Empress Matilda
Matilda was born in February circa 1102. She was born at either Sutton Courtenay, in Berkshire or at Winchester. Named Adelaide at birth she later adopted the name of Matilda after her first marriage. Empress Matilda was one of the claimants to the throne of England during what is known as “the Anarchy”*. Daughter of King Henry I of England and his wife Matilda of Scotland, who was a descendant of Alfred the Great.
In 1108 or early 1109 envoys from King Henry V of Germany arrived to propose marriage with Matilda. This was an attractive proposal for King Henry I who wanted Henry V as an ally against the French. For Henry V, he was in need of Matilda’s dowry to fund his journey to be crowned as the Holy Roman Emperor. Matilda left England in February of 1110 for Germany and the betrothal became official that April. There was a 16 year age gap between the two, Henry V was a man of 24 years and Matilda was a young girl, only 8 years old. Matilda was placed in the care of the archbishop of Trier, Bruno, who was to teach her the German customs, language and government. Matilda and Henry V married shortly after the proposal and he was crowned Emperor of Rome in 1117 in Worms, Germany. After 15 years of marriage Henry V died in May of 1125, leaving 23 year old Matilda a widow. The marriage between Henry V and Matilda produced no children and so Matilda returned to England. Her younger brother and heir to the throne, William Adelin, had died when the White Ship* sank off the coast of Normandy. This left Henry I with only Matilda as his legitimate heir. Although Henry initially wanted to have more children with his new queen, Adeliza of Louvain, the marriage did not produce any children. This left Henry with no other legitimate heirs besides Matilda. He did consider naming one of his nephews as heir and also considered naming his illegitimate son, Robert of Gloucester, but he knew that English tradition would not be in favor of this option.
In January 1127 he gathered his barons at Westminster where they all swore an oath recognizing Matilda as heir to Henry I. Shortly after this Henry arranged the marriage between Matilda and Geoffrey of Anjou, also known as Geoffrey Plantagenet. This would help Henry secure his southern borders. Geoffrey was 11 years younger than Matilda and was also only a count which she found to be too beneath her. This led to her father locking her in her room until she did as he wished. Matilda finally agreed to the marriage after being persuaded by the Archbishop of Tours. She travelled to Rouen in May 1127 accompanied by Robert of Gloucester and Brian Fitz Count and was formally betrothed. They married in June of 1128 and soon after the marriage Matilda left her husband, however with the encouragement of Henry I, she soon returned to her husband in 1131. Matilda gave birth to her first son, Henry, in 1133. Henry I was delighted at the news of a grandson and travelled to see him. Shortly after in 1134, Matilda gave birth to a second son, Geoffrey, she faced complications during labor which almost took her life.
Matilda and Henry I’s relationship began to crumble which led to many arguments. Henry I visited his daughter and grandsons in 1135 and while there he and Matilda fought often and this took a lot of energy from the aging king. He also indulged in foods his physicians had told him to not eat which led to Henry’s death from food poisoning in Normandy.
With the king’s death Matilda’s cousin Stephen of Blois set sail for England and laid claim to the throne. Many of the barons who had sworn allegiance to Matilda decided it was best to have a male ruler and instead took Stephen’s side. Matilda however was enraged at the news and would not sit idly by while her cousin claimed what was rightfully hers. However, she was with child at the time of her father’s death and could not do much about it yet. She gave birth to her third son, William, in July of 1136. Civil war soon broke out throughout the country as it became known what Stephen had done. Geoffrey led an invasion of Normandy in early 1136 which led to a truce but Geoffrey led a second invasion later that year. Another truce was made when Stephen led an unsuccessful invasion of Normandy in 1137.
Matilda’s supporters included her half brother, Robert of Gloucester, who also led a rebellion against Stephen. During this time Geoffrey decided to invade Normandy while her uncle David I of Scotland invaded the North of England and declared his support for his niece, but his invasion was unsuccessful and he was defeated at Battle of the Standard on August 22, 1138. The fighting continued but a peace conference was called in the city of Bath where a peace deal was supposed to take place, this was led by Henry of Blois. Stephen’s representatives refused to accept the terms for peace which led to another battle. The Battle of Lincoln was fought February 2,1141 after Stephen besieged Ranulf of Chester’s castle. During this battle Stephen was captured by Robert of Gloucester and imprisoned at Bristol Castle.
After Stephen’s capture the clergy met at Winchester where Matilda was declared “Lady of England and Normandy”. Matilda was however, not popular among the London citizens and when she travelled there to begin arrangements for her coronation she was attacked by a mob while having dinner and had to flee. Soon after this Robert of Gloucester was captured by Stephen’s Queen Matilda of Boulogne. Matilda herself was almost captured but she was able to escape in camouflage across the frozen river. Matilda traded Stephen for Robert in a trade that didn’t leave anyone with an upper hand. Geoffrey once again led another invasion in Normandy and Robert of Gloucester almost captured Stephen again but he was able to escape.
Henry Plantagenet, Matilda’s first son, now known as Henry Fitz Empress*, was brought to England in hopes that his presence would be able to help his mother’s cause. In 1148 Matilda returned to Normandy. Finally, in the summer of 1153 a deal was reached in the Treaty of Wallingford* bringing to an end 19 years of civil war.
The Treaty of Wallingford stated that Stephen would keep his crown for the remainder of his life, after which, the crown would go to Henry and his heirs. This meant that Stephen’s son was disinherited. Enraged his son went to Cambridge to plan a campaign but died a month after. Stephen died shortly after in 1154 at the age of 51. Henry II ascended to the throne beginning the Plantagenet dynasty. Although Matilda remained in Normandy she remained very involved in the governing of the Duchy as well as her son’s rule of England.
Matilda passed away in 1167 at the age of 65 and was buried first at the Convent of Bonnes and then at the Abbey of Bec-Hellouin. Her tomb reads “ Here lies Henry’s daughter, mother, wife, great in all three, her son the glory of her life”.*
Allie’s Notes:
*The Anarchy was a civil war that took place in England and Normandy between 1135-1153, some describe it as “the time when Christ and his saints all slept”. With such a bleak description one can only assume that it was a time of darkness and violence in England.
*The White Ship disaster took place on the 25th of November, 1120. The ship had 300 passengers and only 1 survived.
*Fitz Empress translates to Son of the Empress.
*The Treaty of Wallingford is also known as Treaty of Winchester or the Treaty of Westminster
*Her tomb was damaged during a fire in 1263 and was restored in 1282. Later Napoleon destroyed the abbey and her remains were lost, but later found and reburied at Rouen Cathedral.
Sources:
Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy by Alison Weir
What You Missed in History Class Podcast
Sistory Untold Podcast
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Empress-Maud/
I enjoyed this a lot. So interesting!
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