dela was one of the younger, if not the youngest, daughters of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders and was supposed to be very beautiful. As with all children of nobles in medieval times, Adela was promised in marriage to another noble family. At first this was to Simon de Crepy, the son of one of Williams followers, but Simon refused to marry adela and became a monk. William had received several proposals of marriage for Adela from Stephen, the son of Theobald of Blois. When the proposal was repeated in 1080 it was accepted by William and the marriage took place. Adela married Stephen in 1080 at Breteuil and the union was confirmed at Chartres, the home of Stephen's father. After the death of Theobald, in 1089 (or 1090) Stephen became the Count of Blois. The end of the eleventh century is marked by the start of the Crusades. Stephen, like many of Europe's nobles, took the Cross, and made the journey to the Holy Land while Adela ruled her husband's lands as regent. But Stephen's actions led to disgrace when he returned home believing the Crusade would fail. The Crusade didn't fail and to atone for his mistake, Stephen rejoined the fight. In 1102, Stephen found himself trapped in the city of Ramleh. He was killed and his fellow Crusaders were either also killed or captured after they attacked the large Moslem army that surrounded them. After Stephen's death, Adela continued in the role as regent as her sons were to young to rule unaided. After many years devoted to maintaining peace to the region, she retired to become a nun within Marcigny Convent where she continued to have influence over political affairs. Adela lived to see her son become King of England and she died in 1137.

 Adela (of Normandy) (b.1067? - d.1137)
    +Stephen (count of Blois) (b.1045? - d.1102)
        = Theobald (V)
        = Stephen (of Blois, king of England 1135-1154) (b.1100 - d.1154)
        |   +Matilda (Countess of Boulogne, Queen of England) ( - d.1152)
        |       = Baldwin (of Boulogne) (b.1126 - d.1135?)
        |       = Eustace (IV, Count of Boulogne) (b.1129? - d.1153)
        |           +Constance (Countess of Toulouse) ( - d.1176)
        = Henry (of Blois, Bishop of Winchester) (b.1096? - d.1171)