Death of Adelaide del Vasto – First female regent of Sicily
From 1130, the Italian island of Sicily was a kingdom.
The island was conquered by the Normans in 1071, and Roger de Hauteville, a minor Norman noble became Count Roger I of Sicily.
He married three times, and it was his third wife, Adelaide, that the Kings of Sicily were descended from.
Adelaide del Vasto was born around 1075, to Manfred del Vasto.
She was from the Aleramici, one of Italy’s most powerful noble families at the time.
The identity of her mother is unknown.
Around 1090, at the age of fifteen, Adelaide married the much-older and twice widowed, Count Roger I of Sicily.
Adelaide and Roger, had two sons, Simon and Roger.
She possibly was the mother of one of Roger’s many daughters, but it’s uncertain which one.
Count Roger I of Sicily died in 1101, and Adelaide’s eight-year-old son Simon, became the new count of Sicily.
Because of his young age, Adelaide ruled as regent.
Adelaide herself was quite young when she became regent, only about 26 years old, and her early regency was not easy.
She was faced with some rebellions, which she put down with great severity, proving herself a capable ruler.
Even though she dealt with rebels harshly, Adelaide was to become a widely respected ruler.
Unfortunately, her son Simon died at the age of 12 on 28th September 1105.
Adelaide’s younger son, Roger, who was not yet 10, became the new count.
Adelaide continued to be regent of Sicily.
She seems to have been a popular regent throughout Sicily,.
Around June 1112, Roger, now 16, began his personal rule of Sicily.
Adelaide still continued to play a central role in the governing of Sicily, however, around the time her regency expired, King Baldwin I of Jerusalem began to take an interest in Adelaide.
Baldwin was the second king of Jerusalem, and although he had married twice before, he still had no heirs.
His first wife, Godehilde de Tosny, died childless in 1097.
His second wife, who was traditionally called “Arda”, was an Armenian noblewoman, who he separated from – due to their lack of children.
Adelaide sailed to Jerusalem, and her and Baldwin were married in September 1113.
Baldwin agreed if he was to die childless, Adelaide’s son, Roger would become King of Jerusalem.
The marriage was met with some opposition, because Baldwin’s second wife was still alive, and some considered this marriage bigamous.
Adelaide was already well into middle age, and no new heir for Baldwin was immediately forthcoming.
In 1117, Baldwin’s advisers persuaded him to annul the marriage to Adelaide, and she was sent back to Sicily.
The fact that Baldwin sent Adelaide back, greatly angered her son Roger, and for the rest of his life, he refused to aid the kingdom of Jerusalem and showed a strong hatred of it.
On 16th April 1118, Adelaide died in Sicily, aged 43.
She had returned to Sicily, just two weeks before.
Because of the annulment of the marriage, it was a cousin of Baldwin, not Roger, who became the new King of Jerusalem.
Adelaide’s son Roger, was crowned as the first king of Sicily in September 1130.
🥀 Adelaide del Vasto arriving in Jerusalem in the Maître de Fauvel.
Gervais du Bus/Chaillou de Pesstain.
