Adélaïde appears with her husband count Lambert of Chalon and her son Hugues in a number of sources ["Clarissimus comes domnus Lambertus, ... S. Adalaidis, uxoris ejus, et Hugonis, filii ejus." Cart. Paray-le-Monial, 82-3 (#165); "Facit autem hanc donationem jamdictus præsul Hugo Deo devotus, primum pro amore Dei, inde pro anima patris sui Lanberti ac matris suæ Adeleydis, ..." Cart. Paray-le-Monial, 113 (#213); "Hugo Cabilonensis, ex patre Lamberto, comitum venerabilissimo, et matre Adelaide generosissima; ..." Gesta pontificum Autissiodorensium, c. 49, Bib. Hist. Yonne, 1: 386]. The chronology of Adélaïde's marriages is difficult to determine, because of contradictions in the sources. She appears with her first husband Lambert in the 28th year of Lothair, which would be between 12 November 981 and 11 November 982 if dated in the usual way, but this contradicts the usual date of 978 given for Lambert's death ["Ego Lanbertus comes atque uxor mea Adeleydis ... anno XXVIII Hlotharii regis" Cart. Cluny 2: 755 (#1444bis)]. She appears (without a husband) with her son Hugues in the 26th year of Lothair ["... S. Adalaidis, comitissæ humilis, et Hugonis, filii ejus. ... pridie kalendas decembris, die martis, anno XXVI regnante Lothario rege." Cart. Cluny, 2: 587 (#1537)]. Adélaïde appears with her second husband Geoffroy in the 30th year of Lothair ["... S. Gauzfredi, comitis. S. Adaleidis, comitissa. ..., die XVIII mensis octobris, regnante Hlothario rege anno XXX" Cart. Cluny 2: 724 (#1701)]. She appears again with Geoffroy in the "34th year" of Lothair ["... ego Gausfredus, comes, atque uxor mea Adeleidis, atque Hugo, filius Lanberti comitis ... Signum Gausfredi, comitis, et uxor ejus Adaleidis et Hugonis, filii ejus, ... Data mense martio, anno XXXIIII Hlotharii regis." Cart. Cluny 2: 528-9 (#1474); note that Lothair reigned for less than 32 years]. The chronological problems of these charters are discussed on Lambert's page.
Date of birth: Unknown.
Place of birth: Unknown.
Date of death: After 999.
She was still living in 999,
because she signed a charter in which her son Hugues appears as
bishop ["S. Hugonis comitis et episcopi. S. Adelaidis
com[itissæ]. S. Mauricii." Cart. Paray-le-Monial, 6
(#5)]
Place of death: Unknown.
Father: Unknown.
Mother: Unknown.
There have been numerous conjectures
regarding her parentage. See the Commentary section.
Spouses:
(1) Lambert, d. 22 February, 977×985, probably 978, count of Chalon.
(2) Geoffroy I Grisegonelle, d. 21 July 987, count of Anjou.
Children:
(by Lambert)
Hugues, d. 4 November 1039, count of Chalon, prob. 978-1039; bishop of Auxerre, 999-1039.
Mathilde, d. before 1019, m. Geoffroy de Semur.
See the page of Lambert.
(by Geoffroy)
Maurice, d. in or before 1038.
See the page of Geoffroy I Grisegonelle.
Adélaïde's second marriage to count Geoffroy
It is well documented that after the death of Lambert, Adélaïde married a count named Geoffroy. This is proven quite clearly in a charter of her second husband Geoffroy from Cluny ["... ego Gausfredus, comes, atque uxor mea Adeleidis, atque Hugo, filius Lanberti comitis ... Signum Gausfredi, comitis, et uxor ejus Adaleidis et Hugonis, filii ejus, ... Data mense martio, anno XXXIIII Hlotharii regis." Cart. Cluny 2: 528-9 (#1474)] and in a charter of her grandson count Thibaud of Chalon from Saint-Marcel-lès-Chalon ["Ego in Dei nomine Tetbaldus comes Cabilonensium ... quod nobilissimus comes Gaufredus, qui post mortem prestantissimi et christianissimi comitis, avii mei Lamberti, accepit ejus conjugem, aviam meam, Adheleydam comitissam, ..." Cart. S.-Marcel-lès-Chalon, 11 (#6)]. It is also clear that Adélaïde was the mother of a son named Maurice, as established by several charters ["Clarissimus et strenuissimus Cabilonensium comes, domnus Hugo, et mater ejus nomine Adeleidis, et domnus Mauricius, frater ejus, ... in beneficio comite Lamberto et uxore ejus Adeleide et filio eorum Hugone." Cart. Paray-le-Monial, 90 (#180); "Domnus Hugo comes atque mater sua, nomine Adeleidis, ... Testes sunt domnus Hugo comes. S. Adeleidis, matris suae. S. Mauritii, filii ejus." Cart. Paray-le-Monial, 97-8 (#193); "S. Hugonis comitis. S. Mauricii comitis, fratris ejus. S. Adeleydis, matris eorum, comitisse." Cart. Cluny 3: 50 (#1794)]. However, there is no unambiguous evidence which would either clearly identify this Geoffroy or tell us whether Maurice was Adélaïde's son by her first husband Lambert or her second husband Geoffroy.
The possibility that Maurice was by Adélaïde's second husband can then be matched with what seems like more than a coincidence, for count Geoffroy Grisegonelle of Anjou (d. 987) was the father of a son Maurice, mentioned as a brother of Geoffroy's son count Foulques "Nerra" in a charter of 1003 [Cart. S.-Aubin 1: 157-8]. Thus, the main issue here is two identifications, that is, the possible identification of Geoffroy Grisegonelle as the count Geoffroy who was Adélaïde's second husband, and the possible identification of Adélaïde's son Maurice with the son of Geoffroy Grisegonelle of the same name. It is easily seen that the truth of either one of these identifications would virtually clinch the other one, so we can easily assume that the two identifications are either both true or both false. The identifications are widely accepted in the histories of Anjou [e.g., Mabille (1871); Halphen (1906); Bachrach (1985)]. In 1986, Henri de Chizelle argued against these identifications, identifying the second husband of Adélaïde as a certain Geoffroy de Semur [Chizelle (1986)]. In a long paper on the maternal ancestry of Otte-Guillaume of Burgundy (probably a grandson of Lambert) in 1994, Christian Settipani argued in favor of the identifications, followed by a response by Chizelle in 1996. Points which have been made on each side include the following.
For the identifications:
Against the identifications:
Of all of the arguments against the identifications, the only serious problem is the chronological one. When I first wrote about this problem, in an earlier version of the page for Geoffroy Grisegonelle, I left the matter unsettled. Now that I have examined the evidence for Gerberge's parentage in detail, I believe that the identifications are correct. The most probable solution for the chronological problem is that Gerberge was a daughter of Lambert by an earlier marriage. The solution proposed by Chizelle, which would take care of the chronological problem by rejecting the identifications and making Maurice a son of Lambert (thus allowing an earlier birthdate), is much less likely.
Supposed child (chronologically
improbable): Gerberge, more probably a daughter of Lambert, count of Chalon, by an earlier marriage.
There are two problems that have led to
contradictory opinions about Gerberge's parentage. One is the
existence of two contradictory sources, which is discussed in
detail on Gerberge's
page. The other problem involves the
chronology of Adélaïde's children, as is discussed above in the
comments about her second marriage.
Two Adélaïdes and an Adèle - a maze of confusion
The modern secondary literature has a great deal of confusion surrounding the origin and identity of Adélaïde, whom we shall here call "of Chalon" for lack of a better name, to distinguish her from her namesakes. She has been confused with two other women, mother and daughter, who together with Adélaïde of Chalon make up the "two Adélaïdes and an Adèle" mentioned in the title of this section. The other two women are:
Several things have contributed to this confusion. The similarity in the women's names has led to problems. This has been even more the case in some French works which have given the names of all three women in the form "Aélis". The fact that two of the women were married to Geoffroy Grisegonelle of Anjou has certainly aided the confusion. The commonly conjectured (but doubtful) connection of Adélaïde of Chalon as a daughter or granddaughter of Giselbert of Burgundy can be contrasted to Adélaïde/Werra's genuine status as Giselbert's daughter.
The supposed connection of Adélaïde of Chalon to the family of Giselbert is based on the fact that her first husband Lambert is indicated as the first count of Chalon (apparently, of his family), and Giselbert was previously count of Chalon ["... nobilissimus strenuissimusque Lambertus, filius Rotberti vicecomitis, Ingeltrude matre ortus, obtinuit comitatum Cabilonensem primus, assentante rege primoribusque Francie, ..." Cart. Paray-le-Monial, 2 (#2)]. From this, it has been claimed that Lambert's claim to Chalon came through his wife Adélaïde, and that Adélaïde was therefore closely related to Giselbert. As is discussed in more detail on Giselbert's page, there is no direct evidence to support this claim. Although the parentage of Adélaïde of Chalon remains unknown, it is improbable that her relationship to Giselbert, if any, was that of daughter or granddaughter.
Nevertheless, since Adélaïde/Werra and Adèle were (respectively) a daughter and granddaughter of Giselbert, the incorrect attempts to place Adélaïde of Chalon as a daughter or granddaughter of Giselbert have resulted in several variations in which Adélaïde of Chalon is a sister of either Adélaïde/Werra or Adèle or is identified with one of them. For example, Vajay made Adélaïde of Chalon a niece of Adèle [Vajay (1962), 159], while Chizelle made Adèle a niece of Adélaïde of Chalon [Chizelle (1986), 69], and both of them made things even more confusing by calling both women Aélis, a French form often treated as an equivalent of both Adélaïde and Adèle. Given this, it is not surprising that many modern sources have been confused about the three women. Among the various false scenarios which have appeared, we indicate four versions below.
Scenario 1:
Falsely
attributed father: Giselbert, d. 8 April 956, duke of Burgundy.
Falsely attributed mother:
Ermengarde.
Falsely attributed
sister: Adélaïde alias
Werra, m. Robert, count of Troyes.
[Lot (1891), 323-6; Poupardin (1907), 220,
417; Chizelle (1986), 69] In addition to the lack of any direct
evidence for such an affiliation, we have the problem that it
would give us two sisters with the same name, an unlikely
occurrence which should not be accepted without better evidence.
See the page of Giselbert for further discussion.
Scenario 2:
False
identification: Adélaïde alias
Werra, m. Robert, count of Troyes.
Falsely attributed
children:
Heribert
"juvenus", d. 28 January 995 or 996, count of
Meaux and Troyes, 980×4-995×6.
Adèle,
living 6 March 974, m. ca. 965, Geoffroy I Grisegonelle, d. 987, count of Anjou.
[ES 3.1: 49, 116] This scenario is a further variation of
Scenario 1, in which the two Adélaïdes are identified. It would
have the very improbable result of making the second wife of
Geoffroy Grisegonelle the mother of his first wife.
Scenario 3:
Falsely
attributed grandfather: Giselbert, d. 8 April 956, duke of Burgundy.
Falsely attributed father:
Robert, count of Troyes.
Falsely attributed mother: Adélaïde alias
Werra,
daughter of Giselbert, duke of Burgundy.
[Arbois de Jubainville (1859-66), 1: 140, 142; Kalckstein (1877),
302 & n. 2; Vajay (1962), 159] This scenario was refuted by
Lot [Lot (1891), 323-6]. It is also improbable that the second
wife of Geoffroy Grisegonelle was a sister of his first wife.
Scenario 4:
False
identification: Adèle, first wife of Geoffroy I Grisegonelle, and daughter of Robert, count of Troyes.
Falsely attributed
children:
Foulques III
"Nerra", d. 1040, count of Anjou.
Geoffroy.
Bouchard (Barbatus), supposed father of Bouchard de Montmorency.
Adélaïde,
mother of queen Constance.
One example of this impossible identification comes from a
fabricated genealogy which was published with the cartulary of
Trinité de Vendôme ["Anno inaugurationis Hugonis
regis, obiit Godefridus comes Andegavorum dictus Grisagonella,
filius Fulconis comitis dicti Boni et Gerbergæ comitissæ, et
requiescit cum Adella uxore sua, relicta Lamberti comitis, in
ecclesia Sancti-Martini. Godefridus comes et Adela habuerunt
quatuor filios et duas filias: Fulconem comitem dictum Nigram,
qui patri successit, Gaufridum de Montebasonis patrem Gaufridi,
Mauricium et Burchardum Barbatum, qui fuit pater Burchardi de
Montemaurenciaco, Gelduini archipresulis et Alberici comitis, et
Adelasiam uxorem Willelmi comitis quæ fuit mater Constantiæ
reginæ." Cart. Trinité de Vendôme, 1: 10-11 (#3)].
Of the supposed children, Foulques and Geoffroy were children of
Geoffroy I Grisegonelle by his first wife Adèle de Troyes (see Geoffroy's page), Bouchard is part of a late attempt to fabricate an
origin for the house of Montmorency, and Constance's mother
Adélaïde was a sister of Geoffroy (see the page of Foulques II). Since Adèle was married to Geoffroy before 974, when
Lambert was still alive, and Adélaïde only married Geoffroy
after the death of Lambert, this identification is impossible.
Other possibilities and conjectures
Possible relative: Constance, m. Robert II,
king of France
(relative
of son Hugues)
Rodulfus Glaber states that Constance was related to Hugues,
count of Chalon and bishop of Auxerre ["Accepit autem
supradictus rex illius cognatam nomine et animo Constantiam,
inclitam reginam, filiam videlicet prioris Willelmi Aquitaniæ
ducis, ex qua etiam suscepit filios quattuor et filias duas."
Rodulfus Glaber, iii, 7 (pp. 57-8)]. Since Constance was not, as
stated in this passage, a daughter of Guillaume of Aquitaine, but
was a daughter of Guillaume I of Provence, that explains the
conjectures which appear in the next item.
Prou, Duchesne:
Supposed father or
brother: Guillaume I,
count of Arles (Provence).
In his edition of Rodulfus Glaber's work,
Prou stated that Adélaïde was a sister of Constance, wife of
king Robert II [Rodulfus Glaber, 43, n. 1]. Duchesne stated that
she was a sister of Guillaume I [Duchesne (1619), 387]. While
neither stated an explicit reason, both are undoubtedly based on
the statement of Rodulfus Glaber mentioned in the previous item.
Both seem to be assuming that cognata refers to a very
close relative, which need not be the case. Chronologically,
Prou's conjecture appears to ignore the fact that Constance was
probably younger than Adélaïde's children.
Sackur:
Supposed father (improbable): Aubry I,
count of Mâcon.
Supposed
identification (improbable): Attala, daughter
of Aubry I.
This suggestion, by Ernst Sackur [Sackur (1892-4), 2: 469-471],
is based on a charter of count Liétaud (son of Aubry I) from
February 944, which mentioned a certain Lambert, Liétaud's consanguineus,
gave land to Liétaud, and that the same land was later regranted
to Liétaud by his sister Attala ["ego
Leotaldus et uxor mea Berta, ... hoc est
mansus indominicatus cum æcclesia Beati Martini, quem mihi
Lanbertus, consanguineus meus, dedit, et soror mea Attala michi
postea reddidit, situs in pago Cabillonense, in villa Flagiaco,
...", Cart. Cluny, 1: 609-610 (#655)]. Given
that Adélaïde gave birth to her son Maurice in 979 or later, it
is unlikely that she was married as early as 944. See the pages
of Lambert and Gerberge
for further discussion.
Settipani:
Conjectured father (improbable): Hugues, d. after 936, count in
Burgundy, son of Garnier,
viscount of Sens.
Conjectured
mother (improbable): Willa, d. after 967, conjectured daughter of Louis, son of Rhodolphe
I, king of Burgundy.
This uses the names of Adélaïde's children and grandchildren as
an onomastic starting point. Since Settipani regards Adélaïde
as the mother of Gerberge, the names Gerberge, Otton, and
Guillaume are included on the list of names which are regarded as
the onomastic clues to Adélaïde's origin [Settipani (1994),
44-53]. Given that Adélaïde's status as Gerberge's mother is
questionable, this conjecture is based on underlying assumptions
which are doubtful at best.
Bouchard:
Conjectured
ancestor: Louis "the
Blind", d. after 927, king of Provence and Italy,
emperor.
Conjectured
ancestor: Adélaïde,
second wife of Louis.
This onomastically based conjecture also
hypothesizes a close relation to another Adélaïde, the wife of Hugues Capet [Bouchard (2001),
152-3].
See also Lambert's page for certain additional children who have been attributed to Lambert and Adélaïde.
Arbois de Jubainville (1859-66) = H. d'Arbois de Jubainville, Histoire des ducs et des comtes de Champagne, 6 vols. (Paris, 1859-1866).
Bachrach (1985) = Bernard S. Bachrach, "Geoffrey Greymantle, count of the Angevins, 960-987: a study in French politics", Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History 17 (n.s. 7, 1985): 3-65.
Bib. Hist. Yonne = Louis-Maximilien Duru, ed., Bibliothèque historique de l'Yonne, 2 vols., (Auxerre & Paris, 1850-63).
Bouchard (1987) = Constance Brittain Bouchard, Sword, Miter, and Cloister - Nobility and the church in Burgundy, 980-1198 (Cornell University Press, 1987).
Bouchard (2001) = Constance Brittain Bouchard, "Those of my Blood" Constructing Noble Families in Medieval Francia (Philadelphia, 2001).
Cart. Cluny = A. Bernard & A. Bruel, Recueil des chartes de l'abbaye de Cluny, 6 vols., (Paris, 1876-1903).
Cart. Paray-le-Monial = Ulysse Chevalier, ed., Cartulaire de Paray-le-Monial (Montbéliard, 1891).
Cart. S.-Aubin = Bertrand de Broussillon, Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Aubin d'Angers, 3 vols. (Angers, 1903).
Cart. S.-Marcel-lès-Chalon = Paul Canat de Chizy, ed., Cartulaire du prieuré de Saint-Marcel-lès-Chalon (Chalon-sur-Saône, 1894).
Cart. Trinité de Vendôme = Charles Métais, Cartulaire de l'abbaye cardinale de la Trinité de Vendôme, 2 vols. (Paris, 1893).
Chizelle (1986) = Henri de Chizelle, "Aperçu sur le comté de Chalon-sur-Saône au Xe siècle: à propos de la comtesse Aélis", Annales de Bourgogne 58 (1986): 45-70.
Chizelle (1996) = Henri de Chizelle, "Notes complémentaires concernant Aélis (Adèlais), comtesse de Chalon", Annales de Bourgogne 68 (1996): 79-83.
Duchesne (1619) = André Duchesne (du Chesne), Histoire des roys, ducs, et comtes de Bourgogne et d'Arles (Paris, 1619).
ES = Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln (neue Folge), (Marburg, 1980-present).
Halphen (1906) = Louis Halphen, Le comté d'Anjou au XIe siècle (Paris, 1906).
Kalckstein (1877) = Carl von Kalckstein, Geschichte des französischen Königthums unter den ersten Capetingern (Leipzig, 1877).
Lot (1891) = Ferdinand Lot, Les derniers Carolingiens (Paris, 1891).
Mabille (1871) = Émile Mabille, Introduction au Chroniques des Comtes d'Anjou (Société de l'Histoire de France, vol. 155, Paris, 1871).
Poupardin (1907) = René Poupardin, Le royaume de Bourgogne (888-1038) - Étude sur les origines du royaume d'Arles (Paris, 1907).
Rodulfus Glaber = Maurice Prou, ed., Raoul Glaber - les cinq livres de ses histoires (900-1044) (Paris, 1886).
Sackur (1892-4) = Ernst Sackur, Die Cluniacenser in ihrer kirchlichen und allgemeingeschichtlichen Wirksamkeit bis zur Mitte des elften Jahrhunderts, 2 vols. in 1 (Halle an der Saale, 1892-4).
Settipani (1994) = Christian Settipani, "Les origines maternelles du comte de Bourgogne Otte-Guillaume", Annales de Bourgogne 66 (1994), 5-63.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 24 April 2008.
Minor revision uploaded 26 July 2008 (added Bouchard conjecture on Adélaïde's origin).