Empress Matilda

Named after her mother, Empress Matilda was born in 1102 and was one of only two legitimate children of Henry I of England and Matilda of Scotland. Through her father, Matilda was descended from the Norman conquerors of England, including her grandfather William the Conqueror.

Matilda spent most of her childhood in Germany but grew up a with great education. She was very intelligent and talented, and learned how to speak multiple languages including English, German, French, and Latin. She also learned how to fight like a knight as well as learning archery.

Matilda married twice. Both marriages were arranged to help strengthen her father’s kingdom of Normandy against France. Her first marriage was to Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, making her the Holy Roman Empress and Queen consort of the Romans. They married in 1114 until Henry’s death in 1125. Matilda and Henry V had no children. Matilda was then married to Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou three years later in 1128. Matilda and Geoffrey had three children including Henry II, King of England.

Matilda’s younger and only full legitimate brother, William Adelin, died in the White Ship disaster of 1120, leaving Matilda’s father and the realm facing a potential succession crisis. Matilda became her father’s sole heir, which would have made her the first ever queen of England in her own right.

With no further legitimate children, Henry I nominated Matilda as his heir, making his court swear an oath of loyalty to her and her successors, but the decision was not popular in his Anglo-Norman court. Matilda was popular in Germany, however, she was not that popular in her homeland as she spend most of her childhood in Germany, and was therefore considered “foreign”. Additionally, England had never had a queen, and people back then believed that women were weak. As a result, when Henry I died in 1135 Matilda and her husband faced opposition from the barons.

The throne was instead taken by Matilda’s male cousin Stephen of Blois. Stephen was Henry’s favourite nephew and son of his sister Adela, and grandson of William the Conqueror. Not wanting a female ruler, especially a foreigner, along with her Angevin husband (the hated Angevin enemy), many of Henry’s barons broke their vows and chose Stephen as Henry’s successor, who was much more popular than Matilda. With the backing of the English Church and the powerful English barons, Stephen crossed rapidly from Normandy, seized the English throne and had himself crowned at Westminster within the month, completely disregarding Matilda’s right of succession.

Matilda refused to accept this decision quietly, and her subsequent invasion of England unleashed a bitter civil war known as ‘The Anarchy‘ which lasted for roughly the next 19 years.

Supported by her half-brother Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and her uncle David I of Scotland, Matilda crossed the channel to take England by force in 1139, while her husband, Geoffrey, focused on conquering Normandy. She gained a victory in 1141 at the Battle of Lincoln where Stephen was captured and imprisoned in Bristol Castle.

With Stephen imprisoned and the church backing her, Empress Matilda was in command of England, and she became England’s disputed monarch for most of 1141. However, she didn’t get the crown as she had hoped, she had an arrogant and overbearing manner and was disliked by the people. She was therefore never proclaimed ‘queen’ and instead was given the title ‘Lady of the English’.

Later in 1141 Stephen was exchanged for Matilda’s half-brother Robert, Earl of Gloucester who had been captured by forces loyal to the king. Whilst Stephen had his release secured, Matilda refused to give up her claim to the throne and the war continued for several years with both sides unable to initiate significant defeats against each other.

With Stephen back in control of the kingdom, Matilda moved on to Oxford where she had support and based herself and her army at Oxford Castle. Stephen marched to Oxford with the aim of seizing the town and besieging the castle. The siege lasted about three months, however, in December 1142 Matilda was able to flee the castle undetected by being carefully lowered over the walls of the castle at night and escaped before chaos broke out. The castle was surrendered to King Stephen the next day.

Over time, Stephen gradually gained the upper hand, and in 1148 Matilda withdrew from England and reluctantly returned to Normandy, which her husband, Geoffrey Count of Anjou had conquered. Matilda summoned her eldest son Henry Plantagenet, also known as Henry FitzEmpress, to England to fight for her claim to the throne and for his inheritance, as he was the lawful heir and claimant to the English throne. Henry invaded England in 1149 and again in 1153, but Stephen fought stubbornly against Henry and tried to ensure his son Eustace’s succession by having him crowned in 1152, which the church refused.

When Stephen’s son Eustace died later in 1153, Stephen and Henry negotiated a peace treaty and signed an agreement called the treaty of Wallingford, under which Henry would inherit the throne after Stephen’s death. King Stephen died in October 1154, and Henry was crowned King Henry II, the first of three Angevin kings and the first of the Plantagenet line of kings.

Despite Empress Matilda herself being unable to rule England as the rightful heir, Henry often relied on her for advice and help during the early years of his reign. She spent the remainder of her life in Normandy, where she was Henry’s representative and presided over his continental dominions. She worked extensively with the Church, founding Cistercian monasteries, and was known for her piety.

Matilda died in September 1167 in Rouen, and was buried under the high alter at the abbey of Bec-Hellouin in Normandy. Her tomb bears the epitaph “Great by birth, greater by marriage, greatest in her offspring: here lies Matilda, the daughter, wife, and mother of Henry”, a phrase that became famous among her contemporaries. Her body was disturbed multiple times over the centuries that followed but was reburied at Rouen Cathedral in 1846 and remains there still today.

By rights, Matilda should have been the first female monarch of England, and she very nearly was. In reality she was the uncrowned queen for most of 1141, and technically the first female monarch in England, over 400 years before either Lady Jane Grey or Mary I, who each claim to hold that distinction.