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Ada of Holland
Huwelijk Ada van Holland met Lodewijk II met stervende Dirk VII van Holland.jpg
Marriage of Ada and Louis II (15th century)
Count of Holland
Reign 1203 – 1207
jointly with Louis II of Loon
Predecessor Dirk VII
Successor William I
Born c. 1188
Died 1234/37
Spouse
Louis II, Count of Loon
(m. 1203; his death 1218)
Father Dirk VII, Count of Holland
Mother Adelaide of Cleves

Ada (c. 1188 – 1234/37) was Countess of Holland between 1203 and 1207, ruling jointly with her husband Louis II of Loon. She was deposed and exiled by her paternal uncle, William I.

Life

Early life

Ada was the only surviving daughter of Dirk VII, Count of Holland and his wife Adelaide of Cleves.

She succeeded her father but immediately had to deal with her uncle William, who claimed Holland for his own. Ada married Louis II, count of Loon to strengthen her position. She was in such a hurry, that she married even before her father was buried, which caused a scandal.

These events led to the outbreak of the Loon War (1203–1206).

Reign

Ada was quickly captured by the supporters of William and taken prisoner in the citadel of Leiden. She was first imprisoned on the island of Texel and afterwards she was taken to John Lackland in the Kingdom of England. William had to accept Louis and Ada as count and countess at a treaty of Bruges in 1206.

Louis managed to free Ada in 1206, and the couple returned to Loon in 1207. Their reign was short-lived, since Emperor Otto IV regarded William to have more right to the title Count of Holland in 1208.

Later life

Atlas de Wit 1698-pl017-Leiden-de burcht
Remnants of the Burcht van Leiden (1698), where centuries earlier Ada was first taken prisoner after the death of her father

She did not accept the loss of her county, and Ada and Louis continued the fight. Ada remained childless. Louis died in 1218, leaving Ada to live out the rest of her life in obscurity. She was buried next to her husband in Herkenrode Abbey.

The civil war in Holland became part of a major international war between on one side France and the Hohenstaufen dynasty and on the other side England and the Welfs. William could get Holland through good maneuvering between both sides. Louis and Ada had to give up their claims. Many period histories up to the Protestant Reformation do not include her in the list of rulers of Holland.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Ada de Holanda para niños

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