Saint Adelaide
Daughter of Rudolph II, King of Burgundy
932 – 999 A.D.

Saint Adelaide was the daughter of Rudolph II, King of Burgundy. In 947 she married Lothaire II, King of Italy, after whose violent death in 950 she was imprisoned by his successor Berenger II, for declining to marry his deformed son Adalbert.

She escaped from prison and solicited the protection of Otho I the Great, who, captivated by her beauty and character, married her in 951.

She was crowned Empress of the west in 962, and exerted much influence during the reign of her son Otho II, and as regent during the minority of her grandson Otho III.

She was called “the mother of Kingdoms.” The latter part of her life was consecrated to works of piety and charity, and she was honored as a saint.

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Reference: Famous Women; An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women By Joseph Adelman. Copyright, 1926 by Ellis M. Lonow Company.