Adela of Flanders

Who was Adela of Flanders?

Adela of Flanders, also known as Ailanda, was Queen consort of Denmark as the wife of King Canute IV and Duchess consort of Apulia as the wife of Duke Roger Borsa, and then minor regent of Apulia from 1111 to 1115 as mother and guardian of Duke William II.

Adela was born the daughter of Robert I, Count of Flanders, and Gertrude of Saxony. In 1080 she married King Canute IV of Denmark with whom she had three children: a son, later Count Charles the Good, and twin daughters, Cecilia and Ingegerd. When Canute was assassinated in 1086, she fled with her son to Flanders, leaving her daughters behind in Denmark.

She stayed in the court of her father and brother Robert II until 1092, when she left for Italy to marry Roger Borsa, Duke of Apulia. She bore her second husband three sons: Louis, the future Duke William II and Guiscard. She acted as a regent for her son William II at the death of Roger Borsa from 1111 until he came of age in 1114.