Empress matilda queen maud

The Nearly Norman Queen of England

We can think of Empress Matilda as the fierce nearly Norman queen, who battled her cousin Stephen and the sexism of medieval England for 19 long years, during a period described as ‘The Anarchy’. Basing her campaign in Oxford, Matilda battled, sieged, and even made an elaborate escape during her enduring efforts to claim the English throne.

Matilda would have been the first English Queen to rule in her own right, had she been crowned in 1141. She was the first woman to be named as heir to the English throne and she fought fiercely for her succession. As it happened, England wouldn’t see a queen for another 400 years. Enter, Mary Tudor – Bloody Mary as she would come to be known, who, unlike Matilda was officially anointed and was crowned Queen in 1553.

Matilda was the daughter of Matilda of Scotland and King Henry I of England. Henry I nominated his daughter Matilda as his successor and heir to the English throne, as his only living legitimate child. Henry had his court swear an oath to support Matilda, but there had never been a female heir to the English throne before and they agreed reluctantly. Upon the death of Henry I in 1135, Matilda inherited the throne and was set to become the first Queen of England. But her cousin Stephen of Blois contested her right to the throne and formed a coup, whereby he raced to Winchester to be crowned first.

Matilda contested the rule of her cousin Stephen and marched to Oxford to base her campaign at Oxford Castle. Matilda fought for her own succession to the throne throughout the 19-year civil war. Stephen had the church on side through his younger brother Henry, the bishop of Winchester and the support of the nobles. Matilda had her uncle, King David I of Scotland and her half-brother Robert of Gloucester. Matilda and Stephen battled it out, up and down the country. ‘The Anarchy’ saw battles, sieges, captures, imprisonment

Holy Roman Empress from 1114 to 1125; claimant to the English throne

"Matilda of England" redirects here. For other uses, see Matilda of England (disambiguation).

Empress Matilda (c. 7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167), also known as Empress Maud, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter and heir of Henry I, king of England and ruler of Normandy, she went to Germany as a child when she was married to the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with the emperor to Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned empress in St Peter's Basilica, and acted as the imperial regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry V had no children, and when he died in 1125, the imperial crown was claimed by his rival Lothair of Supplinburg.

Matilda's younger and only full brother, William Adelin, died in the White Ship disaster of 1120, leaving Matilda's father and realm facing a potential succession crisis. Upon her widowhood in the Holy Roman Empire, Matilda was recalled to Normandy by her father, who arranged for her to marry Geoffrey of Anjou to form an alliance to protect his southern borders in France. Henry I had no further legitimate children and 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-N

Matilda was an indomitable woman! She was the daughter of King Henry I of England, and was his sole legitimate child after the death of his son Prince William in the ‘White Ship’ disaster.*

She was married first to Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire, and then when he died in 1125, her father Henry married her off again, this time to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou.

Matilda was nominated by her father as the heir to the throne of England, but in 1135 Stephen of Blois claimed that his uncle had changed his mind on his deathbed, recognising Stephen instead as his successor to the throne. The powerful English barons backed this claim.

Matilda was incensed at this news and refused to accept this decision quietly.

Stephen did not have the ruthless temperament required to control the ensuing turmoil as civil war broke out when his dispute with Matilda became common knowledge. This period of civil war became known as ‘The Anarchy’ and lasted for 19 years.

But Stephen was more popular than Matilda, as she was viewed by most of the people as a foreigner and a woman who was married to one of the hated Angevin enemy.

Matilda was also found to have an unfortunate personality. She was proud and overbearing, arranging everything as she thought fit, according to her own whim.

Trouble started in 1141 when the Battle of Lincoln took place between Stephen and Matilda’s half-brother Robert, Earl of Gloucester. After fighting bravely, Stephen was overcome and captured and taken before Matilda who immediately had him imprisoned in Bristol Castle. He was later released.

But Matilda did not get the crown as she had hoped …not because she was lacking in courage …but more because she had an arrogant and haughty manner and was heartily disliked.

Eventually she herself was captured, but true to form, she escaped from Devizes where she was being held, disguised as a corpse.

She was dressed in grave clothes and tied with ropes onto

Matilda of England (7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167) also called Empress Matilda or her nickname, Maud, was the Holy Roman Empress and Queen consort of the Romans as the wife of Emperor Henry V from their marriage in 1114 until Henry's death in 1125. She was also the Disputed Queen of England from April to November 1141 during a civil war that she fought against her cousin, King Stephen I, which was known as The Anarchy. She was the daughter of Henry I of England and his first wife, Matilda of Scotland

Matilda grew up with great education. She was incredibly intelligent and talented. At a young age, she learned how to speak multiple languages, mainly English, German, French, and Latin. She also learned how to fight like a knight and as well as learning archery.

She was very popular in Germany, however, she was not that popular in her homeland as she spend most of her childhood in Germany. Because of that, she was considered "foreign" and that England never had a queen and that the people back then believed that woman were weak. Thus, they didn't want Matilda to succeed her father as she was the next in line to the throne after her younger brother, William Adelin, died in a boat.

Her father planned her to succeed him. However, when Henry died in 1135, instead of Matilda ascending to the throne, her cousin, Stephen of Blios, took the throne and had himself crowned. However, Matilda refused to recognize Stephen as king and started The Anarchy. In April 1141, troops loyal to Matilda captured Stephen and imprisoned him and Matilda became the disputed monarch. However, the troops of King Stephen freed Stephen. However, Matilda refused to give up her claim to the throne.

Eventually in 1153, Stephen's son and heir, Eustace IV, died. Thus, Stephen and Matilda signed an agreement stating that when Stephen died, he will be succeded by Matilda's son, Henry, and not Stephen's other son,