Saint Adelaide, Abbess of Vilich

Adelaide, Abbess of Vilich (c. 970 – 5 February 1015(?), her date of birth and death are controversial), also known as Adelheid, was the abbess of Vilich and also of St. Maria im Kapitol in Cologne. She was considered a saint by some; miracles are ascribed to her. She was descended from the German king Henry the Fowler. Her parents founded the convent at Vilich in which she became abbess. Adelaide was born around 970, the youngest daughter of Megengoz, Count of Geldern, and his wife Gerberga. As a child, she was given to the convent of St. Ursula in Cologne, probably before 977, where she was educated according to the Rule of St. Jerome, and engaged in philosophical studies, according to her Vita. When her older brother Godfrey died in battle in 977, her parents began funding the construction of a church in his honour at Vilich (today part of Bonn-Beuel) and worked to establish a female monastic community following the rule of the observances of the canonesses. As part of this process, they redeemed their daughter from St Ursula with a gift of land and established her as abbess of the newly founded community at Vilich. To determine Vilich's legal position in the empire, her parents appealed to emperor Otto III in 987 to obtain a charter granting Vilich the same legal status as the imperial convents of Gandersheim, Quedlinburg, and Essen. This charter was confirmed by a papal bull from Pope Gregory VI, dated 24 May 996. Due to the death of her mother Geberga in c. 995, Adelaide was forced to lead the convent by herself. She used this position of power to change the rule followed in Vilich to the Rule of Saint Benedict; some canonesses left Vilich as a result. Three years after Gerberga's death, Adelaide's father Megengoz died as well. He was buried alongside his wife at Vilich. Adelaide inherited a large part of the family's wealth. In c.1000, Adelaide's sister Bertrada, abbess of St. Mary in the Capitol died.