Saint of the Day – 19 December – Saint Adelaide of Susa (c1014-1091) Widow

Saint of the Day – 19 December – Saint Adelaide of Susa (c1014-1091) Countess of a part of the March of Lvrea (modern Piedmont, Italy) and Marchioness of Truin, Married Laywoman, mother of 5, widowed 3 times. Born in c1014 in Turin, Italy and died on 19 December 1091 also in Italy. Adelaide made donations to the Monasteries of Turin, founded the Monastery of Santa Maria at Pinerolo and received communication from many leading Ecclesiastical dignitaries of the day. She also furthered the processes of reform within the Church hierarchy. Also known as – Adelaide of Turin and Susa, Adelheid, Adelais, or Adeline.

Daughter of Odalirico Manfrido II, the Margrave of Turin and Bertha of Milan, wife to Herman IV, Duke of Swabia, secondly to Henry, Margrave of Montferrat and finally, to Otto I, Count of Savoy. Her first 2 husbands died within a year or so of marriage, during which period they had, for the large part, been away on campaigns. Adelaide and Otto’s marriage was blessed with 5 children, 3 sons and 2 daughters.

Adelaide was described as a beautiful woman with the soul of a lion having learned martial arts as a girl and bore her own arms and armour. She had great courage and energy and knew how to rule her inheritance. Her third marriage to Otto of Savoy in 1046, united a large territory on both sides of the Alps and it’s important Alpine passes, resulting in control of the majority of northern Italy, making Savoy one of the most powerful Houses of the Empire. After Otto’s death in 1060, Adelaide ruled, first jointly with her sons – Pietro I, died 1078, Amadeus II, died 1080 and finally, alone, until her death in 1091.

When Adelaide assumed the regency, there was great controversy raging in Northern Italy concerning the obligatory celibacy of the Clergy which had been discussed in several Ecclesiastical Councils but never settled. The Church of Milan allowed married men to take Orders and continue to cohabit with their wives, unless his wife died and he chose to remarry, he could not then continue to exercise his Office. After a long struggle, the married Clergy of the Church of Milan succeeded; the Pope sending a Legate to Adelaide in Milan, followed by a letter from the Pope recording laudatory expressions of her piety and other virtues, witnessing her great power as “mistress of a vast territory, situated between the Kingdoms of Italy and Burgundy and comprising many Episcopal Diocese” relying on her to enforce clerical celibacy and protect the Monasteries of Fruttuaria and San Michele della Chiusa.

Adelaide received letters from many of the leading Church powers, including Pope Alexander II, St Peter Damian and Pope Gregory VII. In 1074-1075, Adelaide and her son-in-law Henry IV, (the Holy Roman Emperor), became involved in the “Investiture Controversy,” the most important conflict between secular and religious powers regarding who had the ultimate authority in medieval Europe. When Henry IV was excommunicated, Adelaide assisted him in his supplications to the Pope , his penance and in regaining his membership within the numbers of the faithful (even though he soon fell again!)

Adelaide died on 19 December 1091. According to a later legend, she was buried in the parochial Church of Canischio in a small village in the Valle dell’Orco, where she had supposedly been living incognito for twenty-two years before her death. However, various historical reports call this account ‘absurb.’ In the Cathedral of Susa, in a niche in the wall, there is a statue of walnut wood, beneath a bronze veneer, representing Adelaide genuflecting in prayer. We are unsure whether her Relics might be there too or whether her cult has ever received any confirmation.

Our Saint today is not to be confused with St Adelaide of Italy/Burgundy – Holy Roman Empress (c 931-999) celebrated on 16 December: https://anastpaul.com/2017/12/16/saint-of-the-day-16-december-st-adelaide-of-italy-burgundy-c-931-999/