Empress Matilda Parts One, Two, and Three
Transcript:
The Empress Matilda:
‘Ortu magna viro major, sed maxima part, hic jacet, Henrici filia, sponsa, parens.’ (Or-tu man-ya, viro major, said maxima ik yacet, enrichi fila sponsa parens) So goes the epitaph on Empress Matilda’s tomb in Rouen.
Great by birth, greater by marriage, greatest in her offspring, here lies the daugher, wife, and mother of Henry. Modern thoughts would shy away from making a woman all about the men in her life, but Matilda’s story is, sadly in many ways, wrapped up in the men of her life. Her achievements were judged less during her time for being a woman and often in our time for not trying harder. If she was any more forceful in her time she would have likely achieved nothing. She is in a historical no-man’s land. One entertaining note on her epitaph, the father of her son Henry mentioned in her epitaph was not named Henry, he was named Geoffrey, the decision to leave him off her final statement may have been intentional and something I’ll bring up again later. The husband mentioned was her first, Emperor Henry V of the Roman Empire would provide her with the title ‘Empress’, but sadly no children. The inclusion of her father is expected, but sad in many ways. He was the man who wanted so much from her, but helped so little when it really counted. Matilda’s story is her own, but it would not be told if it were not for the men in her life. The final man mentioned, her son Henry fitzEmpress, the future Henry II, king of England deserves his place with his mother. He was a filial son who would learn the lessons she shared with him and understood that she had much more than just her bloodline to give. She was not afraid to place him at risk for the chance for him to show his greatness.
Matilda was born on the second of February 1102, the first child of Henry I of King of England and Edith-Matilda of Scotland. Her parents had married in 1100, her mother was the daughter of the late King of Scot, Malcolm III and St. Margaret of Wessex, the sister of Edgar the Aethling. At the time of her parents’ marriage and her birth her uncle, Edgar was king of Scotland. As we explored in our last episode her father’s claim to the crown of England was being challenged by his older brother, Robert. When Matilda of Scotland was four months pregnant with the future empress Robert attempted to seize the throne. His ambitious attempt was stopped at Winchester where Edith-Matilda was spending her pregnancy. His always chivalrous nature prevented him from attacking the city that his beloved god daughter was resting in. Later chronicles would make it sound as though Edith-Matilda was either in labour or in her lying in, the traditional period before birth when noblewomen would seclude themselves before giving birth. Based on Matilda’s birth in February the following year this wasn’t possible. This moment of kindness on Robert’s part cost him his best chance of taking England, but likely kept his sister-in-law and future niece safe. This level of thoughtfulness was not something shared by Matilda’s father, as we know from our earlier episode, Robert’s story does not have a happy ending.
Since the Normand Conquest started in 1066 England had been ruled by Normands, the French descendants of 9th and 10th century Vikings. Originally they came to France to raid, but their leader, Rollo entered into a treaty with the king of the West Franks. The Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-epte gave Rollo the territory of Normandy in exchange for his fealty. The Norsemen, eventually Normands, would protect Paris from other vikings raids. Normands slowly adopted the language of the local inhabitants and intermarried with the local population. Prior to the Normand Conquest England was controlled by the Anglo-Saxon kings from the house of Wessex, save for two short periods of Danish viking rule under Sven Forkbeard, Cnut the Great, and his sons. Since the ascension of Edward the Elder in 899 all rulers in this line had been descended from Alfred the Great. The House of Wessex had one remaining legitimate male in its line, Edgar Aetheling, St. Margaret of Wessex’s younger brother. By marrying Matilda of Scotland, Henry I had brought the legitimate line of Wessex back into the royal line of England, albeit from a female line. Henry made a big deal about his marriage as grafting the line of Wessex back onto the tree of the Normands and making both stronger. Matilda, being the first child from this line as well as her father’s first legitimate child (Henry had at least 20 illegitimate children) had a bright future from birth, as mentioned clearly in her epitaph.
In 1103 Edith-Matilda gave birth to her second child, a boy named William. He was given the sobriquet (so-bri-ke) Aetheling, the designation for a male heir in the Anglo-Saxon line. He was most often referred to though as William Adelin, the Norman pronunciation of Aetheling, I will refer to him as such because it feels odd calling a Normand by an Anglo-Saxon nickname. After having William King Henry and Edith-Matilda did not have any further children.There are many possible reasons for this, in all my research I haven’t found a definitive reason, granted, why a couple chooses not to have children isn’t really anyone else’s business. The suggestions range from Henry wanting to avoid succession issues similar to those he had with his brothers, yes, irony was a real thing even back in the 12th century, to Henry being repulsed by Edith-Matilda’s cleaning the feet and sores of supplicants while going about her duties within the church. Edith-Matilda is a woman in need of her own episode, and will likely be the subject of a special episode in the future, probably one shared with her amazing mother because I feel the faith of one was very influential on the behaviours of the other.
As with most high-born women there were two avenues that Matilda could have chosen or had chosen for her, marriage to help form an alliance or the church. Wealth women who chose not to marry usually entered religious institutions and before marriage many women were educated in these institutions. Edith-Matilda spent many years at Romsey Abbey for her protection and education, this would cause some problems for Empress Matilda later in our story. Empress Matilda was not destined for an Abbey though, the choice was never going to be her own. She was too important to make her own choices, and as we’ll see she was wholly unsuited for a life of quiet contemplation and prayer. Henry chose to make a marriage alliance for his daughter, and while it appears to have been happy for her it will sound very jarring for most in this day. In 1108 Matilda was arranged to marry Henry V King of the Germans and eventual Holy Roman Emperor, their actual engagement took place in 1110 in Utrecht. I’m sure most of you have already started doing the maths, yes, the bride was six at the time of the arrangement, eight at the time of her engagement, and she would be twelve when she married in 1114, the age of consent for marriage according to the church at the time. Compared to many of similarly married peers she was lucky. She moved to her future husband’s country young, eight years old, which would have allowed her time to adjust to their language and their customs. Her husband was also kind to her, though in need of a son, and therefore very keen for the marriage to go ahead as early as possible. Henry V was between the ages of 28 and 33 at their wedding, his date of birth varies between sources. There is no nice way to describe a marriage between a child and an adult at least 16 years older than her. While this was her duty it is a horrible thing to put any child through. Thankfully, according to all chroniclers their marriage was happy and supportive.
Sidestepping from Matilda’s story for a moment it is important to go over the situation in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire was, at least according to the Roman Catholic Church, the successor state of the Roman Empire. It began in the 9th century under Charlimagne, or Charles I. From the 10th century the title of Holy Roman Emperor was an elected position, but the list of possible candidates was very small, this wasn’t a constitutional elected monarchy. It makes sense in many ways to follow this process. Having a child-king only rarely goes well, being able to select and adult who can lead troops into battle and manage finances is very helpful in a historical era that isn’t known for its peace. While the Holy Roman Empire and the kings of Germany are sorting out how to choose Emperors in a way that suited the leading nobles the Roman Catholic church was also involved. For a King of the Germans to be styled as the Holy Roman Emperor he would need to be crowned by the pope. We now dive into the Investiture Conterversy. In 1075 Pope Gregory VII issued his Dictatus Papae, it was not published until later, but the clause that would cause the most trouble in the Holy Roman Empire was one that asserted that the pope alone held the power to depose an emperor. As you can imagine this did not go well with the sitting Emperor, Henry IV, father of the future Henry V. The Lateran Council also decreed that only the pope could appoint or approve of the appointment of a bishop, or depose churchmen. This also didn’t go over well with Henry IV, he liked appointing his own bishops. I can only imagine that to him it sounded like the Pope wanted all the power, but none of the responsibility. Bishops in this time were active members of the governments in the areas they oversaw. They could help with political problems and assist their rulers in receiving papal assistance in church matters, like support when trying to conquer a neighbouring territory. Henry decided that he was going to continue doing what he wanted to do, installing his own priest and bishops without papal approval. The pope called his bluff and excommunicated him. This is a time where the church is literally your salvation and everyone is a member. Being a ruler who was excommunicated was not looked on favourably by a king’s subjects, let alone his nobles. It was a great way to be deposed. In Henry’s case this meant that his princes began and continued rebellions against him. Realising this was not going to end well if he did not fix things with Gregory in 1077 he went in person to beg for the Pope’s forgiveness. The Pope was, rightly, suspicious and ordered Henry to do penance, wearing a hair shirt and standing barefoot in the snow. A hair shirt is a rough, uncomely shirt usually made from corse cloth or animal hair. It sounds like a very uncomfortable piece of clothing to wear, and for a king who was used to his comfortable life this would have been very degrading. After doing penance Henry’s excommunication was lifted, he then went on to be an upright and pious…wait, no, no he didn’t. His princes continued to revolt and decided to elect Rudolf von Rheinfeld as an anti-king. Gregory excommunicated Henry again. Since this has become a game of one-upmanship Henry called a council of his bishops and declared Gregory illegitimate. Henry declared Guibert of Ravenna pope, he was called Clement III. This all lead to a small war and Henry taking control of northern Italy and more importantly, Rome. He installed Clement at St. Peter’s in 1084. Gregory was still in Rome, at the Casta Sant’Angelo. Clement crowned Henry on Easter of 1084. The situation of an anti-pope being installed in Rome and a pope being elected somewhere else would continue on long after all the men who started it were dead. In 1122 the Concordat of Worms settled most of the problems between the Pope and the Holy Roman Empire. It is a complicated story that I will be covering in a few years time when I am ready for a year of anti-popes. How this relates to the story of Matilda is simple, her husband, Henry V rebelled against his father, not exclusively due to the Inverstiture Controversy, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t take advantage of it. Henry forced his father to abdicate in 1105. He did eventually name his own anti-pope, Gregory VIII. Things for Henry V went about as well as they had for his father, until he was able to force the pope to crown him. Yes, literally force, he held the pope and his bishops hostage until he was crowned in 1111. He then left Rome to go back to Germany, at which point the pope, Paschal II, quickly took back everything he had agreed to.
This crisis is long and not a huge part of our story, but it does set the stage for what Matilda would be dealing with when she was crowned in just three short years. She would have known what was going on because she was living in Germany at this time. Hearing her husband’s struggles both with his own father, his princes and other nobles, and the papacy would have shown her that a firm hand was needed to deal with any leadership matters she was faced with. Due to the large age difference between her and her husband it wasn’t an outrageous expectation that she may be asked to act as regent in the case of the early death of her husband. She also knew how her father had acceded to his throne, and it was not because he had been chosen to be king. As we’ll see, Matilda was made with the same strong will of her father and grandfather. Women in this time though were not meant to be kings, they were meant to be the wife of kings. They were bargaining chips to alliances, the birthers of children especially sons who would carry on their father’s line, and keepers of the home. They were expected to be active in church life and to donate generously to monastic foundations. One of their most important roles was to intercede with their husbands. When a king made a ruling that might have been a bit too harsh it was easy enough for his wife to beg for a more gentle punishment owing to both her feminine kindness and weakness. Kings would happily use their wives to make their lives easier with their nobles. Queen mothers could also act a regent for their under-age sons if needed, though they would always have military supporters to assist them. At least this was how wives were expected to behave in England, Normandy, France, and the Iberian Peninsula. In Germany and Italy wives were treated a bit differently. They were often active partners in ruling with their husband, acting as his regent when he could not due to distance or infirmity. Women were regularly countesses in their own right, the formidable Matilda (it was a very popular name), countess of Canossa being one example. The Empress, though she technically wasn’t and wouldn’t be, was trained to be in control and to lead. She acted as her husband’s regent in Italy while he was away in Germany. Sadly, there is not much recorded of her time, but what is shows strength and leadership.
Matilda may have been acting as regent and in a position of power, but she could not be unaware that she had not managed to succeed at her main job as queen. She and Henry never had any children despite nine years of marriage. It would in fact be 19 years after she married for the first time before she had her first child. Going this long without a child would have lead to so many whispers. Women were usually blamed for a lack of children in a marriage, especially in an age where men often had illegitimate children before their wedding. Henry V had at least one acknowledged illegitimate child, so to most it would have appeared that Matilda was the problem. It’s horrible to imagine being a literal child and being blamed for not being able to have a child.
In 1118 Matilda would receive some of the worst news a child can ever receive, her mother had died. While they had not seen each other in eight years it’s known that they wrote regularly, and losing a parent is rarely easy. Two years later more devastating news would come. In November 1120 William Adelin died in the White Ship disaster. This ship wreck didn’t just kill the heir apparent, it killed one of her half sisters, a half brother, and multiple younger members of her father’s court. To lose so many young people in one night would have been unspeakable. This is a time when infant mortality was high, but once a child reach their teens they could usually look forward to a long life. Yes, the heir had died, which would have hurt all, but many families lost their future. Matilda was not able to come home due to political machinations outside of her, her father, or her husband’s control. Henry I, Matilda’s father quickly remarried. The woman he chose was Adeliza of Louvain, she was 18, described a beautiful, and she was from a noble family, all the things a king needs to make a wife. Henry was 35 years older than her and had many illegitimate children, so it was expected that his young wife would quickly be pregnant. Adeliza was not quickly pregnant, and one can imagine that she knew of the whispers about her ‘barrenness’. For Matilda there was more sadness to come. In 1125 her husband died, most likely from cancer. She was no longer in control and since she and Henry had never had any children she had no reason to stay in a country that wasn’t her home. She was offered her dower lands, and the new Holy Roman Emperor was generous to her. She only took her personal effects, including her jewels, two crowns and the hand of St. James the apostle, holy relics were a really big deal in those days. She could have remarried, but decided to return to her father.
At this point her father and Adeliza had been married for four years and had not produced any children. Interestingly Matilda and Adeliza were very close in age and it appears they spent a great deal of time together. Matilda was not remarried yet, so was at her father’s court, and Adeliza stayed with Henry at all times in hope of producing children. Two women of similar age, both having been married to much older men and both blamed for their lack of children. It’s easy to think they would have had a great deal of understanding for each other. For Matilda this friendly relationship with her step-mother would help her immeasurably in just a few years.
By 1126 it was clear that Henry and Adeliza were unlikely to have children. While women are often blamed for a lack of children in this time period it’s important to note that there are not records of Henry having any illegitimate children during his second marriage. As we’ll see later, the problem was not likely Adeliza. Henry needed to sort out his succession plans, he may have wanted to live forever, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. The succession struggles between his older brothers and himself were something to be avoided, unstable successions hurt the finances and security of any kingdom and Henry did not want a repeat of the uncertainty that had happened after William’s death. Loosing his son and not having another with his new wife could have been a crisis, but he had other options. The strongest of these were WIlliam Clito, Robert of Gloucester, and Theobald II, Count of Champagne.
I discussed William Clito in his father’s episode. He was a legitimate descendant of William of Normandy, healthy, young, and a proven military leader. He was a friend of the Louis VI, king of the Franks. He had a lot of positive attributes, but one major negative one. One of Henry’s greatest regrets was allowing a then four year old William leave after capturing his father at the Battle of Tincherbrai. The young man had incited two Norman rebellions and was a constant thorn in Henry’s side. He had also married Sybilla of Anjou, the sister of William Adelin’s betrothed, (no points for guessing her name) Matilda of Anjou. Henry had actually successfully requested that the pope annul the marriage on the grounds of consanguinity through their shared great-great-great-great grandparent. Henry’s hypocrisy truly knew no bounds as we shall see soon. Henry’s decision to pass over this nephew could be described as spiteful, he still had Clito’s father locked away in comfortable confinement. But, in Henry’s defence naming a man you’ve been fighting against for more than a decade as your heir is not a good look. He would have likely needed to release his brother, risking another rebellion, and he had done so much to delegitimatise Clito and Curthose. In the end this decision likely would have come to nothing. William Clito died of a gangrenous infection in July of 1128.
Robert of Gloucester is the subject of our next episode and will get fuller treatment there. While the son of the king he was illegitimate. The Anglo-Saxon subjects were unlikely to ever accept this and a new uprising would not be welcome to the Norman ruling class who were the minority population in England. The church likely would not have supported him being named. While there was no specific rule against it, there was rarely support for bastards being crowned. William of Normandy may have been illegitimate, but he wasn’t originally king of a country, just a duke of a French region, he won his crown through conquest. In addition Robert seemed to be a man singularly, at least at the time, aware of his strengths and weaknesses. He was a great general, but did not have the personality to be a king and he knew it. Even if his father had been able to appoint him it’s highly unlikely that he would have taken the role.
Finally, in our male options (this is 1126 after all) was Theobald II of Champagn. Theobald was the second son of Henry’s sister Adela of Normandy and Stephen II, count of Blois. Theobald had helped his mother rule Blois as regent when his father was away on crusade and by all accounts was thoughtful and skilled. He was however, not in Henry’s court due to running his own counties and therefore was not likely to be named. He may have made a good king though, he was known as ‘the great’ in his own lands. Of note, his older brother, William, was still living at this time, but had been passed over both with regards to their father’s lands and with England or Normandy. William was not considered worthy enough by their mother for either of these roles, he was married off to an eligible countess of an easy to manage area and allowed to live out his life happily. I do think history would be much better if more parents could choose the child best suited for the role and make sure their other children were useful in other ways. Theobald and William’s younger brother Stephen does not even appear to be considered. While a member of Henry’s court he was a third son, descended from a female line. As most of you know, this would not stop Stephen, but I want to plant a seed to look at in the analysis portion. Stephen was a respected fighter and leader of his men. Loyal, chivalrous, kind, possessing qualities that made his men loyal to him. To say he would have been a great general was an understatement, but he lacked that iron will that the great Norman kings had. I would like to revisit and assess him a bit more later. There was one more younger brother, Henry, the bishop of Winchester who will be instrumental in everything that happens after 1135.
Henry’s final decision on who would succeed him seems obvious in our time. There are currently three female heir apparents, Elisabeth of Belgium, Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, and Victoria of Sweden. Victoria’s own heir is her daughter. Laws have been changed in a lot of Europe to give women and men equality in this area, but in 1127 this was not done. Women could rule on behalf of their sons, who would then assume the throne on their majority, or they could give their husband ruling responsibility. Henry though was selecting his childless, widowed daughter as his heir. Despite his iron will it is without a doubt that he had discussed this decision with his closest advisors. His son Robert would have known and his brother-in-law, King David of Scotland would have supported him for this to have gotten past the thinking stage. The importance of a king’s role as leader of his armies at this time cannot be understated. He was expected to organise his men, march out with them, and fight if needed. William of Normandy became king of England on the battlefield. Harold Godwinson could easily have won if his men had remained in formation, a formation they broke upon hearing the false news that William was dead. Kings, especially Henry, sorted out taxes and finances, gave land to barons for their support, helped arrange the marriages of his leading nobles (often putting his illegitimate children to use in those), but at the end of the day he was a military leader. By choosing his daughter he was almost reframing the entire role, quite a progressive move from a conservative king.
Empress Matilda had much that would recommend her. In a superstitious time she fulfils a supposed deathbed prophecy from Edward the Confessor. He was told to share a dream he’d had regarding the cutting of a green tree to be grafted to another and would ‘without any assistance become again united to its stem, bud out with flowers, and stretch forth its fruit as before.’ Henry I is reported by William of Malmsbury to support this prophecy seeing his children as the fruit of this grafted stock. She was also well-educated and practiced in the art of ruling from her time in Germany and Italy. She had spent most of her life watching her father and late husband rule. Her uncle, David, was king of Scotland and one of her greatest supporters. He had spent a great deal of his youth living in her parents’ household and they would have spent time together before she was sent to Germany. She would have had her pick of the best military minds of her day. Her brothers Robert of Gloucester, who was already proven, and Reginald de Dunstanville, who was rising quickly, plus Brian Fiztcount of Wallingford were all ready to support her.
On the first of January 1127 King Henry ordered his churchmen and barons to swear allegiance to Matilda. She was to be his heir, saving any legitimate sons from his second marriage. As was tradition the members of high ecclesiastic office swore first, the Archbishop and bishops, next was the only other monarch in the room, King David of Scotland. It was an oath he would take seriously. As many listeners may know a small argument broke out as two who would swear next, Robert of Gloucester or Stephen of Blois. Matilda’s brother felt it was his right to go next as the king’s son. Stephen argued that as the oldest present legitimate grandchild of the Conqueror it was his. Stephen won the argument and was the first of the barons to swear.
I love imagining how happy Matilda would have been in this moment. She was being recognised as her father’s heir in her own right. She wasn’t married and had no children, it was all about her. Sadly, it appears that Henry may have seen things differently. A woman can transmit her bloodline and hereditary claims to the next generation, but her husband would usually rule in her name until their son was of age. Henry’s barons were in fact swearing to only her, but since not having children wasn’t an option when you’re the only heir to a kingdom Henry needed to get his daughter married soon. This would change things for Matilda of course, but would also cause his barons and churchmen some pause.
Speaking of pause, I will be pausing here for a week. Matilda’s story is not a short one, and I will need to divide it into a few parts. Next week I will go through everything that happens up to Matilda being announced as the Lady of the English. Finally I will cover the rest of the Anarchy, Matilda’s support for her son, and my analysis of her life.
Empress Matilda Part Two
A quick recap of last weeks episode, Matilda has been declared her father’s sole heir and his barons and churchmen have declared their loyalty to her as such. This all came about due to her brother’s death in the White Ship disaster and her father being unable to have children with his second wife. As we come back to the narrative Henry is planning Matilda’s future, and a huge part of that future will be getting her married. While he hasn’t been able to have any further legitimate children, his daughter could still have children and they could one day inherit his kingdom.
In what can only be described as a pragmatic and selfish plan Henry looked to shore up his Norman borders with his daughter’s next marriage. I would like to think that Henry cared about his daughter’s happiness, but I think in this case he put it well below his own wants. Without consulting his barons (other than his oldest son, whom does truly appear to be his father’s right-hand man) Henry began arranging for Matilda to marry Geoffry of Anjou, known by the sobriquet of le Bel, the son and heir to the Count of Anjou. Her first match had been to someone befitting the station of the oldest child of a king a duke, her second would have felt like a letdown. Not only was Geoffrey more than ten years younger than Matilda, making him all of 12, he wasn’t even a count. He was the son of a count who couldn’t be rightly expected to inherit his father’s lands for a long time (Fulk was only between 35 and 38 years old). Henry was also showing his hypocrisy. Geoffrey was the older brother of both Matilda and Sybilla, making him as related to Empress Matilda as William Clito was to Sybilla. Henry decided this was okay. Henry also knew this marriage would not be popular with his nobles. Anjou was on the border of Normandy and there had been long running antipathy between the two. Border skirmishes with the local Norman leaders was not uncommon. This marriage was made to please Henry though, and no one else’s wishes mattered. Theoretically this marriage should have put an end to the border disputes, but by not speaking to his council first Henry did not give them a chance to address their grievances or have any other input.
Anjou’s history is filled with some fascinating characters. Some of whom I plan on making special episodes about, sadly Geoffrey of Anjou is not one of them. At this moment in our story he is a 12 year old boy, two years too young to even officially marry Matilda. He would grow to be an acceptable military leader, but in the name of his wife and son. I will go so far as to say his attitude did not help his wife right before the death of her father, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Henry kept much of the marriage negotiations secret from his council and did not make things public until Matilda’s official betrothal. Her brother Robert and Brian Fiztcount would accompany her to Rouen for the event. A plan had been set in motion to remove Fulk from his role and to allow Geoffrey to become count before his father’s death. Fulk was sent to Jerusalem to marry Melisende, the oldest daughter of the current king, Baldwin II. Fulk and Melisende would succeed Baldwin as king and queen in 1131. The marriage between Fulk and Melisende was the usual way these things were done. An eligible man, with the right breeding and military exploits would be found to marry an heiress without brothers. This way her father would know that his duchy, county, or kingdom was going to go to someone who could defend it and his daughter and future grandchildren. Henry did not indicate in any way that this was his plan. As I will show, he would do little to give Geoffrey any role in his kingdom. In the end, as most of us know, this does not turn out well for Henry’s big plans.
Matilda and Geoffrey were married in 1128, he was 15, she was 26. The marriage started off poorly, so poorly that Matilda left Geoffrey not long after. She returned to her father in Normandy. While he was supportive at first (and could have easily had the m41arriage annulled as we know) he eventually brokered a reconciliation between the couple and Matilda returned to Geoffrey in 1131. One of the reasons for the couple’s estrangement was Henry’s unwillingness to hand over Matilda’s dowry, mainly her castles in Normandy. This disagreement will have a huge impact in just a few years time. That same year Henry had his barons and churchmen swear a second oath to support Matilda as his heir. This oath did not include supporting Geoffrey.
In 1133 Matilda put paid to any suggestion of her barrenness when her son Henry FitzEmpress, the future Henry II, was born. I would like to emphasis that was his self-selected sobriquet. He was, of course, named after his grandfather. Their second son, Geoffrey, was born in 1134. This second childbirth almost killed Matilda. She wrote a will and prepared for her death, obviously she pulled through in the end. This was a very dangerous time to have a child, as most of human history is. Henry was thrilled with his grandsons and his daughter’s recovery, but he still would not give the support that would be greatly needed to his daughter or son-in-law. The arguments between Henry and Matilda (and Geoffrey, I’m sure he was involved) grew worse until Geoffrey and Matilda left Henry’s court for Anjou in 1135. It was the place they were in control and a place where their opinions mattered. Sadly, their timing could not have been worse.
Henry’s iron will has been mentioned multiple times in just the first few episodes of this podcast. It’s because it was truly something to be reckoned with. He had inherited it from his father, to call either of them a strong, commanding man would be an understatement. He had kept his oldest brother in prison from 1106 to 1134 when Curthose finally died at the age of 83. He had controlled his barons in both England and Normandy with his strength. He had reformed the English system of taxation and made the country safer. Sadly, there are some drawbacks to ruling through personal strength alone. By denying Matilda and Geoffrey her dowry castles he was indicating that he either did not want to give up any control to his heir or that he did not trust his son-in-law. While his barons had recently sworn an oath he had given neither Matilda or Geoffrey any official offices in either Normandy or England. I will return to my thoughts on Henry’s iron will and his lack of actual planning for his daughter to rule in my analysis section, but for now I will just say: having an iron will is only useful while you’re alive to wield it. Once you’re dead your will is gone, and you have only that which you’ve prepared for those that come after you to rely on, Henry had not prepared well, and now he was dead.
On the first of December 1135 in Rouen, less than two years after the firs subject of this mini-series. As many have heard he died after eating a surfeit of lampreys. It’s interesting that excess killed him because he wasn’t often an excessive man, except in his enjoyment of the opposite sex. He was only 67 and could have expected at least a few more years, his oldest brother had lived to 83. But Henry hadn’t had the time and things would get much worse for Matilda and Geoffrey.
The history of Norman succession in England is a series of stories that sound like races. Whichever brother gets there first (there being Winchester and then London) wins the kingdom. And this time was no exception. This is a family that did not have a single chosen successor succeed to the throne, sorry for the spoilers. A member of Henry’s inner circle raced across the channel, convinced the leading churchmen and barons that Henry had changed his mind on his deathbed, not unlike William Rufus September of 1087. This person was able to inspire the support of Bishop Henry of Winchester and Robert of Gloucester and get themselves crowned on the 22nd of December 1135. This person wasn’t Matilda, or even her son Henry carried by quick-thinking supporters. It was Stephen, Matilda’s cousin, the third son of the late Count of Blois.
Stephen had been born in 1092 or 1096, there was some poor record keeping at this time. He was the count of Boulogne jure uxoris (jur-i ux-oris) through his wife, Matilda of Boulogne. His mother was Adela of Normandy, the sister of Henry I. Steven’s wife had just as impressive of lineage. Her mother was Mary of Scotland, the sister of Empress Matilda’s mother. This meant, of course, that Matilda was the first cousin to both Stephen (through her father and his mother) and Matilda (through their mothers). This also meant that the children of Stephen and Matilda of Boulogne were of the same ‘grafted branch’ that Empress Matilda was. However, despited this impressive pedigree what matters was that Stephen had managed to get himself crowned and anointed with holy oil before Matilda could even make a move to leave Anjou. Yes, he was helped greatly by his younger brother being Bishop of Winchester, but once anointed it was felt that a special ‘holy reverence’ had been conferred. I discussed this a little in Robert Curthose’s story, part of why he didn’t overthrow his brothers was the belief that they became special when anointed and he didn’t want to set a poor precedent.
Why was Matilda still in Anjou while her crown and kingdom were being usurped? She hadn’t even started making a move for Normandy. There were a few factors against her, first she didn’t have easy access to the sea to get to England. Anjou was landlocked, whereas Stephen had easy access to the sea via Boulogne. Second, she had been cut off from the court and no one was rushing to bring her news. Most of a nobles in Normandy were in the middle of burying her father and making their estates secure, Stephen did act very quickly. Finally, she was approximately two months pregnant. After her last delivery almost killing her rushing off while pregnant, especially in one of the most difficult periods of a pregnancy was not advisable, the nausea and vomiting at this stage can be debilitating. Stephen had made it from Rouen to London, with a Channel crossing, and a stop in Winchester in less than five days, in the middle of winter, it would take him a few more weeks to get himself crowned. It had taken William Rufus 15, but he was doing so in autumn when travel was safer. This podcast isn’t about Stephen, so I won’t be telling much of his story, there are plenty of books and other podcasts about him (the Rex Factor Episode on him is enjoyable, give it a listen if you want to know more about him). Needless to say he did not even wait for the Norman barons to give their support, he was very blessed that the church supported him and the few barons in England supported him. Had he not had that assistance his brother, Theobald would have quickly stepped into the role. The oaths sworn to Matilda seemed to count for nothing in this moment.
Matilda could have just stayed in Anjou, living with her husband whom she only sometimes got along with, raising her sons and not worrying about England or Normandy, but it was not her way. She was the daughter of iron-willed Henry I, her mother was one of the last legitimate descendants of Alfred the Great, her grandmothers, St. Margaret and Matilda of Flanders were formidable women in their own right. She had inherited her father’s strength and she was not going to sit back and let Stephen rule in her place.
At first Stephen ruled well, he was supported by those who had seen to him being crowned. It’s safer for the barons who own estates in England and Normandy if there is just one ruler for both and if things are stable, but the cracks showed quickly. David of Scotland was not going to let this stand. Stephen may be married to his one of his nieces, but Matilda was the one he had grown up around. He had sworn to uphold her rights and he was going to start doing that. While his invasion of the north would not do much, it showed Matilda that she was supported. The Welsh also took advantage of the new king and launched attacks. With each passing day there were more hints of rebellions, none, save King David’s, trying to enthrone Matilda, but all showing Stephen to be weaker than he had first appeared. To try to shore up support Stephen gave away lands and titles a bit willy nilly just to try to protect himself, he also showed weakness even when he won a battle. He would allow provisions in to castles he was sieging, not take hostages, and just generally make decisions that were not politic because at the time a king must show strength. Most importantly though, Geoffrey of Anjou decided it was time to use his military knowledge and strength. He began to attack Normandy. These attacks prevented Stephen from visiting Normandy, weakening his hold on the duchy. Religiously, at least where religion intersects politics Stephen made a huge blunder. His first supporter and strongest supporter had been his younger brother, Henry Bishop of Winchester. In 1136 the bishopric of Canterbury was opened due to the death of William de Corbell. Henry wanted the job and did not hide this fact. Stephen however allowed the monks to vote (as was tradition at the time, while it sounds very democratic these elections could be easily swayed), and did not try to suggest his brother as archbishop. Theobald of Bec was elected and Henry appointed him in January of 1139. Of interesting historical note, there was a more than two year long interregnum between the death of de Corbell and the election of Bec. As Stephen should have predicted his brother did not take this news well. More on the impacts of this soon.
Now, my dear listener, I’m going to pause my narrative for just a moment. I must interject a personal point. As you may have noticed already I don’t really talk about actual battles. It’s because I absolutely despise reading, watching, or hearing about them. It is like watching paint dry to me. Don’t get me started on sword fighting. I usually want to know why a battle mattered, did anyone important die or get captured, and who won. That is it. So, while there are a lot of battles in the period of history, the Anarchy, I’m about to dive into, you won’t hear details other than those I mentioned. If you really want to hear about battles I recommend any WWII podcast, or Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History.
While Geoffrey was fighting in Normandy Matilda was doing a woman’s battle. She gave birth to her third son, William in July 1136, take that accusation of barrenness! It looked like even with her husband helping in Normandy and her uncle making trouble in the north of England that there was no real chance for Matilda to do anything, but her luck was about to change.
In 1138 Robert of Gloucester made his stand known, it was for his sister. Robert of Gloucester had originally supported Stephen, though most historians thought this was out of expediency instead of true support. His sister had been in Anjou, the kingdom needed a leader, Stephen was there and he had promised to listen to his court and his clergy. Robert saw that Stephen would not uphold these promises. He returned to his sister and the two of them began planning.
Matilda’s first step will seem almost boring compared to everything that is coming, but it was an important one. The pope and his bishops held a great deal of power and Matilda needed them on her side. She sent Ulger, Bishop of Angers. Stephen sent a delegation as well, with Arnulf archdeacon of Sees acting as lead counsel. Ulger was prepared for the argument that he expected Arnulf to make, that the oaths were somehow not binding or arguments regarding hereditary rights. Instead Arnulf flipped the proceedings on their head by claiming that Empress Matilda was illegitimate and therefore ineligible to be queen. This argument is an interesting, if highly sexist diversion and worth a quick look. Arnulf’s argument was that Edith-Matilda had been a confessed nun, making her unable to legally marry. It would mean her marriage to Henry was invalid. Now, the response to this suggestion is incredibly easy to dispute. Like many young women of the time Edith-Matilda had been educated and protected in Romsey Abby by her aunt Christina, her mother’s sister. This was a normal and accepted practice at the time. This issue had already been raised prior to her marriage to King Henry and the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, Amselm, found in Edith-Matilda’s favour, she had never been a nun, only a laywoman being educated in the abby. Had Ulger not been so surprised by this argument he probably could have argued a sound case for Matilda, but he stumbled here. There were other arguments made of course, but in the end the pope decided to leave things as they were, at least currently, Stephen would remain king of England and Duke of Normandy.
While these arguments within the church were occur Matilda and Robert had other things to work out. They had no easy way to land in England. Stephen controlled most of the ports or landing sites and risking a battle upon landing was not worth it. Matilda and Robert got lucky though. Their step-mother, Queen Adeliza invited Matilda to visit her at Arundel Castle in 1139. Matilda and Robert landed in September of that year. Matilda had left her sons and husband behind in Normandy, trusting that Geoffrey would continue to fight for control of the duchy. It would take until 1144, after which he would rule in Matilda name and on her behalf until he and Matilda relinquished her claim to Henry fitzEmpress in 1149.
Robert left Arundel to ride to his stronghold and gather Matilda’s supporters. From here on in everything he does will be in support of his sister. He may have supported Stephen for a short while, but he was firmly in Matilda’s corner.
Matilda spent this time getting to know her step-mother’s new family. Adeliza’s second marriage had, like Matilda’s, been much more productive than her first. She had her husband, William d’Aubigny, Earl of Arundel would eventually have seven children together, so totally not barren. There are no recorded dates for the birth of these children (despite the oldest son’s line eventually joining the Howards of Norfolk there isn’t even information in the family archive), but I would like to hope that Adeliza had at least one child at this time or was pregnant. It would have been really lovely for both women to get to share their joy in motherhood after having been looked down on for so long.
It did not take Stephen long to find out Matilda was in England. Within the week he had forces at Arundel castle. Matilda was a guest, but it wasn’t her hostess’ castle, it was her husband’s and he was, at least nominally, a supporter of Stephen. Arundel castle is difficult to siege, it had access to water on one side which both protected it and gave a great escape route. Stephen could have chosen to attempt a siege, but it was likely that Robert of Gloucester would have arrived and attacked his rear. To avoid this Stephen agreed to allow Matilda and her men to leave, with a letter of safe conduct. They were permitted to ride to her brother’s stronghold. Perhaps this had been her plan all along. While Robert had been able to ride quickly to his lands they may have worried that Matilda would be targeted if she went with him. It’s even possible that she truly wanted to see her step-mother. Regardless of their original plan Matilda was now safely in the country, safely in her brother’s castle and ready to start taking back what was hers.
Over the next few years there were battles. Boring battles, and really just a lot of back and forth. No one important, at least not to this narrative, died, but a change was coming. Matilda’s first big win was one of the biggest wins one can achieve in war or chess. She took the king. In 1141 at the Battle of Lincoln Stephen was captured by the forces lead by Robert of Gloucester. He fought nobly until the end, when someone had to knock him unconscious and drag him off the field. Robert presented Stephen to Matilda and Gloucester and then they secured him at Bristol Castle. To have been a fly on the wall at the first meeting of these two after more than six years, oh that would have been amazing. Stephen was allowed some level of freedom at first, but was eventually kept in chains because he kept breaking the rules.
Stephen’s misstep with his brother Henry now comes into play. Bishop Henry, as papal legate was able to spoke for the pope and after his brother was captured he decided that the pope may have misspoken in his earlier decision to leave Stephen as king. Towards the end of February 1141 he met with Matilda at Winchester and agreed to hand over the treasury and supporting her claim to the throne. With his brother locked up Henry decided backing Matilda was the safe choice. It helps that Matilda promised to consult him and her leading nobles regarding all matter of state, something his brother had reneged on not long after taking power. A meeting of leading churchmen was arranged for April 1141. Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury approached Matilda stating that he could not abandon the oath he had sworn to his king and needed to be released from it, he asked to see his brother. Probably to his shock she agreed. King Stephen, resigned to his life in chains agreed to release the Archbishop from his oath. She was declared ‘Lady of the English’ or domina Anglorum by bishop Henry at the counsel. This title sounds like a step down from ‘queen’, but in many ways it’s actually a loftier title. A queen at this time only meant ‘wife of the king’, even today most queens are referred to as queen regnant, not just queen. Lady of the insert place name is most often associated with Alfred the Great’s daughter, Aethelfled Lady of the Mercians, one of the greatest leaders male or female of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom. On a personal note I would argue that we should call all queens regnant king and make up a new name that isn’t prince consort for their husbands, remove the gender from the title.
While she had the support of the church, she did not have all the support from the barons that she wanted. Her generals had remained loyal and were constant support, but there were not as many coming over to her side as she had hoped. Her church support started to fade when she rejected Bishop Henry’s suggestion that Stephen’s other titles, count of Boulogne, and Mortain be given to Eustace, Stephen’s oldest son who was 11. She may have been trying to avoid making another William Clito, but her rejection was not taken well by the men who weren’t used to women telling them what to do. It also didn’t help lead others to her side, no one wanted to join a woman who wouldn’t listen to their suggestions. Matilda had Henry’s iron will, but she hadn’t yet learned how to use her wit to control those around her. The carrot and stick approach works well, but Matilda was forgetting the carrot.
Matilda reached London before her planned June coronation. Here, the other Matilda or Matilde rejoins our story. Stephen’s wife Matilde, Countess of Boulogne had not given up on his cause. Not only did she want her husband back but she wanted her son to be king after him. Matilde was a formidable woman, but she also fit into her role as a woman. She wasn’t trying to claim a throne for herself, she was doing so for her wronged husband and her son. Matilde and Stephen’s remaining forces remained near London and harried the surrounding area. Matilde also had a loyal friend in London, the castellan of the Tower of London was a loyal Stephen supporter. She was also able to get Bishop Henry back on side, mainly due to Matilda’s mistake in not taking his suggestion to return Boulogne to Eustace with more though and consideration. By harrying the area outside of the walls of London, Matilde and her men were able to reduce commerce into and out of the city and make field work near impossible. Stephen had heavily taxed the people of London, and Matilda wanted to tax them further, as was her right. Matilde saw to it that paying this tax would be impossible, fomenting discontent among the Londoners. While to outsiders it would seem that Matilde was the bad guy, the people of London saw her as a woman acting in the proper role. She wasn’t trying to control them and be their king, she was trying to help free her husband and restore him to his rightful place on the throne. A woman can lead on behalf of her husband and sons, but not for herself. This would be Empress Matilda’s downfall, believing, rightly, that she should be leading men, not leading for men.
The people of London saw Matilda as acting haughty and out of station, she was a woman acting like a man, and that wasn’t okay. In addition she hadn’t even been crowned and was therefore not their king yet (I prefer to use the word ‘king’ over ‘queen’ in the historical context. Even today a queen who is a head of state is often referred to as queen regnant, not just queen. After all, queen does mean ‘wife of king’ and has no indication of power in its own usage. I am in favour of using king for heads of state of either sex, queen for the wife of a king, and something other than prince consort for the husband of a king of the fairer sex.) They saw Matilda as overbearing and arrogant, a man in the same position, acting the same way would likely be described as ‘strong and commanding’. I’ll go into this further in the analysis section.
Matilda was also derided for doing something men did all the time. Taking land from her opponents and handing it out to her supporters. This is basic war 101, you give land to your supporters both as a reward and so that they will defend that land, solidifying your territorial gains. No one complained (except maybe the local peasants) when William the Bastard handed out land in England after he won the Battle of Hastings. Those that had a problem with it did what was expected, they rebelled, they were Anglo-Saxons after all, and they would rather be ruled by one of their own. William put down these rebellions as expected, if he hadn’t his family would not have continued to rule England. While we look back on this as barbaric (but really, are we much better) it was what was expected. A king was a military leader, and Matilda was acting just as her grandfather had. The people of London, Stephen’s chroniclers, and other rulers didn’t see it this way. She was a woman acting like a man, and that wasn’t okay.
As many of you know, the next part does not go well for Matilda, but that is for our next episode. Next week’s episode does include one of my favourite stories from this time. It doesn’t have much to do with Matilda, but the individuals involved will have an amazing impact on Matilda’s children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. I’ve probably given away the story to those who know history, but hopefully the rest of you will find it interesting.
Empress Matilda, Part Three
Thank you for joining me for the conclusion of the Empress Matilda’s story. As many of you know already, she will never been crowned. this is Passed, which isn’t about actual kings. I think the end of her story is just as interesting as the beginning. I’ll start with the most exciting bit, forge ahead at the boring bit, and finish with a bit of analysis.
On June 24th of 1141 Matilda and much of her court were sitting down to eat the day before her coronation. At this moment the people of London rose up and drove her out of town. Most histories of this event even claim the food was sat out and still warm, Matilda’s party had left that quickly. Matilda and her forces originally headed to Oxford, one of her bases. Here she heard that Bishop Henry was besieging her forces in Winchester Castle. What happens next takes place between the 31st of July and the 14th of September, there is a lot of battle action, but since I don’t love battles I’ll only give the basic outline. Matilda and her troops immediately set off to relieve her forces in Winchester. At the sight of Matilda’s forces Bishop Henry fled the city, honestly, fleeing battles may sadly be a trait of many members of this family. His forces secured themselves in the second castle in the city, Wolvesey, the ecclesiastical fortified palace. Matilde’s forces attacked the city to relieve those in Wolvesey, and Matilda’s forces were forced to retreat due to a lack of supplies and poor defensive options. Robert of Gloucester was able to plan an organised retreat and took up the rearguard. His planning and actions saw it that Matilda was able to get to Gloucester safely, though she was carried for part of the route on a stretcher. Robert was not so lucky. He was captured by Matilde’s forces. There is one, almost minor event that deserves a mention here. John FitzGilbert, the Marshall of the Horses, a minor nobleman whom I will refer to as John Marshall from here on, was trapped in Wherall Abbey covering Matilda’s retreat. The abby was set ablaze and in the ensuing fire John’s eye was destroyed by melting metal from the roof. I want to share this story both to show the strength that John Marshall showed in this moment, it will appear later, and to emphasise the loyalty that Matilda could engender.
After this loss, known today as the Rout of Winchester, Matilda would have known her chances to be crowned were gone. She didn’t actually give up, but there was one important thing to be done first. She held Stephen, and Stephen’s wife held her brother. While Stephen was the more valuable hostage Matilde knew that Matilda could not go on without her brother. Robert refused any trade that would see him out of the war or on Stephen’s side Matilde tried to convince him to join Stephen’s cause by promising ‘dominion of the whole of England’, basically giving him the power behind the throne. She would later threaten him with lifelong imprisonment, not unlike his uncle, Curthose. Robert knew the kind offers wouldn’t be followed through on, and the cruel ones would lead to Matilda doing worse to Stephen. Robert even stated that he was not worthy to be traded for a king, Matilde had attempted direct negotiations with Robert’s wife, who was holding Stephen in Robert’s place. Robert objected yet again because he wasn’t a free agent, he could only act on behalf of his sworn liege lord, his sister. Finally she was brought into the negotiations. Keeping Stephen would have been the easy option, she would have had the most important piece in her possession. However, she could not give up her brother, he was her greatest supporter, ally, and friend. He had taken care of her every step of her campaign thus far and leaving him was not an option. She did try to get him back without giving up Stephen, there is no doubt that Robert would have ben hoping she would manage it and that her other generals had advised she try. Matilde would not budge.
A complicated system of hostages to trade for Stephen and Robert was arranged. The details are not something to bother with, because the result is the same regardless, Stephen was returned to Matilde and his throne, and Robert was returned to his sister. Matilda would never be crowned, though Stephen went ahead and had himself crowned once more just to emphasise his rule. After this exchange the war became a stalemate.
There were battles, raids, attacks on markets, farms, and villages. The result was horrible for the populace, just as war is to this day. It’s difficult to sow and harvest crops with constant skirmish nearby. and it’s disheartening after doing all that work if the product is stolen or burnt in a raid. Commerce slowed greatly because roads often weren’t safe to travel, and goods could be stolen at any time. There is a reason this time is called the Anarchy. To someone like me, and most of my listeners, this would be unimaginable, but there are many people who live through times like this today.
Matilda did request assistance from her husband at least once. The most important time was in April 1142. He would only assist if Robert of Gloucester would come to Normandy to negotiate with him. At this point Geoffrey was well on his way to securing Normandy, holding most of the south and west. Robert, understandably didn’t want to leave his sister, and he delayed until he thought the moment was right. They found out that Stephen was unwell in June and decided this was the right time for Robert to go. Stephen had been reported to be close to death. Leaving his sister in secure in Oxford, he went to bargain with his brother-in-law. When he arrived Geoffrey surprised him by dragging him into various battles in Normandy, oh Geoffrey. In his defence, he likely knew he would never be king of England, but knew he could as least get control of Normandy and having a brilliant general like Robert there was helpful. Geoffrey couldn’t have had worse timing though. At the end of September Stephen surprised everyone by recovering quickly and attacking Matilda’s location.
Word reached Robert and he took action to return immediately. He did bring one important gift for his sister, her oldest son, Henry fitzEmpress. While it wasn’t the army she had been hoping for it would have been the next best thing. Henry was nine years old by now and hadn’t seen his mother in three years, as a mother myself I cannot imagine being away from any of my children for that long. At this point Matilda would have known she was unlikely to ever be queen and the focus of her fight would have been on securing things for her son, having him there would be a boost.
Before she could be reunited she had to escape Stephen’s siege. Lucky for her, the weather agreed with her. In early December there was snow on the ground and the Thames was frozen. Accompanied by three or four knights she was able to abseil down St. George’s Tower, walk across the frozen river, and sneak through Stephen’s camp. More romantic stories have her wearing a white dress to blend in with the snow. Regardless of what she wore she managed her escape beautifully. She and her men secured horses and rode to Brian fitzCount’s stronghold of Wallingford. I’ve mentioned Brian fitzCount a few times in this narrative, and he is an important military leader for Matilda, but not a main character in the story I want to focus on. If I liked battles he would feature much more heavily. I am planning on giving him and a few other players in this time special episodes in the future, probably a combined who’s who of the Anarchy. If you’re interested in this let me know so I can start working on it. After, most likely getting warm and having a meal or two, Matilda and her men continued on to Devizes.
Robert and Henry landed not long after Matilda had reached Wallingford and word got to them before they were in Oxford. They quickly changed direction and headed to Devizes. Matilda was reunited with her son and brother. Henry was lucky, he would have two great leaders to learn from during his time in England. He would be sent to Bristol with his uncle to continue his training in all things battle. Henry would stay in England until 1144, when Geoffrey had secured control of Normandy. It would be safer for him to stay there and he would be able to learn from his father’s generals as well, plus the chance to actually rule a duchy or at least assist his father would be a valuable lesson. I don’t want to spend too much time on Henry, he would grow to be a great man, probably one of the greatest kings the English ever had, but he has countless books and podcasts already dedicated to him. He did however have a little growing up left to do still, and his mother would make sure he learned lessons well.
In 1147 Henry and a small group of loyal knights (who were his friends of course), along with a small group of paid soldiers (or at least they needed to be paid at some point) returned to England. He was 14 and like most teenagers was ready to take on the world, at least in his own mind. He attempted battle multiple times and did not do well. This was not adult Henry II after all. He wasn’t able to pay his men since he hadn’t won anything, and wrote a letter to his mother begging for financial assistance. Now, there have been arguments that Matilda didn’t have the funds to give him and that Robert of Gloucester wasn’t willing to part with any of his fortune, but I find it more likely that the two wanted him to sort out his own problems. By learning from this mistake he would plan better in the future, cover his possible retreats, make sure his men were paid in a timely manner, and avoid getting ahead of himself. In the end he was helped to return home, by Stephen. Yes, Stephen had always been a bit too kind to be a truly good, powerful king, and this moment showed it more than any other. The young man who wanted to usurp his son was sent back to the continent safely and unharmed. I can only imagine he didn’t run this plan past his wife first Matilde would never have stood for this.
Matilda would be hit with a huge blow not much later. at the end of October, 1147 Robert of Gloucester fell ill, and never recovered. He died on the 31st, he was at most 57 years old. I’m really looking forward to sharing more about Robert in my next episode, he may have been overshadowed by his sister, but they were great because of each other. All siblings should be so lucky to have such a loyal and supportive friend.
Matilda returned to Normandy in 1148. She was 46, and while not old, nine years of fighting, deprivation, hunger, and missing her sons would have taken its toll. Her husband had secured Normandy and Rouen was a safe base for her to continue her support of her son.
With his mother in Normandy Henry was able to focus on the military side of thing in England. His mother managed finances and Normandy in his absents. She may not have been crowned herself, but she would see to it that he son was. She also wanted to see to it that he was knighted, it was an important set on his road to power and one that couldn’t be taken lightly. Since his goal was to be a king it would have only been right for another king to knight him. He was lucky that his mother knew the perfect man. King David of Scotland was about 65 years old, nearing the end of his life, but he was ready to bestow this honour upon his great-nephew. In May of 1149, Henry was knighted in Carlisle. His mother’s work made this moment and all his future triumphs possible, she could not be there though.
Matilda was still doing all she could for her son. She was able to negotiate for French recognition of Henry’s claims to Normandy, which was needed since it was a French vassal duchy. The King of the Franks, Louis VII, and his wife, Elinor of Aquitaine had just returned from the crusades. Louis would also do nothing to prevent Henry’s assumption on the English throne. This negotiation is made all the more impressive because Stephen’s son, Eustace, was Louis brother-in-law. It’s easy to see that while Matilda’s strength wasn’t welcome by many on the battlefield it was at the negotiating table. Had Louis been in possession of a crystal ball he might not have been so accommodating, but ongoing war within his kingdom and his nearby neighbour and trading partner was not good for his rule.
In September of 1151 Geoffrey of Anjou died, he was only 38, but having spent almost all of his adult life in battle it is not surprising that he didn’t have a long retirement. Matilda may not have been as devastated as a woman who had married out of love might have been, but there is no doubt she would miss him. He was the father of her three sons and he had done much for her in Normandy. While their marriage wasn’t always a happy one, it was better than many for their time and social standing. He had trusted in her assessments and had taken the risk of supporting her aims. They had worked together to make sure their sons would be great men. For Henry and his brothers this would have been a great blow and having their mother with them for support would have been crucial.
Stephen was still in control of England, but his grasp was weakening. He had been trying to get his son Eustace crowned as his co-king. This had been a common practice in France, but was not something done in England; Norman Dukes also did not have a co-duke. Due to the lack of precedent the Archbishop of Canterbury would not proceed without permission from the Pope. Pope Eugenius III heard arguments from Stephen and Matilda’s parties and decided it was best to leave things as they were. Stephen would only get bad news from here on out. In May of 1152 Matilde of Boulogne died. She had been his greatest supporter and had literally fought for his freedom, she was his better in many way. Loosing her would have been a horrible blow. She was more ruthless than he ever was and no doubt hoped her son would succeed him. Her loss may play into the story I’d like to share.
In June of 1152 Stephen was besieging a castle under the control of John Marshall’s castellan (the holder of a castle in place of its owner). John’s representatives approached Stephen with terms for a temporary truce to allow John to speak to his castellan, a first step in negotiating a surrender. John offered his fourth son as hostage to broker this truce. Stephen and his men retreated with the boy. Once Stephen’s men were gone John quickly refortified the castle with both men and supplies and locked the gates. When Stephen returned he would not surrender. It would have been Stephen’s right to kill the hostage, a boy of only five at the most. Stephen threatened and John responded: ‘he did not care about the child, since he still had the anvil and hammer to produce even finer ones.’ While I do agree that John could have produced more sons, he had five already and would have at least one more, it was highly unlikely he or anyone would ever produce one as fine as the child he had left with Stephen. John’s son was not Albert Einstein, but William Marshall, possibly the greatest knight of his or any age. We know that William would live into his late sixties, so for us their is no suspense, but John Marshall wouldn’t have known that at the time. Stephen could not find it in himself to kill the boy and actually took him back with him and cared for him. I truly believe that all parents through history love their children, just as parents love their children now. I have no doubt John was bluffing, and would have been devastated if his son had been killed. I would like to think that he knew Stephen’s temperament well enough to know he wouldn’t kill a child (I can find no evidence of Stephen intentionally killing children, he was a bad king, but not due to cruelty, just ineptitude).
Matilda’s years of struggle were about to pay off. In late July 1153 Stephen was finally forced to negotiate with Henry. The original terms were brokered at Wallingford. In the treaty of Winchester Henry agreed to allow Stephen to spend his remaining years as king, and Stephen would name Henry as his heir. There is a sad footnote for Matilda here, Stephen would publicly ‘adopt’ Henry, so he would be labeled as his son, and hence the crown passing to him that way. I doubt Matilda cared, as her son would always use fitzEmpress, not fitzStephen as his sobriquet, he knew who had fought for him. She would also help him rule his vast empire, while Stephen’s reign would be known as one of the most destructive in English history.
The final blow was coming to Stephen. Between the early negotiations of the treaty and the final signing his son, Eustace died. At the time his death was blamed on divine retribution as punishment for sacking church lands. Most likely it was caused by a seizure. Eustace’s death would secure Henry’s reign, there would be no William Clito or even a Matilda for him to fight, though his sons would keep thing entertaining. Stephen’s younger surviving son had no interest in ruling England or Normand and kept to Boulogne.
Stephen and Henry signed their treaty in November of 1153. While Matilda would not rule her efforts had ensured57 son would, and that has to be worth something. She would not be there when he was crowned, he needed her to govern Normandy, but he would wear one of the crowns she brought back from Germany. He would be joined by his pregnant with, Elinor of Aquitaine, yes, she and the king of France had their marriage annulled on the grounds of consanguinity but really because she hadn’t had a son. She would give birth to her’s and Henry’s second son two month later (yet another example of women being blamed for things related to pregnancy that were not their fault). Henry could not have picked a woman more like his mother for his spouse, and while they would battle, literally at times, she was a good choice.
Matilda spent her later life doing exactly what would be expected of a queen mother. She mentored her son having learnt from her time in battle. She assisted him by ruling Normandy when he was in England. She even interceded on behalf of her second son when he was causing some problems. She convinced Henry not to invade Ireland.
Matilda died on the 10th of September 1167 at the age of 65. Only Henry survived her. Geoffrey had died of unknown causes in 1158 and William had passed in 1167, supposedly of a broken heart. His death would be one of many parts of the greatest scandal of the 12th century (yes, there was something bigger than Stephen usurping Matilda), the murder of Thomas Beckett. Matilda was buried at Bec Abbey, winning her argument with her father who wanted her buried at Rouen Cathedral.
Analysis:
In examining the life of Matilda it’s important to put her in her time, but to remember many of the things she faced are still faced today. Women in the corporate world are regularly sent to ‘sensitivity’ training when they act strong in boardrooms. While women are often presented as the more emotional sex there is no questioning that the emotions presented when one’s sports team looses can wreck havoc on entire cities. I don’t want to make this a man versus woman discussion, I just want to point out that many things said about Matilda in derision would have been used as compliments to men in the same position. Even Matilde was complimented for her work, because she was fighting for her husband not herself. In Matilda, Empress, Queen, Warrior Catherine Hanley points out it would be more than 400 years before England had a Queen Regnant (Scotland actually beat England in 1286 if Margaret maid of Norway is counted or in 1542 if only considering Mary Stewart). She also points out that the only reason this occurred was that all the other choices were also women (in order of claim based on Henry VIII’s will: Elizabeth Tudor, Katherine Grey, Mary Grey, Jane Grey had been executed at this point, and Margaret Clifford, Henry had excluded his older sister’s descendant, but the first in line there were women as well, Mary Stewart and Margaret Douglas). It wasn’t until the late-twentieth century that even progressive, European monarchies put daughters and sons on the same footing. Spain, Liechtenstein, and Monaco still use male preference, though Spain’s current king only has daughters. The United Kingdom didn’t even change their laws until 2011. The fact that the same insults are being used almost a 900 years later means there’s still a lot of work to do in the realm of equality.
Second, what was Henry I thinking? When he made his barons and churchmen swear oaths he seemed to think that was fait accompli, he just acted as though everything would work out fine. He seemed to have completely overlooked his own claim to the throne, how he literally beat his brother to it and eventually imprisoned his brother. He either truly thought his men would be scared of him after he died or he expected to have longer to sort things out. He didn’t give his son-in-law any indication of his future role in England or Normandy, which caused the rift right before his death. Geoffrey may not be the most amazing man in history, but he was ambitious, young, and knew he could do more. He had managed to contract a marriage well above any he could have expected and now was being sidelined for no one, Henry was still doing it all himself. I’ll say it again, iron wills are only useful while you’re alive.
Finally, Stephen. He is a study in reaching beyond your grasp. He would have made a great general, instead of a horrible king. He made a huge mistake the day he decided to go to England and persuade his brother to help get him crowned. Instead of being spoken of as well as Robert of Gloucester he is derided, he doesn’t even get to be put among the worse of kings, Richards II and III and John usually get that honour, even Charles I had the decency to get executed, and James II was properly overthrown. He couldn’t even manage that. He just stayed there, middling, as everyone he loved died around him. He should have made the choice to keep his oath and support his cousin. Having control of Boulogne would have helped her protect her Norman borders and she and her husband would have supported him. He could have even gone on crusade and shown he was made of harder stuff than his father. Supporting another when you lack the skills to do it yourself isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of self-awareness. Matilda wasn’t perfect and lacked the ability to read the room, but she knew what she would be great at, Stephen did not know what he didn’t know.
Working on these three episodes about Matilda has been amazing. She is truly a great character, nuanced and strong. She did lack some political acumen, but overall she would have made a great leader. Her assistance to her son shows this without a doubt. I’ve really enjoyed my time with her. My secondary source for these episodes was Matilda, Empress, Queen, Warrior by Dr. Catherine Hanley. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Matilda. Thank you again, and I hope you’ll be back next week when I give Robert of Gloucester the episode he surely deserves.
