See also

Godfrey (c. 1060-1139)

1. Godfrey I of Leuven, Duke of Lower Lotharingia, son of Henry II of Leuven ( - ) and The Countess Adela ( - ), was born circa 1060. He died on 25 January 1139. He was buried in Abbey Church of Affligem. He married Ida.

 

Godfrey I of Leuven (c. 1060 – 25 January 1139), Duke of Lower Lotharingia, Landgrave of Brabant, Count of Brussels and Leuven, also known as Godfrey the Bearded, was a nobleman in what is now Belgium and the Netherlands. As Duke of Lower Lotharingia, he is usually named Godfrey VI.

Godfrey was the son of Henry II of Leuven and a countess called Adela (origin unknown). Godfrey was accorded the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia in 1106 by the German Emperor, despite rival claims from the House of Limburg. He was deposed by the King of Germany Lothair III in 1129, but nevertheless maintained the title.

 

Ida was the daughter of Otto II of Chiny ( - ) and Adelaide of Namur ( - ). She and Godfrey I of Leuven, Duke of Lower Lotharingia had the following children:

 

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Adeliza of Louvain (1103-1151)

Second Generation

2. Adeliza of Louvain (also known as Adela, ALEIDIS), daughter of Godfrey I of Leuven, Duke of Lower Lotharingia and Ida, was born in 1103. She was a Queen Consort of the Kingdom of England. She married Henry I KING OF ENGLAND on 2 February 1121. She died on 23 April 1151 in Abbey of Affligem, Brabant. She was buried in Abbey Church of Affligem. She married William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel.

 

Adeliza of Leuven (1103-1151), also called Adela and Aleidis, was Queen consort of the Kingdom 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 Leuven and Brussels.

She married King Henry I on 2 February 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.

Adeliza, unlike the other Anglo-Norman queens, played little part in the public life of the realm during her tenure as queen consort. Whether this is because of personal inclination, or because Henry preferred to keep her nearby in hopes of her conceiving, is unknown and probably unknowable. She did, however, leave a mark as a patron of literature and several works, including a bestiary, were dedicated to her. She is said to have commissioned a verse biography of King Henry; if she did it is no longer extant.

When her husband died on 1 December, 1135, Adeliza retired for a while to the monastery of 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. Although her husband was a staunch supporter of King Stephen during the Anglo-Norman civil war, her own personal inclination may have been toward the cause of her step-daughter Empress Matilda. When the Empress sailed for England in 1139, it was to her step-mother that she appealed for shelter, and she landed near Arundel and was received as a guest of the former queen.

Seven of Adeliza and William's children were to survive to adulthood. Among them William d'Aubigny, 2nd Earl of Arundel, father to William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel who was one of the twenty-five 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 also became an active patron of the church during her second marriage, giving property to Reading Abbey in honor of her former husband and to several other, smaller foundations.

Adeliza spent her final years in the abbey of Affligem (Landgraviat of Brabant, German Empire), where she died on April 23, 1151. She was buried in the abbey church next to her father, duke Godfrey I of Leuven.

One of Adeliza's brothers, Jocelin (Gosuinus), came to England and married Agnes de Percy, heiress of the Percy family. Adeliza also gave a dowry to one of her cousins when she married in England. Although it is clear that the former queen and Josecelin were very close, he may actually have been an illegitimate son of Adeliza's father and thus her half-brother. His children took their name from their mother's lineage, and their descendants include the medieval Earls of Northumberland.

 

Henry I KING OF ENGLAND, son of William I KING OF ENGLAND (c. 1027-1087) and Matilda de Flandre (1032- ), was born in [Julian] September 1068. He married Editha of Scotland on [Julian] 11 November 1100. He died on [Julian] 1 December 1135. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

 

William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel, son of William d'Aubigny ( - ) and Maud le Bigod ( - ), was born circa 1109. He died on 12 October 1176. He and Adeliza of Louvain had the following children:

 

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William d'Aubigny, 2nd Earl of Arundel ( - )

Third Generation

3. William d'Aubigny, 2nd Earl of Arundel, son of William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel and Adeliza of Louvain, married Maud de St. Hilaire.

 

Maud de St. Hilaire was the daughter of James de St. Hilaire ( - ) and Aveline ( - ). She and William d'Aubigny, 2nd Earl of Arundel had the following children:

 

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William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel (c. 1167-c. 1221). William was born circa 1167. He died circa 1221.