Empress Matilda
On November 25, 1120, King Henry I of England was returning with his entourage from Barfleur in Normandy. This involved making the relatively simple crossing of the Channel between England and France. 300 of his enormous retinue, including his heir, William Adelin, travelled separately on The White Ship, a fast and well-constructed vessel. Unfortunately, heavy drinking on board before disembarkation led to sporting orders to overtake King Henry’s vessel, and somehow or other the ship struck a rock, and took all but one of its passengers to a watery grave. William died valiantly trying to rescue his half-sister.
This was problematic. Of Henry’s legitimate children, William was the only son, and his death left Henry with only a daughter conceived in wedlock, Matilda (c.1102-67), then-wife of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. England had never been ruled by a queen before, and so Henry tried desperately to produce a son by his rushed second marriage. This failed, and in 1126 he made his barons sign a treaty promising to support Matilda when he died, and married her off to 14-year-old Geoffrey of Anjou, heir to the Count of Anjou, in anticipation of opposition to his newly widowed-daughter.
The marriage of a powerful 24-year-old woman to the humble 14-year-old heir to Anjou proved unhappy, however, and the couple were doubly-frustrated by Henry’s apparent desire to limit their power in Normandy. Relations were strained when Henry died in 1135 and, amongst rumours that the king had changed his mind about his successor, his nephew, Stephen of Blois, moved to seize power in England, despite having sworn to support Matilda in 1127. Undaunted, Matilda worked to secure her power in Normandy, and then in 1139 headed to England with the support of her illegitimate half brother, Robert of Gloucester.
The period of fighting between King Stephen and Matilda lasted 18 years and is known as The Anarchy. Staying at Arundel Castle, Matilda sent Robert to fight Stephen’s army, but was captured when Arundel was besieged. Stephen released her for unknown reasons, and Matilda continued to wage a campaign against her cousin. Despite the fierce fighting, neither side could gain the advantage, but in 1141 Matilda got her own back on Stephen by capturing and imprisoning him at Bristol Castle. Support for Matilda now increased, and the stage was set for her coronation as Queen at Westminster Abbey.
Unfortunately, support did not last, and the incarcerated Stephen had enough loyal troops to fight back. At the Rout of Winchester, Matilda was defeated by her namesake, Queen Matilda, and was forced to release Stephen from prison. After a daring escape from Oxford Castle Matilda realized she would never win the crown, and shrewdly started to find a way to secure the throne for her son, Henry. Having returned to Normandy in 1147, she helped Henry, when he was old enough, to invade England, and he was crowned King of England in 1154. Matilda definitely had the last laugh.