Adeliza of Louvain
From Freepedia
Adeliza of Leuven (1103-1151), also called Adela and Aleidis, was queen consort of England from 1121 to 1135, the second wife of King Henry I of England. She was the daughter of Godfrey I of Leuven, Duke of Lower Lotharingia, Landgrave of Brabant and Count of Louvain and Brussels.
She married King Henry I in 1121 when she is thought to have been aged somewhere between fifteen and eighteen. Her husband was fifty three. It is believed that Henry's only reason for marrying again was his desire for a male heir. Despite holding the record for the largest number of illegitimate children of any British monarch, William Adelin was Henry's only legitimate male heir and had predeceased his father on 25 November, 1120. Adeliza was reputably quite pretty and her father was Duke of Lower Lotharingia. These were the likely reasons she was chosen. However, no children were born during the almost 15 years of the marriage.
When her husband died on 1 December, 1135, Adeliza lived as a nun at Wilton, near Salisbury. As she was still young she came out of mourning some time before 1139 and married William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel, who had been one of Henry's chief advisors. She brought with her a queen's dowry, including the great castle of Arundel, and Stephen of England created d'Albini Earl of Arundel and Earl of Lincoln.
Seven of their children were to survive. Among them William d'Aubigny, 2nd Earl of Arundel, father to William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel who was one of the 25 guarantors of the Magna Carta. Among the descendants of this marriage came two girls destined to become tragic Queen consorts: Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.
Adeliza spent her final years in the abbey of Affligem (County of Brabant, German Empire), where she died on April 23, 1151.
One of Adeliza's brothers, Jocelin (Gosuinus), came to England and married Agnes de Percy, heiress of the Percy family. Their children took their mother's name, and their descendants include the medieval Earls of Northumberland.
