Death of Matilda of Scotland, Queen of England
Matilda was the first wife and queen consort of King Henry I of England.
Matilda was born in 1080, in Dunfermline, on the east coast of Scotland.
Her mother Margaret was an English princess who became a Scottish queen.
Matilda’s father was King Malcolm III, who ruled Scotland for a whopping 35 years!!
Through her mother, Matilda was descended from king Edmund Ironside, and thus from Alfred the Great.
She was also a great-niece of Edward the Confessor, the old line of the kings of Wessex.
From the age of 6, Matilda and her younger sister Mary, were raised under the protection of their aunt Cristina, a nun in the convent at Romsey, England.
After the death of king William II of England in August 1100, Henry I quickly seized the crown.
His next task was to marry, and his choice fell on Princess Matilda.
Because she had spent most of her life in a nunnery, there was some controversy over whether or not she had taken vows as a nun, and thus be ineligible for Marriage.
Henry sought permission for the marriage, from the Bishops of Canterbury.
Matilda testified to the assembled bishops that she had never taken vows as a nun.
She insisted that her parents had sent her and her sister, to England for educational purposes, and that her aunt Cristina had veiled her, to protect her “from the lust of the Normans.”
Matilda claimed at one point she had even pulled the veil off and stamped on it, and her aunt beat and scolded her, for this.
The council concluded that Matilda had never been a nun, nor had her parents intended that she become one, and gave their permission for the marriage.
Matilda and Henry were married on 11th November 1100 at Westminster Abbey.
Their marriage represented a union between the new Norman rulers of England, and the old Anglo-Saxon dynasty.
Three of Matilda’s brothers served as kings of Scotland at different times, and were known to be unusually friendly to England.
Matilda was well-educated, and brought both religious and cultural improvements to the court.
She filled the court with musicians and poets.
Like her mother, Matilda was renowned for her devotion to religion, and the poor.
She was described as attending church barefoot at Lent, washing the feet and kissing the hands of the sick.
Matilda even acted as vice-regent when her husband Henry was away from England.
Matilda gave birth to four children, but only two survived.
One was a daughter, also named Matilda, and a son William Adelin, The Duke of Normandy.
William would go on to die in the White Ship tragedy, of 25th November 1120.
Their daughter Matilda, married Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.
At the age of 12, she became Empress Maud.
Empress Maud was ultimately named as her father’s heir, but she was unable to hold the throne.
The throne went to her cousin Stephen.
Henry also took numerous mistresses, which resulted in around 22 illegitimate siblings, for the two royal children.
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As queen, Matilda sought to make a better life for her subjects.
She had a bathhouse built at Queenhithe Dock, and London’s first public loos.
Matilda commissioned several abbeys and vital new bridges.
One of these was the Bow Bridge – the first stone-arched bridge in England.
Many have speculated that she is the “Fair Lady” in the nursery rhyme London Bridge Is Falling Down.
Queen Matilda died, aged 37/38 on 1st May 1118, at Westminster Palace – which her husband King Henry had built for her.
She was buried at Westminster Abbey, near to her great-uncle, Edward the Confessor.
The inscription on her tomb reads:
“Here lies the renowned queen Matilda the second,
excelling both young and old of her day.
She was for everyone the benchmark of morals and
the ornament of life”.
Matilda was not only an able queen, but also a pious woman who cared for the less fortunate of her realm.
After her death, she was remembered by her subjects as “Matilda the Good Queen” and “Matilda of Blessed Memory.”
For a time, sainthood was sought for her, although she was never canonized.
From Queen Matilda’s descendants, the Plantagenet royal line was established when her grandson Henry II, became king of England.
🌹 Engraving published in 1875 book “The Queens of England or Royal Book of Beauty”
Engraved by W. H. Mote, after an illustration by J.W. Wright.
