Adela

Title: Countess of Blois, Chartres, and Meaux

Alternate names/spellings:

Dates: 1067 - 1137 (Dates are approximate. ) 

Daughter of William the Conqueror and wife of Stephen, Count of Blois (not to be confused with their son Stephen of Blois, later King of England), Adela co-ruled with her husband until he went on Crusade in 1096; in his absence, and after his death, she ruled over Blois and Troyes independently. Her involvement in secular and religious affairs continued even after her retirement to the convent of Marcigny in 1120. She is also known as a literary patron, and for the letters exchanged with her husband during the First Crusade.

For more information, see:

• Kimberly LoPrete, Adela of Blois: Countess and Lord (c. 1067-1137) (Dublin, 2007)
• "Wikipedia":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adela_of_Normandy
• "Joan M. Ferrante: Adela, Countess of Blois, Chartres and Meaux":http://epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/woman/21.html