland Countess of Holland House of Holland (nobility), House of Holland, 875–1299 House of Avesnes, 1299–1354 House of Wittelsbach, 1354–1432 House of Valois-Burgundy, 1432–1482 House of Habsburg, 1482–1581 Titular Cou ...
. She played an important role in the administration during the reign of her husband, during which she served as regent in 1195, and facilitated the marriage and accession of their daughter
Ada Ada may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'', a novel by Vladimir Nabokov Film and television * Ada, a character in 1991 movie '' Armour of God II: Operation Condor'' * '' Ada... A Way of Life'', a 2008 Bollywo ...
amid dynastic disputes in 1203.


Life


Origins

Adelaide was the daughter of
Dietrich II, Count of Cleves Dietrich () is an ancient German name meaning "ruler of the people", but also "keeper of the keys" or "lockpick" (either the tool or the profession). Given name * Dietrich, Count of Oldenburg (c. 1398–1440) * Thierry of Alsace (; 1099–1168), ...
(died 1172) and Adelaide (Adelheid) of Sulzbach (died 1189). Nothing is known about her childhood and upbringing. She had two brothers: Dietrich III/ IV (died before 1202) and Arnold (died 1200), and a sister, Margaret (Margaretha) (died about 1184). Adelaide's father is called a wealthy man in the Egmond Annals. The counts of Cleves were on good terms with the counts of Holland, who, like them, had an interest in limiting the power of the counts of
Guelders The Duchy of Guelders (; ; ) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in present-day Germany. Though the present pr ...
, although intermarriages regularly took place between all these regions. The good relationship between Holland and Cleves was sealed with two marriages between the two houses: in 1182, Dietrich III of Cleves married Margaret (Margaretha), daughter of Floris III of Holland, and in 1186 the union between Adelaide and Dirk VII of Holland, then heir to the county, took place. The couple would have three daughters: Aleydis and Petronilla (both died before 1203) and
Ada Ada may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle'', a novel by Vladimir Nabokov Film and television * Ada, a character in 1991 movie '' Armour of God II: Operation Condor'' * '' Ada... A Way of Life'', a 2008 Bollywo ...
(–after 1234). In 1190, Dirk succeeded his father as Count Dirk VII of Holland.Bussel 2019, n.p.


Countess of Holland

As the wife of Dirk VII, Adelaide played a prominent role in the administration of the county. It is striking that she was the first Dutch countess to consistently act as ''comitissa'' ("countess") instead of – as was customary until then – ''uxor'' or ''coniunx'' ("wife") was designated. She was also the first to bear the title "Countess of Holland". Furthermore, she acted remarkably often as co-counsellor next to her husband. Count and countess are mentioned together in all charters issued by the Dutch chancellery between 1198 and 1203. Whether Adelaide's strong personality played a role in this, or if it was a deliberate policy, is unclear. It is possible that Dirk wanted to prepare his subjects for a possible
regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
of Adelaide, in case he died young. The regency of a countess dowager for her minor children was not an uncommon phenomenon in Holland, but the minor children had been male in all cases hitherto, while Dirk and Adelaide had only daughters. A regency of Adelaide for her daughter could meet with resistance because it was nowhere stipulated that a woman could succeed in the county of Holland. By putting Adelaide in the foreground, Dirk seems to have wanted to avoid problems in the event of a regency.


Regency

In 1195, Adelaide actually had to take charge. The county was attacked from the north by Dirk's younger brother
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
(Willem) while Dirk himself was involved in a war against the Flemish count in
Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...
. Adelaide marched with an army to Egmond and took residence in the monastery for two months, to lead the counterattack from there. The monastery's annalist – who was not on Adelaide's side – complains about the commotion this entailed. Every day there was a back and forth of maidservants and other female followers of the Countess. Her arrival was, moreover, "to the great disadvantage of the monastery and to the inconvenience of the whole monastic community, because the Church had to pay her expenses for food as well as for many other things, for the benefit of the knights and the others". But the writer also had to admit that Adelaide prepared the battle against William skilfully and decisively. Her army succeeded in pushing back William's troops.


Daughter's reign

In 1203, Dirk VII became seriously ill. In an attempt to secure the succession, Adelaide hastily arranged a marriage between her only surviving daughter Ada and
Louis II, Count of Loon Louis II was count of Loon from 1191 to 1218. He was the son of Gerard, Count of Looz, and Adelaide of Gelderland, daughter of Henry I, Count of Guelders, and Agnes of Arnstein, daughter of Louis III of Arnstein. He also claimed to be the legit ...
. She hoped that this would take the wind out of his sails as a possible successor to Dirk's brother William. According to the Egmond annalist, Dirk would have entrusted the care of Ada to William, but Adelaide would have thwarted this. Immediately after Dirk's death, she ensured that the marriage between fifteen-year-old Ada and Louis was solemnized on 4 November, even before Dirk was buried in Egmond. A succession struggle between the followers of Adelaide and those of William ensued. According to the annalist, Adelaide would also play an active role in this: "…everything was handled according to the will, orders and directions of Countess Aleid".Burgers 1997, p. 133; qtd. in Bussel 2019, n.p. However, she could not prevent William from finally gaining the upper hand. Ada was captured after taking refuge in the stronghold of
Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
, and was then sent to William's ally
John Lackland John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...
in London. In 1210, William definitively took the title "Count of Holland". Adelaide had to accept this reality, but she would call herself "Countess of Holland" for years to come.


Later years

After this turbulent period, things became quiet around Adelaide. The Egmond Annals do not go further than 1205, and the charter material also contains little information. There is, however, a letter from Adelaide from 1207 to King John of England, in which she begs him to let her daughter Ada, who is being held captive there by order of William, return to Holland. It is not known where Adelaide spent the rest of her relatively long life. In 1237, she donated two Dutch pounds to the Rijnsburg monastery, where she wanted to be buried. Other prominent members of the Count's family lay there, including Adelaide's daughter Aleydis, and her brother-in-law William I with his first wife Adelaide of Guelders. The Count's family apparently held no grudge against Adelaide, because after her death around 1238 (an exact year or date is unknown) she was indeed buried in
Rijnsburg Rijnsburg () is a village in the eastern part of the municipality of Katwijk, in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It lies on the Oude Rijn (Utrecht and South Holland), Oude Rijn, from which it takes its name. History Rij ...
. Her surviving daughter Ada had probably been dead for about four years at the time.


Legacy

With contemporary, but also with later historians, Adelaide has had predominantly bad press. The hasty marriage she arranged between the young Ada and Louis of Loon and her active role in the Loon War are mentioned with disapproval. The prevailing opinion is that she acted mainly out of self-interest.


References


Citations


Bibliography

* Burgers, J. W. J. (1997). "Allinus, grafelijke kapelaan en Egmondse geschiedschrijver". In: Vis, G. N. M. (ed.). ''In het spoor van Egbert. Aartsbisschop Egbert van Trier, de bibliotheek en geschiedschrijving van het klooster Egmond.'' Hilversum. pp. 116–151. * Bussel, Marion van (2019)
"Aleid van Kleef (?-after 1238)"
''Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland''. Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis. {{Authority control 1238 deaths Countesses of Holland 13th-century women regents 13th-century regents 13th-century countesses consort 12th-century women regents 12th-century regents Regents in the Holy Roman Empire