St. Adelaide (931-999)

Saint Adelaide was crowned empress of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope John XII in 962, alongside her husband, Otto the Great, who became emperor. She shared political power and was known for both her strength and holiness.

Adelaide was born in Orbe Castle, located in modern Switzerland. In an arranged marriage, at 15 she wed King Lothair II of Italy. The union produced one child, Emma, and ended after three years when Lothair died after being poisoned by his successor, Berengar II.

Berengar tried to force Adelaide to marry his son, but she fled, ultimately taking refuge with East Frankish King Otto. They married in 951, and bore four children, two of whom became nuns. After she and Otto became empress and emperor, she worked for peace and the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity.

Widowed in 973, Adelaide eventually retired to a convent and devoted herself to establishing churches, monasteries, and abbeys. She was buried in Selz Abbey in Alsace, France, a community she had founded. Her simple humility is evident in a letter she wrote as empress in which she referred to herself as “servant of the servants of God, sinner by nature, and empress by the grace of God.”