Queenship wasn't golden

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

	St. Adelaide When: 931-999 Where: Germany What: Queen, founder and restorer of monasteries Feast: Dec. 16

Among the many accomplishments of Kermit, the Muppet frog, is the song, "It's Not Easy Being Green."

St. Adelaide could have done her own version of the song with a slight change in the title - "It's Not Easy Being Queen." Despite being the wife of two kings (one eventually became an emperor), this 10th century saint was imprisoned and later driven from court.

Adelaide was born in Upper Burgundy to Rudolf II. When she was 2, her father and Hugh of Provence signed a treaty to determine who would be king of Italy (actually just the Lombardy area in the northern part of what is now Italy). The treaty called for Hugh's son, Lothar, to become the king and for Adelaide to be his queen.

Fourteen years later, Adelaide and Lothar (who was king in name only; the power was actually in the hands of Berengarius of Ivrea) married and had one child, Emma.

About a year after the wedding, Lothar died - possibly poisoned by Berengarius, who became king and tried to force Adelaide to marry his son. After she refused, Berengarius treated her brutally and had her imprisoned in a castle on Lake Garda.

Soon, the German king, Otto the Great, invaded Italy and defeated Berengarius. Adelaide then escaped from prison, and on Christmas day in 951 married Otto - who was 20 years her senior - at least partially as a way for Otto to consolidate his power.

The couple had five children and, apparently, a good marriage, though Ludolf, Otto's son by his first wife, was jealous of his stepmother and their children.

Ludolf tried to foment a rebellion, but the German people were fond of the gentle and gracious Adelaide. Otto was crowned emperor at Rome in 962, and Adelaide lived quietly until 973 when Otto died and their eldest son, Otto II, succeeded him.

Adelaide's life took another hard turn because Otto II's wife, Theophano, and his advisors disliked Adelaide. So she left the court and went to live with her brother, Conrad, at Vienne.

Next, she sought help from St. Majolus, who helped mother and son reconcile their differences, with Otto kneeling before Adelaide asking for forgiveness.

When Otto II died in 983, he was succeeded by his son, Otto III. But because he was a baby, Theophano took charge and again drove Adelaide from the court. After Theophano's unexpected death in 991, Adelaide became the regent, though she was too old and peace-loving for the job.

But it wasn't just her peaceful nature and forgiving spirit that made her a saint. She also was known for her wise counsel and for founding and restoring monasteries of monks and nuns and for urging the conversion of the Slavs. She died at a monastery she founded on the Rhine near Strasburg.