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Count of Anjou, Empress Matilda, Geoffrey Plantagenet, King Henry I of England, King Henry II of England, Lady of the English, Stephen of Blois, The Anarchy, Treaty of Wallingford
Matilda (c.February 7, 1102 – September 10, 1167) was born at Sutton Courtenay, in Berkshire to King Henry I of England and Duke of Normandy, and his first wife, Matilda of Scotland.
Matilda of Scotland was the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and the Anglo-Saxon princess Margaret of Wessex, who was born in the Kingdom of Hungary to the expatriate English prince Edward the Exile, Margaret and her family returned to England in 1057.
Following the death of KingbHarold II Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, her brother Edgar Ætheling was elected as King of the English but never crowned and never reigned.
Margaret of Wessex’s father, Prince Edward the Exile (1016 – 1057), also called Edward Ætheling, was the son of King Edmund Ironside of the English and of Ealdgyth. Historians are unsure of the identity of Ealdgyth, that may or not have been her name. She was first the wife of Sigeferth son of Earngrim, thegn of the Seven Burghs, and later of King Edmund Ironside.
Prince Edward the Exile spent most of his life in exile in the Kingdom of Hungary following the defeat of his father by King Canute of Denmark and England.
King Henry I was the youngest son of William the Conqueror, who had invaded England in 1066, creating an empire stretching into Wales.
The daughter and heir of King Henry I of England, Matilda went to Germany as a child when she was married to the future Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich V.
Emperor Heinrich V was the fourth and last ruler from the Salian Dynasty. He was made co-ruler by his father, Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich IV, in 1098. His mother was Bertha of Savoy daughter of Otto, Count of Savoy and his wife Adelaide of Susa from the Arduinici noble family, and as such a member of the Burgundian House of Savoy.
Matilda 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 Heinrich V had no children, and when he died in 1125, the imperial crown was claimed by his rival Lothair of Supplinburg.
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.
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. 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-Norman court.
King Henry died in 1135, but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the barons. The throne was instead taken by Matilda’s male cousin Prince Stephen, Count of Blois, who enjoyed the backing of the English Church and was proclaimed King in place of Empress Matilda. Stephen took steps to solidify his new regime but faced threats both from neighbouring powers and from opponents within his kingdom.
This usurpation by Stephen of Blois resulted in the period of English history known as the Anarchy which was a Civil War in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order.
After many years of Civil War the Treaty of Wallingford allowed Stephen to retain the throne but recognised Matilda’s son, Prince Henry Curtmantle (also know as Henry Fitzempress)as his successor.
Over the following year, Stephen began to reassert his authority over the whole kingdom, but died of disease in 1154. Henry was crowned as King Henry II of Englandl0, the first Angevin king of England, then began a long period of reconstruction.
The conflict had been considered particularly destructive
Empress Matilda worked extensively with the Church, founding Cistercian monasteries, and was known for her piety. She was buried under the high altar at Bec Abbey after her death in 1167, until much later her tomb was moved to Rouen Cathedral.