ABSTRACT
Writing in the decade after the monastic retirement in 1120 of the Countess Adela of Blois, Chartres, and Meaux, the AngloNorman monk-historian, Orderic Vitalis, described her as "a praiseworthy mistress" who "honorably governed her husband's county after his pilgrimage and skillfully educated her young sons in the defense of holy church." Elsewhere in his narrative Orderic noted diverse domestic and lordly deeds of this "noble mother" and "wise and spirited woman" who ruled as countess for over twenty years, during her husband s absences on crusade and after his death in battle at Ramla.
