A Dictionary of Saintly Women/Adelaide (3)
St. Adelaide (3), Dec 16, 12, and 17. 992. Empress. Queen of Italy. Queen of Germany. Called "the Happy" and "the Mother of the Kings." The richest woman in Europe. For variants of her name, see Ada (name). Adelaide, daughter of Rudolph or Ralph II., king of Burgundy, and his wife Bertha of Suabia, was born about 931. At sixteen she was married at Milan, to Lothaire, who soon afterwards succeeded her father as king of Italy. Pavia was given to Adelaide as a dowry. In 950 Lothaire died. His death was attributed to poisoned wine, given to him during a feast at Turin, by Berengarius, who immediately proclaimed himself king, as Berengarius II. He sought to strengthen his position by marrying his son Adelbert to Lothaire's widow. But Adelaide indignantly answered that if she ever married again it should be a man who could avenge her husband's death. She was besieged in Pavia, and in spite of the devotion of her people, and the heroism and generosity with which, when provisions failed, she shared everything with them, a traitor was found to open the gates, and before the queen knew that the town was taken, the enemy stood before her. At first Berengarius and Villa, his wife, treated her well; but as she persisted in her refusal to marry Adelbert, she was imprisoned at Como, where she was subjected to all kinds of insults from Villa, who is described by Liutprand as the very worst of all the many very bad women in Italy. In vain, when words of flattery and of abuse alike failed, did Villa cuff and kick Adelaide, and drag her by her hair, to induce her to become her daughter-in-law. From Como she was transferred to a castle on the lake of Garda, and only allowed the attendance of her chaplain, Martin, and one maidservant. Both were, however, devoted to her; and Adelhard, bishop of Reggio, having promised to receive her into a place of safety, if she could manage to escape, Martin succeeded in making a hole in the wall of Adelaide's room, through which she and her maid crept in men's clothes. After enduring many fatigues, and narrowly escaping recapture, they succeeded in reaching the town of Canossa, a strong fortress on a steep rock at the foot of the hills close to Garda, and held by Azo, Adelaide's uncle, as a fief of Reggio. From there she wrote to Otho, emperor of Germany (936-973), imploring help; and, at the same time, the Pope, Agapetus II., applied to him to settle the disturbances in Italy.
The beauty and accomplishments of the young queen, combined with her misfortunes and wrongs, aroused the sympathy and indignation of civilized Europe. The princes whose lands bordered on the kingdom of Italy took a double interest in her cause, as there was always the hope of acquiring for themselves some little slice of that pleasant land. Among these were Henry, duke of Bavaria, the brother of Otho; and Rudolph, the Emperor's son by his first wife, B. Edith of England. Otho was touched by the sad fate of Adelaide, and resolved to help her, and, at the same time, to turn the present crisis to his own advantage. He immediately sent promises of help and proposals of marriage. The knight who carried the despatches, unable to make his way into Canossa, watched as it was by the enemy's soldiers, fastened the Emperor's letter to an arrow and shot it over the wall. As soon as possible, Otho hastened to Pavia, whose gates opened at his approach, and there he was proclaimed king of the Franks and Lombards. At the same time, he sent a strong force to Canossa to escort Adelaide to Pavia. She was received at the gate of the city by the Emperor and his two brothers, Henry, duke of Bavaria, and St. Bruno, archbishop of Cologne. In 951 Adelaide, who little more than a year ago had left Pavia a prisoner, re-entered it, amid the acclamations of the people, as the bride of the Emperor. Otho, although nearly twenty years older than Adelaide, was still in the prime of life, a man of gigantic strength and great beauty, with long fair hair and blue eyes of extraordinary brilliancy, and to these personal advantages he added barbaric splendour of dress. Moreover, he was by far the ablest king who had reigned in Germany since Charlemagne. Throughout Germany the new empress was hailed as an angel of peace, and the events of after-years justified the good impression she had made on the people.
Adelaide and Otho sent missionaries to convert the Sclavonians, and induced the Pope to appoint bishops in the countries now called Prussia and Poland. St. Adalbert, archbishop of Magdeburg, was sent, in 961, to the Rugi, or Rani, a people living in Pomerania, between the rivers Oder and Wipper; but when the bishop and his companions arrived, the people massacred some and sent the others out of the country. The Rugi continued heathen for two centuries longer.
In course of time Berengarius broke an agreement which had been made with Otho, but was soon defeated, and sent as a prisoner to Bamberg; his wife, Villa, who had taken refuge in the citadel of St. Julias, in the midst of the lake of Orta, was obliged to surrender, and, loaded with chains, was brought before Adelaide. When the empress mildly remonstrated with her on her crimes, the prisoner replied, "The only crime with which I reproach myself is that I did not kill you when I had you in my power." Adelaide instantly had her fetters struck off, and sent her in safety to her husband. Their son Adalbert had to cede his possessions to the bishop of Modena, but Adelaide adopted his two daughters, and brought them up at her court.
On Feb. 2, 962, the long-deferred coronation of Otho and Adelaide took place at Rome, whither they were invited by John XII.; but, before leaving Germany, Otho had his young son, Otho, crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. The next year, at the instance of a council of bishops, the Emperor deposed Pope John, on account of his crimes, and appointed instead his own secretary, a layman, as Leo VIII. In 973 Otho died at Memleben, universally and heartily regretted, having been king of Germany thirty-six years, and Emperor nearly eleven. He was buried at Magdeburg by the side of his first wife, Edith of England, and Adelaide spent much of her time there in religious retirement. He was succeeded by his son, Otho II., who, under the influence of his wife, Theophanie, banished his mother from court. Adelaide went to her native land. The empire, however, did not prosper in her absence; the people were anxious for her return; and a reconciliation having been effected by St. Majolus, Adelaide kept the Easter festival of 981 at Rome, with her son and his wife.
Otho died at Rome in 983, leaving Theophanie regent for his son, Otho III., then nine years old. Adelaide and Theophanie, although not always in perfect harmony, agreed in bestowing an excellent education on the young king, who, for his beauty and acquirements, was called "the Wonder of the World." One of his tutors was a Frenchman, Gerbert d'Aurillac, a man so learned that he was accused of using magic arts. He was made archbishop of Rheims, and ultimately Pope Sylvester II. The empresses quarrelled, and Theophanie boasted that, if she lived a year, Adelaide should not have a foot of ground left in her possession. It seemed probable at the moment that her life had not one, but many years to run, but in one month it was cut off, and Adelaide ruled alone. Her love for her grandson kept her at court when she had grown weary of its splendour; and for his sake she continued to employ herself in worldly affairs and politics when their yoke had grown irksome. In 986 the two greatest crowned heads in Europe were her grandsons, namely, Otho III, the Emperor, and Louis V., king of France; and this circumstance led Sylvester II. (Gerbert) to style her "the Mother of the Kings." About this year, if at all, occurred the extraordinary incident of the crime and punishment of the empress Mary. It rests on no contemporary authority, but is spoken of as a fact by accredited historians who lived within half a century of the events.
Historians do not record the marriage of Otho III., but the legend, which is very ancient, has it that he was married to Mary of Aragon. Mary had fallen in love—as Isolde with Tristram—with Count Emmeran, when he was the Emperor ambassador to bring her from her father's court. As Emmeran was devoted to his own wife, and loyal to his master, he ignored the empress's preference, until her love changed to vindictive hatred, and she determined that he should pay for his coldness with his life. She accused him to her husband. Otho, in his distress, sought counsel of that wisest of women, his grandmother. She advised him to make no scandal. "Let it not be known," said she, "that any one mistook the empress for a woman who could be disloyal." Mary stood in awe of the old empress, who had sometimes gently reproached her for a certain lack of circumspection; she kept quiet for a time, but her vengeance suffered her not to rest; she so wrought on Otho's feelings that he charged Emmeran with the crime. Emmeran would not tell the real circumstances; he thought it nobler to bear the unjust imputation than to dis her, and wreck the young king's happiness by disclosing the real occurrences, so he kept silence, and was beheaded. The court was now at Modena; and the Emperor, in accordance with immemorial custom, sat in the hall to hear complaints and redress wrongs. Round him stood many knights and nobles, but he was sad for the loss and the supposed treachery of one of his best and bravest companions, and as he sighed and mused, there entered a pale lady in a long black cloak, and she cried
—"Justice, my lord king!"
—"What is your complaint, lady?"
—"My husband has been cruelly slain, and I crave vengeance on his murderer."
—"You shall have it. But who was your husband?"
Anna produced from under her cloak the ghastly head of Emmeran, and demanded to prove his innocence by "the judgment of God."
Here, two forms of the story diverge. The Golden Legend, which does not give the name of Emmeran, but calls him "the governor of Modena," says Anna walked barefooted and uninjured over nine red-hot ploughshares, which proved, to the satisfaction of every one, that her cause was just, and that she spoke the simple truth when she said her husband was innocent. Otho confessed himself guilty of the unjust death of his knight, and said he was ready to submit to be beheaded, but the nobles and prelates gave him a delay of ten days, in which to investigate the matter; these being ended, they gave him seven days more, then six more, by which time all were convinced that the real criminal was the empress Mary. Then Otho "dyde do brenne his wyfe all quycke," and gave four castles as were-geld to the widow of Emmeran. According to another and probably older tradition, the ordeal consisted of plunging her arms into molten lead. She did not, indeed, take them out uninjured, but she bravely held them there, with unmoved countenance, keeping her eyes fixed on the empress Mary, who gazed at her in horrible fascination. Anna died with her arms in the boiling lead and eyes fixed on the queen, who, seized by an impulse beyond her own control, threw herself at the Emperor's feet and confessed her crime. She was at once pronounced guilty of the death of Emmeran and Anna, and of untruth to her husband, and was then and there condemned to be burned alive. The sentence being executed the next day, Otho declared his own life forfeited for having condemned an innocent man; but his nobles and the great ecclesiastics unanimously granted him a reprieve of seven years, at the end of which it would doubtless have been further extended he lived.
Meantime Adelaide had completed many of the works she had desired to do, and she saw that the accomplishment of other projects must remain unfulfilled or be left to other hands, for her working day was done, and she must now prepare for her final rest; she had outlived many of her dearest friends, and all the near relations who at all approached her own age. A great affliction, too, was the death of her daughter, the abbess Matilda, who had fulfilled her dearest aspirations, and to whom she looked for comfort to the last; but she was cut off about a year before her mother. After Adelaide had retired from all worldly affairs, she thought it right to leave her seclusion, in response to the call of her nephew, Rudolph III., of Burgundy, who had quarrelled with his subjects, and wanted her to make peace. She accomplished this for him, visiting on her way several churches and monasteries she had built or endowed. He came to meet her at Lausanne, and conducted her to Orbe, where the desired reconciliation took place. She now betook herself to the monastery of Saltz, in the diocese of Strasburg, where she spent the very short time she still had to live.
Her talents, her wealth, her piety, her beauty, her superior education, her discretion, and the universal confidence and admiration inspired by her character, combined with her exalted station to render her a conspicuous figure in Europe for half a century. She is a rare example of a woman having immense power and influence and invariably using it for good; almost as rare was the courage with which she bore misfortune and injustice; for this woman, so great and so happy, had also known the depths of misfortune, insults, blows, starvation, the hardships and privations of a prison, the hairbreadth escapes of flight. St. Majolus, abbot of Cluny, who was at one time her confessor, considered that she never would have been the noble, magnanimous, charitable woman she was, but for those four months of imprisonment at Garda; she had time to reflect on a great many things, and, by God's grace, she resolved never to condescend to spiteful retaliations. Years after, when her enemies were in her power, she returned them good for evil. She never forgot a kindness or remembered an injury. Besides many benefactions to divers churches, nunneries, and other monasteries, she resolved to make a thank-offering to God for her worldly prosperity, by building a church for each of the three crowns worn by her husband and son; namely, those of Germany, Italy, and the Empire. Accordingly, she built a monastery in the kingdom of Burgundy, at Paterniac, called also Paterne and Peterlingen (Mabillon), where her mother was buried. It was dedicated in honour of the Mother of God, and she gave it to St. Majolus, who was afterwards abbot of Cluny, and was succeeded, first at Paterniac, and then at Cluny, by St. Odilo. She next built a grand church, dedicated to the Saviour of the world, in her own town of Pavia. In 987, twelve years before her death, she founded a monastery at Salsa, or Seltz, "sub libertate Romana," dedicated to God and St. Peter. It was eight years in building, and was consecrated by Widerald, bishop of Strasburg, in 995. These are the three great foundations named in St. Odilo's Life of Adelaide. Phele was also of her building, and her friend and director, St. Eumagne, was its first abbot.
By her first marriage, she had one child, Emma, who married Lothaire, king of France, and was the mother of Louis V., called le Fainéant, the last of the Carlovingian kings; he only reigned a few months, and was succeeded by Hugh Capet, 987, who was Adelaide's second cousin by birth, and nephew by marriage. By her second marriage, besides children who died young, she had Otho II. and B. Matilda, abbess of Quedlinburg.
Adelaide's romantic adventures were the subjects of song and legend for a century, particularly in Italy. Her life is promised by the Bollandists when their calendar arrives at the middle of December. The short life of her by St. Odilo, abbot of Cluny, her friend and confessor, is a narrative of facts related to him by herself. It is preserved in Bouquet, Récueil de Documents; Pertz, Monumenta; Mabillon; Leibnitz; and other collections. Among the contemporary Monumenta of her time must be mentioned the writings of Hrotswitha, a nun of Gandersheim, which was one of the great nunneries founded by the house of Saxony. (See St. Hadumada.) She was one of the earliest authoresses of Germany, and besides her dramas she has left a panegyric on Otho the Great.
Many interesting particulars of the reign of Adelaide's husband, son, and grandson are pleasantly told by Giesebrecht, Deutschlands Kaiserzeit. The Golden Legend gives the nucleus of two wonderful legends of Otho IT. and Otho III., which are told at greater length and from older sources by Collin de Plancy. Bryce, Holy Roman Empire, and Gregorovius, Rom. in Mittelalter, give much interesting information about the state and the customs of Europe during the reigns of the three Othos. See also Ditmar's Chronicle; Muratori, Annales; Nouvelle Biographie Universelle; Menzel, Hist. of Germany; Yepez, Baillet, Butler, Wetzer u. Welt, Wattembach, etc.