8 - A Female King or a Good Wife and a Great Mother? Seals, Coins, and the Epitaphic Legacy of the Empress Matilda

Summary

In 1135 after the unexpected death of her brother, Empress Matilda (7 February 1102–10 September 1167) became the designated heir to the English throne. Supported by the Anglo-Norman barons, Empress Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois, laid claim to her throne, and her subsequent attempts to reclaim her inheritance led to a period of English civil war known as ‘the Anarchy’. Fiona Tolhurst, Charles Beem, and Marjorie Chibnall have argued that Matilda often inhabits the periphery of historical narratives on England's kings and queens. Earlier scholars who wrote about Matilda often placed her on the fringes of a male-centered narrative, focusing on the reign of King Stephen or that of her son, King Henry II. Tolhurst added that naming this period of the twelfth century as ‘the Anarchy’, or ‘the interregnum’, has contributed to historians’ neglect of Matilda as a reigning monarch and the sole inheritor to the English throne. The feminist revision of Matilda's historical legacy, initiated by Tolhurst, has demonstrated that she purposely created a public persona that was neither entirely male nor female but rather that of a sovereign – a female king.

In this essay, I build on Tolhurst's analysis by comparing and contrasting the epitaphic legacy, created by others to memorialize her, with Empress Matilda's own attempts at self-promotion through the image on her charters, seals, and coins that promoted her identity as sovereign. I argue that her epitaphic memorialization was designed to create an identity for Matilda that emphasized her position as a daughter, wife, and mother, that is, an instance of contemporary societal gender roles. This set of images served her son, Henry II, by reinforcing him – at the expense of his mother – in the twelfth-century discussions of legitimacy.

The Path to Power

Betrothed to Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, Matilda was crowned empress of the Romans on 25 July 1110 at the young age of eight and joined the German court where she learned important political lessons. When in December 1120, William, King Henry I's only legitimate son, died in the sinking of the White Ship, a succession crisis ensued. A few years later, in September 1126, Matilda's husband died and she returned home to England.

Matilda's father designated her as his heir and successor to the kingdom of England and duchy of Normandy.