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Tag Archives: Royal Succession

April 7, 1141, Empress Matilda claims the English Throne. Part II.

08 Thursday Apr 2021

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Featured Royal, Kingdom of Europe, Royal Succession, Royal Titles

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Battle of Lincoln, Civil War, Empress Matilda, King Stephen of England, Robert of Gloucester, Royal Succession, The Anarchy

King Stephen’s early reign was marked by fierce fighting with English barons, rebellious Welsh leaders and Scottish invaders. Following a major rebellion in the south-west of England, Matilda invaded in 1139 with the help of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester.

Neither side was able to achieve a decisive advantage during the first years of the war; the Empress came to control the south-west of England and much of the Thames Valley, while Stephen remained in control of the south-east. The castles of the period were easily defensible, and so the fighting was mostly attrition warfare, comprising sieges, raiding and skirmishing between armies of knights and footsoldiers, many of them mercenaries.


While Stephen and his army besieged Lincoln Castle at the start of 1141, Robert of Gloucester and Ranulf of Chester advanced on the king’s position with a somewhat larger force. When the news reached Stephen, he held a council to decide whether to give battle or to withdraw and gather additional soldiers: Stephen decided to fight, resulting in the Battle of Lincoln on February 2, 1141. Stephen was captured following the Battle of Lincoln, causing a collapse in his authority over most of the country.

Robert of Gloucester, Matilda’s half brother, took Stephen back to Gloucester, where the king met with the Empress Matilda, and was then moved to Bristol Castle, traditionally used for holding high-status prisoners. He was initially left confined in relatively good conditions, but his security was later tightened and he was kept in chains. The Empress now began to take the necessary steps to have herself crowned Queen of England in his place, which would require the agreement of the church and her coronation at Westminster.

Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury was unwilling to declare Matilda queen so rapidly, and a delegation of clergy and nobles, headed by Theobald, travelled to see Stephen in Bristol and consult about their moral dilemma: should they abandon their oaths of fealty to the king? Stephen agreed that, given the situation, he was prepared to release his subjects from their oath of fealty to him.

The clergy gathered again in Winchester after Easter to declare the Empress “Lady of England and Normandy” as a precursor to her coronation. While Matilda’s own followers attended the event, few other major nobles seem to have attended and a delegation from London prevaricated. Queen Matilda wrote to complain and demand Stephen’s release. The Empress Matilda then advanced to London to stage her coronation in June, where her position became precarious.

Despite securing the support of Geoffrey de Mandeville, who controlled the Tower of London, forces loyal to Stephen and Queen Matilda remained close to the city and the citizens were fearful about welcoming the Empress. On 24 June, shortly before the planned coronation, the city rose up against the Empress and Geoffrey de Mandeville; Matilda and her followers only just fled in time, making a chaotic retreat to Oxford.

King Stephen gained control of the country once again and the two warring parties reached an agreement. The agreement between the two factions was that Matilda’s eldest son, Henry Fitzempress, would succeed as King of England upon the death of King Stephen.

When Stephen died on October 25, 1154, Matilda’s son became King Henry II of England. Matilda retired to Normandy and held court when her son was abscent from Normandy. She died in 1167 and was clearly the legal successor to her father. Since she was the legal heir and given the fact the she briefly held London when Stephen was captured and imprisoned, many consider her the first true Queen Regnant of England.

On this date in History: June 22, 1658. Birth of the future Ludwig VII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.

22 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by liamfoley63 in Featured Monarch, Happy Birthday, Royal Genealogy, Royal Succession, This Day in Royal History

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Georg II of Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Darmstadt, Holy Roman Empire, Ludwig VII of Hesse-Darmstadt, Royal Succession

On this date in History: June 22, 1658. Birth of the future Ludwig VII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was the grandson of the reigning Landgrave Georg II, who was the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1626 – 1661. His father Ludwig (VI) was the eldest of three sons of Landgrave Georg II and his wife Sophia Eleonore of Saxony.

IMG_6317Ludwig VII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Ludwig VII’s mother was Maria Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, daughter of the Duke Friedrich III of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp and his wife Marie Elisabeth of Saxony. Ludwig VII succeeded his father as Landgrave on April 24, 1678, but he only ruled for 18 weeks and four days dying on August 31, 1678 from a viral infection. He died unmarried and without an heir and was therefore succeeded by his half brother Ernest-Ludwig as the Landgrave, who was the son of Ludwig VI an his second wife Elisabeth Dorothea of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

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