Epistolæ

Matilda, empress, queen of the Romans

countess of Anjou, designated heir and “domina” of England

Empress Matilda, the daughter and only surviving child of Henry I and Matilda, was born after her father ascended the throne.(!1) She was betrothed to the future Roman emperor, Henry V, and sent to his court when she was eight; they were married in 1114, after which she traveled with her husband, was included in official acts, and participated in his government and his travels. When her husband had to return to Germany in 1118, he left her as regent in Italy with an army; though records of her regency are scant, they do include giving judgment in court proceedings (Chibnall, 33). After the emperor’s death in 1125, she returned to England. Her father obtained from the bishops and magnates present at his Christmas court, in January 1127, oaths of allegiance to Matilda if he died without male heir. Henry married Matilda to Geoffrey of Anjou, ten years her junior, in 1127, apparently against her wishes.
This marriage produced a son in 1133, for whom his mother was able to assure the crown as Henry II, although she did not achieve it for herself. She had, however, many supporters in England, including her uncle David, the king of Scotland, and her half-brother Robert of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of Henry I. Her opponents supported her cousin Stephen, whose claim was through his mother, Adela of Blois.(!2) Matilda’s forces defeated and captured Stephen in 1141, but Matilda was never able to make good her claims, and was never called queen of England. She was however briefly recognized by Stephen’s brother, the papal legate, and others as the “domina,” the ruling lady of England, according to William of Malmesbury, and she did exercize certain administrative powers in England.(!3) Matilda’s courage and tenacity were respected by her enemies as well as her supporters.(!4)
Matilda removed to France in 1148 but continued to work for the succession of her son, Henry II. She was called “empress” by him and others — even her second husband referred to her as the former wife of the Roman emperor. After Henry’s accession, Matilda acted for him in Normandy, where she was recognized by Suger and Louis VII of France as its de facto ruler, and occasionally in England. Her contacts with the papal court, and her experience of imperial administration made her a valuable advisor. Matilda continued to have some influence over Henry, and to be asked to mediate between him and major opponents, like the archbishop of Canterbury and the king of France.(!5)

(!1) For details of Matilda’s life, see Marjorie Chibnall, The Empress Matilda, Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991) from which I have drawn for the biographical material here. (!2) As Chibnall notes, “hostile chroniclers make plain that what might in a man have passed for dignity, resolution and firm control were condemned in her as arrogance, obstinacy, and anger,” 96-7; at the same time, Chibnall recognizes in Matilda some failures in political judgment and “understanding of men,” 115. (!3) She made grants, heard grievances and claims, and coins were struck in her name at Bristol and Cardiff, see Chibnall, 121. (!4) On her flight from Winchester, riding astride like a man, the Gesta Stephani commented that “the countess of Anjou, always above feminine softness, had a mind steeled and unbroken in adversity” (cited by Chibnall, 113). Decades after her death, Ralph of Diss credited her nobility and “masculine courage in a female body,” as the source of her granddaughters’ courage and strength in their lives among the Saxons and Sicilians (Ymagines Historiarum, cited by Chibnall, 194). (!5) According to W.L. Warren, Henry II (Berkeley: University of California, 1973), who gives as references Stephen of Rouen, Robert de Torigny, and Walter Map, Matilda exercised a strong influence on her son until the end, 81.

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