Matilda OF ENGLAND The Empress Maude ²⁰⁸⁵

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  General Notes:

German Queen, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of England, Countess of Anjou and Maine. Only daughter of Henry I. and Matilda Dunkeld, daughter of Malcolm III. (Ceann-Mor). Matilda and her brother William were possibly twins. She was betrothed to Heinrich V. in April 1110. On January 7, 1114 she married the Emperor. She was 12 and her husband was 32 years old. She was crowned Queen of the Germans on July 25, 1110. The pair visited Rome in 1117 where they were crowned in a ceremony led only by an Archbishop (Heinrich was already crowned in 1111 by the pope) but she used the title of an Empress her whole life. The Emperor died in 1125 and she had to return to England because her brother had died and she was now her father's only hope for the continuation of his dynasty. Henry I. named Matilda his heir in January 1127. The baron of England had to swear that they would make her queen after her father's death. On August 26, 1127 she married the eleven years younger Geoffrey V. Plantagenet (qv), Count of Anjou in Le Mans. They soon started to fight with each other and Geoffrey sent her to Rouen. They reconciled in 1131 and on 5 March 1133 she gave birth to their first son Henry, who later became Henry II. of England. When Henry I. died in 1135 she was supposed to succeed him but her cousin Stephen of Blois was crowned instead. That was the begin of a civil war that lasted 18 years. In 1138 first her half-brother Robert of Gloucester and later her uncle David I. of Scotland invaded England to unseat Stephen from the throne and install Matilda. Stephen defeated David at the Battle of the Standard. Matilda herself landed in England in the following year. She was able to take Stephen prisoner in 1141 but had to release him in exchange for Robert of Gloucester. In March 1141 she it went to London, because of her arrogant behavior she was thrown out of the city some days later before her formal coronation could happen. The war luck was now more on Stephens side and she had to retire to the Normandy. On August 10, 1153 Stephens son Eustache died. Stephen became depressed and signed the Treaty of Winchester in December 1153. In this treaty Henry was named heir to Stephen bypassing Stephens son William and agreeing that Stephen should remain king for the rest of his life. He wasn't able to enjoy the following peace for a long time he died in October 1154. Maud spend the rest of her life in the Normandy where she administered the her sons possessions. She died in Notre Dame de Prés near Rouen and was buried in the Abbey church of Bec-Hellouin. Her body was transferred to the Cathedral of Rouen in 1847.

LifeSketch
Empress Matilda (c. 7 February 1102 \endash 10 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with her husband into Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned 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.

Meanwhile, Matilda's younger brother, William Adelin, died in the White Ship disaster of 1120, leaving Matilda's father and England facing a potential succession crisis. On Emperor Henry V's death, 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. 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 the Anglo-Norman court. Henry died in 1135, but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from Anglo-Norman barons. The throne was instead taken by Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois, who enjoyed the backing of the English Church. Stephen took steps to solidify his new regime but faced threats both from neighbouring powers and from opponents within his kingdom.

In 1139, Matilda crossed to England to take the kingdom by force, supported by her half-brother Robert of Gloucester and her uncle King David I of Scotland, while Geoffrey focused on conquering Normandy. Matilda's forces captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, but the Empress' attempt to be crowned at Westminster collapsed in the face of bitter opposition from the London crowds. As a result of this retreat, Matilda was never formally declared Queen of England, and was instead titled "Lady of the English" (Latin: domina Anglorum). Robert was captured following the Rout of Winchester in 1141, and Matilda agreed to exchange him for Stephen. Matilda became trapped in Oxford Castle by Stephen's forces that winter, and to avoid capture was forced to escape at night across the frozen River Isis to Abingdon, reputedly wearing white as camouflage in the snow. The war degenerated into a stalemate, with Matilda controlling much of the south-west of England, and Stephen the south-east and the Midlands. Large parts of the rest of the country were in the hands of local, independent barons.

Matilda returned to Normandy, now in the hands of her husband, in 1148, leaving her eldest son to continue the campaign in England; he eventually succeeded to the throne as Henry II in 1154, forming the Angevin Empire. She settled her court near Rouen and for the rest of her life concerned herself with the administration of Normandy, acting on her son's behalf when necessary. Particularly in the early years of her son's reign, she provided political advice and attempted to mediate during the Becket controversy. She 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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Matilda
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Foundation for Medieval Genealogy

MATILDA (-after 1128). Guillaume de Jumièges names Mathilde as illegitimate daughter of King Henry I and her husband "Conano comiti minoris Britanniæ"[285]. Her marriage is referred to by Orderic Vitalis[286], in a later passage recording that the betrothal occurred before the alliance was agreed between Henry I King of England and Louis VI King of France, which is dated to 1113[287].

"Alanus, Hoelli filius, comes totius Britannie et princeps" donated property to the abbey of Redon with the consent of "suorum filiorum Conani et Gaufridi, necnon et uxoris suæ Hermengardis et uxoris filii sui Conani, Mahalt" by charter dated 1112[288]. "Mathilda comitissa et Haduisa soror comitis Conani" signed the undated charter Duke Conan III donated a fishery to the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel[289]. "Ermengardis mater mea et uxor mea Matildis…" signed the charter dated 1128 under which Duke Conan III confirmed the possessions of the monks of Saint-Melaine de Rennes[290]. m (1112 or before) CONAN III "le Gros" Duke of Brittany, son of ALAIN IV "Fergant" Duke of Brittany & his second wife Ermengarde d'Anjou (-17 Sep 1148).
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Our royal, titled, noble and commoner ancestors
Maud, Queen of England
Last Edited 4 Apr 2020
F, #4990, b. 7 February 1102, d. 10 September 1167
Father Henry I, King of England, Duke of Normandy2 b. 1070, d. 1 Dec 1135
Mother Matilda of Scotland b. Oct 1079, d. 1 May 1118
Charts Some Descendants of Charlemagne

Maud, Queen of England Empress of Germany. She was long at war with her cousin, Stephen, King of England. She was born on 7 February 1102 at London, Middlesex, England; Age 8 in 1110.2,3

She married Heinrich V, Holy Roman Emperor, son of Heinrich IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Bavaria and Bertha of Maurienne, on 7 January 1114 at Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; No issue.

Maud, Queen of England married Geoffrey V, 10th Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, son of Fulk V, 9th Count of Anjou, King of Jerusalem and Eremburg du Maine, on 11 June 1127 at Le Mans, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France;

They had 3 sons (Henry II, King of England, Duke of Normandy & Aquitaine, Comte d'Anjou; Geoffrey, Comte d'Anjou & de Nantes; & William Longespee).

He also had an illegitimate son (Hamelin, 5th Earl of Surrey) & 2 illegitimate daughters (Emma, wife of Dafydd ab Owain, Prince of North Wales; & Mary, Abbess of Shaftesbury).

Maud, Queen of England died on 10 September 1167 at Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, France, at age 65; Buried at Bec Abbey, Normandy.

Family 1
Heinrich V, Holy Roman Emperor b. 8 Jan 1081, d. 23 May 1125

Family 2
Geoffrey V, 10th Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy b. 24 Nov 1113, d. 7 Sep 1151

Children
Henry II, King of England, 11th Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, Count of Maine & Aquitaine+2,5 b. 5 Mar 1133, d. 6 Jul 1189
Geoffrey VI, 12th Count of Anjou, Count of Nantes2 b. 1 Jun 1134, d. 26 Jul 1158
William de Penthievre, Count of Poitou+2 b. 22 Jul 1136, d. 30 Nov 1164

  Noted events in her life were:

1. Title of Nobility: Countess of Anjou,,.

Matilda married Geoffrey V 'le Bel' PLANTAGENET, son of Fulk the Younger King of Jerusalem and Ermengarde Countess of Maine, on 11 June 1128 in Le Mans, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France.²⁰⁸⁴ (Geoffrey V 'le Bel' PLANTAGENET was born on 24 August 1113,²⁰⁸⁵ died on 7 September 1151 in Château du Loire, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France ²⁰⁸⁵ and was buried on 14 September 1151 in Le Mans, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France ²⁰⁸⁵.)

Matilda next married Heinrich V. Kaiser des Heiligen Römischen Reiches on 7 January 1114 in Mainz, Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.²⁰⁸⁴ (Heinrich V. Kaiser des Heiligen Römischen Reiches was born on 8 January 1086 in Goslar, Goslar, Lower Saxony, Germany ²⁰⁸⁴, christened on 8 November 1086 in Goslar, Goslar, Lower Saxony, Germany,²⁰⁸⁴ died on 23 May 1125 in Utrecht, , Utrecht, Netherlands ²⁰⁸⁴ and was buried in 1125 in Speyer, Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany ²⁰⁸⁴.)