Adelaide of Normandy

Adelaide of Normandy, also known as Adeliza, was the sister of William the Conqueror and the ruling Countess of Aumale from 1069 to 1087. Born around 1030, she was an illegitimate daughter of Duke Robert the Magnificent. Her brother, William, also shared this illegitimacy. Adelaide’s initial marriage to Enguerrand II, Count of Ponthieu, was annulled around 1049/50, leading to her subsequent marriage to Lambert II, Count of Lens, which established a new alliance between Normandy and Boulogne.

After Lambert’s death in 1054, Adelaide resided at Aumale and engaged in semi-religious retirement, contributing to the Abbey of Saint-Martin d’Auchy. In 1060, she married Odo, Count of Champagne. Adelaide held substantial lands in Suffolk and Essex as listed in the Domesday Book, making her one of the few Norman noblewomen with such holdings. The lordship of Holderness, given to her, eventually passed to her son Stephen after her death.