Adelaide of Savona (d. 1118)

Countess and regent of Sicily who later became queen of Jerusalem. Name variations: Adelaide of Salona; Adelaide of Sicily. Reigned 1101–1112; died in 1118 in Sicily; daughter of Marquis Manfred of Savona; niece of Boniface of Savona; married Count Roger I of Sicily (1031–1101, brother of Robert Guiscard), in 1089; married Baldwin I of Boulogne, king of Jerusalem (r. 1100–1118), in 1113; children: Simon of Sicily (r. 1101–1103); Roger II of Sicily (1095–1154). Baldwin I was also married to Godeheut de Toni (d. 1097), daughter of Ralf III, seigneur de Conches.

Adelaide of Savona, an Italian noblewoman, was the daughter of the reigning marquis of Savona. As a young woman, she became the third wife of Roger I, count of Sicily, and moved to Sicily in 1089 as marquessa. Six years later, she gave birth to one child who survived, Roger II. In 1101, her husband died, leaving Adelaide to act as regent of Sicily in the name of their small son. Adelaide was an able ruler and, when her son came of age in 1113, she left him with a fairly prosperous and peaceful island-state.

Soon after Roger II took over the reins of government, Adelaide married again. Her new husband was Baldwin I of Boulogne, king of Jerusalem (again, she was the third wife). Moving to Jerusalem, she began a new life as Baldwin's queen-consort, but when Baldwin fell ill in 1117, he repented his sins and had his third marriage annulled. Stripped of her wealth, Adelaide returned to Sicily. Her marriage contract would give Roger II the motivation to claim the lands of Jerusalem. Adelaide is remembered as a religious founder, for providing the seed money for the monastery of S. Marie del Patirion.

Laura York , Anza, California