About Adela of Louvain:
Known for: Second wife / queen consort of Henry I of England; ancestor of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard through her second marriage
Adela of Louvain had little impact on history. Her marriage to Henry I highlights that among the nobility, marriage was often primarily motivated by the desire to have a legitimate heir to whom to pass titles and property.
Dates: 1103? - April 23, 1151
Occupation: queen consort
Also known as: Also known as: Adelicia, Adelaide, Aleidis, Adeliza of Louven
Family, Background:
father: Godfrey of Louvain, Duke of Lower Lotharingia, Landgrave of Brabant, Count of Louvain (Leuven) and Brussels
Marriage, Children:
- Henry I of England (no children)
- William d'Aubigny (seven children)
More About Adela of Louvain:
Adela of Louvain married England's Henry I when he was 53 and she was 18. He was a widower who lost his only surviving legitimate son, William Adelin, when the White Ship went down in the English Channel in November, 1120. His only remaining heir was a daughter. So he remarried, hoping to have another son. Henry and Adela were married in February 1121; when it became clear that they would have no children, Henry convinced his nobles to recognize his daughter, the Empress Matilda (widow of the Holy Roman Emperor), as his heir. Henry died in 1135 without having any children of his marriage to Adela.
When Henry died, Adela went to the convent at Wilton for a year of mourning. Then, after the dedication of Henry's tomb on the first anniversary of his death, she left the convent.
In 1139, Adela remarried. Her second husband was William d'Aubigny (de Albini), created Earl of Arundel and Earl of Lincoln by King Stephen for supporting his cause against Henry's daughter, Matilda. But in that bitter civil war, Adela hosted Matilda when she came to England in 1139.
Adela and her second husband had seven children survive to adulthood. Two of their descendants became queens, both married to Henry VIII and both executed: Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. One of her grandsons, also named William d'Aubigny and the third Earl of Arundel, was one of the nobles who signed the Magna Carta.
Adela of Louvain spent her last years in an abbey, where she was buried next to her father.
