Notizen zu dieser Person
1 NAME /Adelaide/
2 GIVN
2 SURN Adelaide
1 _UID A8423A6B3BA8467FBAF9C9B2D88F31B5B21B
1 _UID DA65F2F8D17DD94DB6DF96BB0CAF04AAEC9C
Empress Matilda (1141 AD) Matilda is the Latin form of Maud, and the nameof theonlysurvivinglegitimate child of King Henry I. She was bornin1101,generally it issaid at Winchester, but recent researchindicatesthat shewas actuallyborn at the Royal Palace in SuttonCourtenay(Berkshire).
In something of a political coup for her father, Matildawasbetrothedtothe German Emperor, Henry V, when she was only eight.Theyweremarriedon 7th January 1114. She was twelve and hewasthirty-two.Unfortunatelythere were no children and on the Emperor'sdeathin 1125,Matilda wasrecalled to her father's court.
Matilda's only legitimate brother had been killed in thedisastrousWreckofthe White Ship in late 1120 and she was now herfather's onlyhope forthecontinuation of his dynasty. The barons sworeallegiance totheyoungPrincess and promised to make her queen after herfather'sdeath.Sheherself needed heirs though and in April 1127,Matildafoundherselfobliged to marry Prince Geoffrey of Anjou and Maine(thefutureGeoffreyV, Count of those Regions). He was thirteen,shetwenty-three. Itisthought that the two never got on. However,despitethisunhappysituation they had had three sons in four years.
Being absent in Anjou at the time of her father's deathon1stDecember1135, possibly due to pregnancy, Matilda was not in muchofaposition totake up the throne which had been promised her andshequicklylost outto her fast-moving cousin, Stephen. With herhusband,sheattempted totake Normandy. With encouragement from supportersinEnglandthough, itwas not long before Matilda invaded her rightfulEnglishdomainand sobegan a long-standing Civil War from the powerbaseofherhalf-brother,Robert of Gloucester, in the West Country.
After three years of armed struggle, she at last gained theupperhandatthe Battle of Lincoln, in February 1141, where KingStephenwascaptured.However, despite being declared Queen or 'Lady oftheEnglish'atWinchester and winning over Stephen's brother, HenryofBlois,thepowerful Bishop of Winchester, Matilda alienated thecitizensofLondonwith her arrogant manner. She failed to secure hercoronationandtheLondoners joined a renewed push from Stephen's Queen andlaidsiegetothe Empress in Winchester. She managed to escape to theWest,butwhilecommanding her rearguard, her brother was captured by theenemy.
Matilda was obliged to swap Stephen for Robert on 1stNovember1141.Thusthe King soon reimposed his Royal authority. In 1148,after thedeathofher half-brother, Matilda finally returned to Normandy,leavingherson,who, in 1154, would become Henry II, to fight on inEngland. ShediedatRouen on 10th September 1169 and was buried inFontevraultAbbey,thoughsome of her entrails may possibly have been laterinterredinherfather's foundation at Reading Abbey
. Matilda (Maud the Empress). See below.
In addition to these legitimate births, Henry is reportedtohavehadnineteen or twenty illegitimate children, the highestnumberofspuriousoffspring for a King of England to have acknowledged.Thebestknown ofthem all is Robert the Consul, Earl of Gloucester,fatherofMaud, wifeof Ranulph de Meschines, 2nd Earl of Chester.AnotherwasReginald, anatural son from a relationship between Henry I.ofEnglandand hismistress, Elizabeth Beaumont, daughter of RobertdeBeaumont,Count ofMeulent and Earl of Leicester, (son of Roger deBeaumontand hiswife,Adelina, Countess of Meulent) and his wifeElizabethVermandois,youngerdaughter of Hugh Magnus, the Great, of France,CountofVermandois.Reginald, married Beatrix, daughter of William FitzRichard,apotentlord in Cornwall. They had a daughter, Matilda, whomarriedRobert,Countof Meulent, son of Waleran II., Count of Meulent, whomarriedAgnesdeMontfort. Waleran II. was a son of theaforementionedRobertBeaumont,and his wife, Elizabeth Vermandois. Robertand Matilda hadtwochildren:Waleran III. and Mabel de Beaumont, whomarried WilliamdeVernon, Earlof Devon, who had three children: Baldwin,Mary VernonandJoan. Theirdescendants are not identified.
Henry I. also married (2) Adeliza of Lorraine,daughterofGeoffreyBarbatus, Duke of Lorraine and Count of Barbant.AdelizaofLorraine,upon the death of Henry I., married (2) William deAlbini.Seethecontinuation of that lineage under the Albini Line in VolumeII.
12. Matilda (Maud the Empress) of England (1102-1167), wasleftthesolelegitimate child of Henry I. by the loss of his son intheWhiteShip(1120). She married (1) Emperor Henry V, Emperor of Rome,andwascrownedat Mainz (1114), but was widowed in 1125 and married(2)GeoffreyIV. leBel, Plantaganet, 10th Count of Anjou and Maine, DukeofNormandy,havingwon the Duchy from Stephen, son of Fulk V. theYounger,9th CountofAnjou, King of Jerusalem, and his wife, Ermengarde.Seetheirancestrallineage elsewhere in Vol. I. Her first husband wasthirtyyearsolder,her second husband, ten years younger than herself.Henry madethebaronsrecognize the Empress as his heir (1126, 1131, and1133), butwhenhedied Stephen ignored her claim to rule England byhereditaryright.TheNormans preferred his chivalrous geniality to herhaughtinessandtheydisliked the House of Anjou as much as they did theHouse ofBlois,intowhich Stephen's mother, the Conqueror's daughter Adela,hadmarried.TheEmpress appealed to the Pope in vain (1136) andArchbishopThurstanofYork defeated her uncle and champion, David I.,KingofScotland(1084-1153) at the Battle of the Standard (1138); but atlastshelandedin England. Geoffrey was the original Plantaganet, sonamedbyhiscompanions for the broom corn he wore on his person.MatildaandGeoffreyhad two sons as follows:
1. Henry II. See below.
2. Geoffrey, died in 1158.
It is through Geoffrey that the Plantaganet line fromFrancewasbroughtinto the British royalty (see the lineage of theCountsofAnjouelsewhere). He died in 1151. After Geoffrey's deathMatildalivedinNormandy, charitable and respected. Matilda died in1167.Geoffreywassucceeded by his eldest son, Henry.
2 _PREF Y
1 _UID 8F7BD7DEC673DA4CAD9CC7F92DE5C9BFC17D
1 REFN M5592
1 _UID BDFAE8BCDE62B54B99F01C30C42D231FA3F1
1 REFN M12530
Thomas
Schäfer
