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Adélaide de Maurienne (1092 - November 18, 1154) was the daughter of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy, and niece of Pope Callistus II, who once visited her court in France.
She became the second wife of Louis VI of France (1081-1137), whom she married on August 3, 1115. They had six children, the second of whom became Louis VII of France. She was reputed to be "ugly," but attentive and pious, and with Louis she had six sons and two daughters:
- Philippe (1116-1131), not to be confused with his brother of the same name; died from a fall from a horse
- Louis VII the Young (1120-1180), king of France.
- Henri (1121-1175), bishop of Beauvais (1149-1161) and then of archbishop of Reims (1161-1175)
- Hugues (c. 1123), died young
- Robert I of Dreux (c. 1123-1188), called Robert the Great, count of Dreux (1137-1184), count of Perche
- Constance (c. 1124-1180), married first (in 1140) Eustace IV of Boulogne, married second (in 1154) Raymond V of Toulouse
- Philippe (c. 1125-1161), not to be confused with his elder brother; bishop of Paris
- Pierre (c. 1125-c. 1182), married Elizabeth of Courtenay
Afer Louis VI's death, Adélaide did not immediately retire to conventual life, as did most widowed queens of the time. Instead she married Matthieu I of Montmorency, with whom she had one child. She remained active in the French court and in religious activities.
Adélaide is one of two queens in a legend related by William Dugdale. As the story goes, Queen Adélaide of France became enamoured of a young knight, William d'Albini, at a joust. But he was already engaged to Queen Adeliza of England and refused to become her lover. The jealous Adélaide lured him into the clutches of a hungry lion, but William ripped out the beast's tongue with his bare hands and thus killed it. This story is almost without a doubt apocryphal.
In 1153 she retired to the abbey of Montmartre, which she had founded with Louis VII. She died there on November 18, 1154.
Source
- Nolan, Kathleen D. Capetian Womenfr:Adèle de Savoie