On August 10, 1153 Stephens son Eustache died. [206] Early on, Matilda and her son issued charters in England and Normandy in their joint names, dealing with the various land claims that had arisen during the wars. On 22 May 1149 he was knighted by King David I of Scotland, his great uncle, at Carlisle. Empress Matilda In April 1110, the eight-year-old Matilda was betrothed to and later married Henry, King of the Romans, and on 25 July she was crowned Queen of the Romans at Mainz. Geoffrey V (24 August 1113 - 7 September 1151), called the Handsome, the Fair (French: le Bel) or Plantagenet, was the Count of Anjou, Touraine and Maine by inheritance from 1129, and also Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144. By November, Stephen was free (exchanged for the captured Robert of Gloucester) and a year later, the tables were turned when Matilda was besieged at Oxford but escaped to Wallingford, supposedly by fleeing across snow-covered land in a white cape. Matilda became trapped in Oxford Castle by Stephen's forces that winter, and was forced to escape across the River Isis at night to avoid capture. [1] ^ It is argued that Hermann of Tournai was using the story of a child who died as a guise to prove his point that because Matilda's mother had once worn the veil of a nun, her marriage was cursed. [43] Being childless, she could not exercise a role as an imperial regent, which left her with the choice of either becoming a nun or remarrying. [34] In 1119 she returned north to meet Henry in Lotharingia. [109] The rebels appear to have expected Robert to intervene with support, but he remained in Normandy throughout the year, trying to persuade the Empress Matilda to invade England herself. [58] The Anglo-Norman barons were gathered together at Westminster on Christmas 1126, where in January they swore to recognise Matilda and any future legitimate heir she might have. They soon started to fight with each other and Geoffrey sent her to Rouen. [155] Waleran's twin brother, Robert of Leicester, effectively withdrew from fighting in the conflict at the same time. Progress was uneven at first, but she persevered. Henry's son died, and his nominated heir Matilda was denied the throne by her cousin, Henry's nephew, Stephen. [102] The Norman forces then deserted the King, forcing Stephen to give up his campaign. [117] Arnulf of Lisieux led Stephen's case, arguing that because Matilda's mother had really been a nun, her claim to the throne was illegitimate. She attempted to mediate in the quarrel between her son Henry and Becket, but was unsuccessful. Upon their arrival, Geoffrey turned Normandy over to Henry and retired to Anjou. Geoffrey (V) "the Fair" Plantagenet Count of Anjou. [210] She was also approached by Louis VII of France, in 1164, and helped to defuse a growing diplomatic row over the handling of Crusading funds. [172] Many of those that had lost lands in the regions held by the King travelled west to take up patronage from Matilda. The uneasy divide continued until Henry captured and imprisoned his elder brother. Archbishop Thomas Becket refused to allow William to marry the Countess of Surrey and the young man fled to Matilda's court at Rouen. [140] After much fighting, Robert's soldiers finally overwhelmed Stephen and he was taken away from the field in custody. [40] His condition worsened and he died on 23 May 1125 in Utrecht, leaving Matilda in the protection of their nephew Frederick, the heir to his estates. Henry died of cancer on 23 May 1125 after which the 23-year-old Matilda returned to her father in England. [150] On 24 June, shortly before the planned coronation, the city rose up against the Empress and Geoffrey de Mandeville; Matilda and her followers fled just in time, making a chaotic retreat back to Oxford. [165] Louis VII recognised him as Duke of Normandy shortly after. [153] Geoffrey's success in Normandy and Stephen's weakness in England began to influence the loyalty of many Anglo-Norman barons, who feared losing their lands in England to Robert and the Empress, and their possessions in Normandy to Geoffrey. On January 7, 1114 she married the Emperor. It was 1147 when Henry, aged 14, had accompanied Matilda on an invasion of England. [88] Nonetheless Stephen reached the edge of London by 8 December and over the next week he began to seize power in England. [6], Matilda had a younger, legitimate brother, William Adelin, and her father's relationships with numerous mistresses resulted in around 22 illegitimate siblings. The war luck was now more on Stephens side and she had to retire to the Normandy. [41] Before his death he left the imperial insignia in the control of Matilda, but it is unclear what instructions he gave her about the future of the Empire, which faced another leadership election. The powerful English barons backed this claim. In 1128, she married Geoffrey of Anjou with whom she had three sons. Empress Matilda's marriage appeared to be a difficult one. [167] Matilda came under increased pressure from Stephen's forces and was surrounded at Oxford. [197], Matilda increasingly devoted her efforts to the administration of Normandy, rather than the war in England. [11] Matilda had originally cautioned against the appointment, but when the Prior of Mont St Jacques asked her for a private interview on Becket's behalf to seek her views, she provided a moderate perspective on the problem. [11] Matilda was more easy-going in her later life than in her youth, but the chronicler of Mont St Jacques, who met her during this period, still felt that she appeared to be "of the stock of tyrants". His marriage to Empress Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England, led to the centuries-long reign of the Plantagenet dynasty in England. [154] Many started to leave Stephen's faction. From "Henry II of England" at http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/henry002.htm. Henry I had no further 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. [180] Meanwhile, Geoffrey of Anjou finished securing his hold on southern Normandy, and in January 1144 he advanced into Rouen, the capital of the Duchy, concluding his campaign. [184] As a result, Stephen made progress against Matilda's forces in the west in 1145, recapturing Faringdon Castle in Oxfordshire. Four Norman kings presided over a period of great change and development for the country. [45], Succession crisis[edit] Picture of the White Ship sinking, A 14th-century depiction of the White Ship sinking of 1120 In 1120, the English political landscape changed dramatically after the White Ship disaster. The Geneanet family trees are . She was buried under the high altar at Bec Abbey after her death in 1167. [84] Nonetheless, Geoffrey and Matilda took the opportunity to march into southern Normandy and seize a number of key castles around Argentan that had formed Matilda's disputed dowry. [105] Troubles rapidly began to emerge. She intervened in the quarrels between her eldest son Henry and her second son Geoffrey, Count of Nantes, but peace between the brothers was brief. [166] Oxford was a secure town, protected by walls and the River Isis, but Stephen led a sudden attack across the river, leading the charge and swimming part of the way. [94] The Normans argued that the count, as the eldest grandson of William the Conqueror, had the most valid claim over the kingdom and the Duchy, and was certainly preferable to Matilda. Monarch; Consort; Line of Succession . Matilda is a character in Jean Anouilh's play Becket. fourth cousin once removed Henry II "Curtmantle", king of E. son Geoffrey VI "Mantell", count of . The duchy was therefore separated from England once again. Family tree for Adeleide, Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I showing: parents sibling partners children Edith (Matilda) of Scotland 1080 - 1118 Henry I of England 1068 - 1135 William Atheling 1103 - 1120 1. In 1114, she married the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. The death of Matilda's brother in 1120 made her Henry I's sole legitimate heir. Henry saw to it that the Anglo-Norman barons, including Stephen, twice swore to accept Matilda as ruler if Henry died without a male heir of his body. [237] She had close links to the Cistercian Mortemer Abbey in Normandy, and drew on the house for a supply of monks when she supported the foundation of nearby La Valasse. [83] Contemporary chronicler accounts were each coloured by subsequent events, and while sources favourable to Matilda suggested that Henry had reaffirmed his intent to grant all his lands to his daughter, hostile chroniclers argued that Henry had renounced his former plans and had apologised for having forced the barons to swear an oath of allegiance to her. Genealogy for Empress Matilda MATILDA (c.1103 - d.) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Empress Matilda (c. 7 February 1102 - 10 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was the claimant 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 . Death: Sep . [159] Their forces encircled Matilda's army. of England. [11], In late 1108 or early 1109, Henry V, then the King of the Romans, sent envoys to Normandy proposing that Matilda marry him, and wrote separately to her royal mother on the same matter. atilda was the daughter of Henry I, King of England and was to become the mother of Henry II, King of England. Empress Matilda. [67] Hildebert, the Archbishop of Tours, eventually intervened to persuade her to go along with the engagement. [1] [2] The drama follows the story of the three sons of William the Conqueror and ends with the early reign of her father Henry, including the time when Matilda became Empress by marrying Henry V of . At the age of eight Matilda was married to Emperor Henry V of Germany, but he died in 1125 and Matilda . Robert of Gloucester had garrisoned the ports of Dover and Canterbury and some accounts suggest that they refused Stephen access when he first arrived. [93] Theobald's support immediately ebbed away, as the barons were not prepared to support the division of England and Normandy by opposing Stephen. Once again, the Angevin cavalry proved too strong, and for a moment it appeared that Stephen might be captured for a second time, before finally managing to escape. Large parts of the rest of the country were in the hands of local barons. [156], Rout of Winchester and the Siege of Oxford[edit] A photograph of Oxford Castle in the 21st century, St George's Tower at Oxford Castle Matilda's position was transformed by her defeat at the Rout of Winchester. In Normandy, Geoffrey secured all fiefdoms west and south of the Seine by 1143; in January 1144, he crossed the Seine and took Rouen without resistance. [35] In 1122, Henry and probably Matilda were at the Council of Worms. [176] Stephen attempted to break out and escape, resulting in the Battle of Wilton. It soon failed due to lack of preparation but it made him determined that England was his mother's right, and so his own. [109] A small number of Stephen's household knights were sent north to help the fight against the Scots, where David's forces were defeated later that year at the Battle of the Standard. Family Tree Profile Timeline Matilda Of Normandy Sosa : 98,701,537 Born 7 February 1102 - Winchester, England Deceased 10 September 1167 - Rouen, Normandy, France,aged 65 years old Buried - Bec Abbey, France Parents King Henry I Beauclerc Of England 1068-1135 Princess Matilda Edith Of Scotland 1080-1118 Spouses and children