12 Adelaide, Saint
peoples. The chapter or book “A Description of the
Islands of the North” is one of the best accounts of early
Scandinavia and its peoples. After completing the work in
1076, Adam revised it with much new material, so there
are wide variations in the content of the surviving
manuscripts of the History.He died about 1085.
Further reading: Adam of Bremen, History of the
Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen,trans. Francis J. Tschan
(1959; reprint, New York: Columbia University Press,
2002); William North, “Adam of Bremen (fl. 2nd half of
the 11th c.)” in Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia,ed.
John M. Jeep (New York: Garlard, 2001), 3–4.
Adelaide, Saint(ca. 931–999)influential empress of the
Holy Roman Empire
Born in 931 Adelaide was the daughter of Rudolph II of
Burgundy, who married her to a certain Lothar of Italy.
Adelaide was widowed from her first husband and held
prisoner by Berengar I (d. 924) of Friuli. Freed by OTTOI of
Germany, who married her in 951, Adelaide became queen,
and from 962 she was empress. Adelaide was an important
influence on her son, Otto II (r. 973–983), and her grand-
son, OTTO III. In both courts she promoted imperial
authority. She also supported Hugh CAPET in France,
through an intermediator, Adalberon of Rheims. After 985,
she retired from the court but continued to influence it. She
devoted the rest of her life to religious affairs, promoting
Cluniac reform and founding and reforming abbeys in
Germany and Lorraine. She died in 999.
Further reading: Benjamin Arnold, Medieval Ger-
many, 500–1300: A Political Interpretation(Toronto: Uni-
versity of Toronto Press, 1997).
Adelard of Bath(Adalard) (ca. 1070–ca. 1150)
English scholar, translator, traveler
According to slim biographical sources, Adelard of Bath
was born in about 1070, the son of Fastrad. He was in the
household of John of Villula, bishop of Bath and Wells
(1088–1122), who moved the see of the bishopric to Bath
making the town a resort and a place of learning. John
probably sent Adelard to Tours for his further education.
He later taught at Laon. He likely traveled and studied in
Sicily consulting works in Arabic, and eventually settling
in his native Bath, where, probably with the assistance of
a converted Jew from ARAGON, Petrus Alfonsi (1062–
ca. 1130), he wrote Latin versions of the Arabic version
of Euclid’s Elements, a set of astronomical tables, two
elementary works on astrology, and a book on talismans.
As late as 1149–50, about when he died, he probably
composed a text on the ASTROLABE, including an intro-
duction to Ptolemaic astronomy. The translation of
Euclid’s Elementsbecame a basic source of geometrical
speculation throughout the rest of the Middle Ages.
Further reading:Adelard of Bath, Adelard of Bath,
Conversations with His Nephew: On the Same and the Dif-
ferent, Questions on Natural Science, and On Birds,trans.
Charles Burnett (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1998); Charles Burnett, Adelard of Bath: An English
Scientist and Arabist of the Early Twelfth Century(London:
Warburg Institute, 1987); Louise Cochrane, Adelard of
Bath: The First English Scientist(London: British Museum
Press, 1994).Adhémar of Monteil(Adhémar de le Puy) (ca.
1050–1098)bishop of Le Puy, spiritual leader of the First
Crusade
Adhémar was from the illustrious Adhémar family, the
counts of Valentinois and masters of the Rhone Valley from
Valence to Donzère. Born about 1050, he had probably
been trained in arms before entering the religious life.
Elected bishop of le Puy, Adhémar devoted himself to run-
ning his diocese, and according to tradition, composed the
hymn Salve Regina.On return from a pilgrimage to the
Holy Land, Adhémar declared war on the local lords who
had taken over parts of his bishopric but soon agreed to
abandon their claims in exchange for a large sum of
money. Adhémar was associated with the reforming ideals
of the Monastery of CLUNYand was closely associated with
that effort to remove the church from lay power and to
reform clerical discipline. Familiar with Cluniac ideas
about crusading, he was chosen legate by URBANII, a for-
mer Cluniac monk who had become pope in 1088. At
CLERMONT, where the pope preached the Crusade, he gave
the leadership of the enterprise to Adhémar. The legate
successfully gained the participation of competent military
leaders and recruited William VI, count of Auvergne.
Above all he enlisted the participation of the powerful
count of Toulouse, RAYMONDIV, who took command of
one of the three principal armies. Much of southern France
joined their crusading army, commanded by Adhémar and
Raymond, reaching Anatolia after suffering some difficul-
ties in DALMATIAand an attack by Petchenegs in the
employ of Byzantium. On its steppe plateau, the army
finally met in battle the SELJUKTurks, at Dorylaeum on
July 1, 1097. The military superiority of the Franks, by
virtue of motivation and discipline, was evident during this
first great battle of the First Crusade. Adhémar, a former
warrior, participated and fought valiantly. But a little over a
year later, the legate was killed by a plague and died at
ANTIOCHon August 1, 1098, not living to see the capture
of Jerusalem. His death left the crusaders divided and less
motivated by religious concerns than by political motives.
Further reading:Steven Runciman, A History of the
Crusades,Vol. 1, The First Crusade and the Foundation of
the Kingdom of Jerusalem(Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 1951); Jonathan Riley-Smith, The First Crusade
and the Idea of Crusading(Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1986); Jonathan Riley-Smith, The
First Crusaders, 1095–1131(Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-
versity Press, 1997).