And then Matilda’s cousin Stephen – the son of Henry I’s sister Adela – took advantage of the situation. The barons’ anxiety over a female heir manifested itself in December 1135 when Henry I died despite the previously agreed arrangements, there was no consensus on who should succeed him, and certainly no rush to acclaim Matilda. The union was never happy, but the couple remained together long enough for her to have children – Matilda gave birth to a son named Henry in 1133 and two more followed.

She thus found herself being pushed into an unwelcome second marriage, with Geoffrey of Anjou not only was it humiliating for the Empress to marry the mere son of a count, but she was 25 and he just 13. She was, in effect, intending to be not a queen but a female king – and although she would have been perfectly capable in the role, this was unprecedented and therefore regarded with deep suspicion.Īnother problem was that Matilda had no children, an undesirable situation for a monarch as it would cause succession issues. The concept was so alien that there wasn’t even a name for it: the word ‘queen’ meant simply ‘the wife of the king’, and didn’t imply any ruling authority. She returned to England and was named heir to the throne, the first woman ever to hold the position.

Two deaths changed everything: that of Matilda’s only legitimate brother, William, in the White Ship disaster of 1120 and that of her husband in 1125.

By the time she was 16, she was so capable that the Emperor appointed her to rule Italy on his behalf. Shipped overseas to marry the Emperor when she was just 8 years old, she adapted to the unfamiliar environment, learned several languages, absorbed the politics of the Empire, and was crowned twice. Matilda led a remarkable and well-travelled life even by the standards of twelfth-century royalty. It should have been the easiest succession imaginable, but it wasn’t – because Henry’s heir was not a son but his daughter, Empress Matilda. When Henry I died in 1135, he left the English crown to his eldest legitimate child: an intelligent, well-educated, multilingual adult who had years of international political and governmental experience. Matilda: The Greatest King England Never Had Read on for her introduction to Matilda’s life as an empress, skilled military leader, and one of the greatest figures of the English Middle Ages. Was Matilda a power-hungry she-wolf, as history portrays her, or a woman ahead of her time, fighting for the continuation of her family line? In her new book, Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior, researcher and medieval historian Catherine Hanley highlights how Matilda fought for the throne, and argues that although she never sat on it herself her reward was to see her son become king.

Catherine hanley matilda