Adelaide of Hesse (, ; after 1323 – after 26 May 1371) was a noble of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Reginar, House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918.Burke's Peerage, Bur ...

by birth and the queen consort of Poland by marriage to Casimir III of Poland. She was the eldest daughter of Henry II, Landgrave of Hesse, and his wife Elisabeth of Thuringia (1306–1367), daughter of Frederick I, Margrave of Meissen.

Biography

She was named after her paternal grandmother, .

Marriage

On 29 September 1341, Adelaide married Casimir the Great and was crowned

queen consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

of Poland at Poznań Cathedral in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. The marriage was a result of an agreement between Casimir III and Luxemburgs. It was Casimir's second marriage and occurred two years after the death of his first wife, Aldona of Lithuania. His union with Aldona had produced two daughters, Elizabeth (1326–1361) and Kunigunde (also Cunigunde; 1334–1357), but no male heirs. Adelaide was seventeen or eighteen years old at the time of the wedding – only a few years older than Casimir's eldest daughter – and Casimir was 31. The marriage was an unhappy one and Casimir started living separately from Adelaide soon after their marriage. Adelaide lived primarily at the castle in Żarnowiec on the Pilica river and is credited with founding the parish church there. Their loveless marriage lasted until 1356. Casimir separated from Adelaide in 1356 and entered a morganatic marriage with his mistress, Krystyna Rokiczana (also Christina), the widow of Mikulasz Rokiczani (also Miklusz, Mikuláš), a wealthy merchant. Casimir's separation from Adelaide was not recognized by the church and was considered bigamous, which put him at odds with the clergy. Casimir continued living with Krystyna despite complaints by Pope Innocent VI on behalf of Adelaide. The marriage lasted until 1363 or 1364, at which time Casimir again declared himself divorced. They had no children. The marriage to Adelaide was annulled in 1368. Then Casimir married his fourth wife, Jadwiga (Hedwig) of Żagań. This marriage produced another three daughters. With Adelaide still alive and Christina possibly as well, the marriage to Jadwiga was also considered bigamous. The legitimacy of the three last daughters was disputed. Casimir managed to have two of his daughters, Anna and Kunigunde, legitimatised by Pope Urban V on December 5, 1369. Jadwiga the younger, was legitimatised by

Pope Gregory XI Pope Gregory XI (; born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death, in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pope. In 1377, ...

on October 1, 1371.

Later life

After the annulment of her marriage, Adelaide went back home to

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. She spent the rest of her life in Hesse. After her ex-husband's death, she fought for her property rights. She intervened in this case to Pope Gregory XI. On May 26, 1371, the Pope urged King Louis to give back her property.

In popular culture

Film

Queen Adelaide is one of the main characters in the second season of Polish historical TV drama series '' The Crown of the Kings'' (). She is played by .

Bibliography

*Balzer Oswald: Genealogia Piastów. Kraków 1895, p. 386-387. *Paszkiewicz H.: Adelajda. In: Polski Słownik Biograficzny. Vol. 1. 1935, p. 28. *Semkowicz Aleksander: Adelajda, Krystyna, Jadwiga, żony Kazimierza Wielkiego. Kwartalnik Historyczny 12. 1898, p. 561-566. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Adelaide Of Hesse 1320s births 1371 deaths 14th-century German women 14th-century German people Casimir III the Great Daughters of monarchs House of Hesse Queens consort of Poland