Adela of Flanders

1080–1086

1092–1111

c. 1064

April 1115

House of Flanders

Robert I, Count of Flanders

Gertrude of Saxony

Life[edit]

Adela was born the daughter of Robert I, Count of Flanders, and Gertrude of Saxony.[1] In 1080, she married King Canute IV of Denmark. The marriage was arranged as a part of an alliance between Flanders and Denmark against William the Conqueror.[2] During this marriage, she had three children: a son, later Count Charles the Good (born in 1084), and twin daughters, Cecilia and Ingegerd (born ca. 1085/86).[2] When Canute was assassinated in 1086, she fled with her son to Flanders, leaving her daughters behind in Denmark.[2]


She stayed in the court of her father and brother Robert II until 1092, when she left for Italy to marry Roger Borsa, Duke of Apulia.[3] She bore her second husband three sons: Louis (who died in infancy in 1094), the future Duke William II (born ca. 1096/97) and Guiscard (who died in boyhood in 1108).[4] She acted as a regent for her son William II at the death of Roger Borsa from 1111 until he came of age in 1114.[3]

Galbert of Bruges (2013). The Murder, Betrayal, and Slaughter of the Glorious Charles, Count of Flanders. Translated by Rider, Jeff. Yale University Press.

Houben, Hubert (2002). Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler Between East and West. Cambridge University Press.

Brandenburg, E. (1998). Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen (in German). Neustadt an der Aisch.

(in German)

Adela von Flandern