Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony

Matilda of England
Duchess of Saxony and of Bavaria
Tenure	1168–1180
Born	1156 Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England
Died	28 June 1189(1189-06-28) (aged 32–33) Brunswick, Lower Saxony
Burial	Brunswick Cathedral, Lower Saxony
Spouse	Henry the Lion
Issue Detail	Matilda, Countess of Perche and Coucy Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine Lothar of Bavaria Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Swabia William of Winchester, Lord of Lunenburg
House	Plantagenet / Angevin[nb 1]
Father	Henry II of England
Mother	Eleanor of Aquitaine

Matilda of England (also called Maud; 1156 – 28 June 1189) was the eldest daughter of King Henry II of England and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. Through her marriage with Henry the Lion, she was Duchess of Saxony and of Bavaria.

Early life

Matilda was a younger maternal half-sister of Countess Marie and Alix of France. Henry the Young was her older brother. She was also an older sister of King Richard, Duke Geoffrey, Queen Eleanor, Queen Joan and King John. Matilda seems to have spent much of her early life in the company of her mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was named after her paternal grandmother.

Marriage

In 1165 Rainald of Dassel, Archbishop of Cologne, arrived at the court of King Henry II at Rouen, to negotiate a German match for Matilda. There was conflict during the negotiations, however, when Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester refused to greet the archbishop, alleging him to be a schismatic and a supporter of the anti-pope, Victor IV. The original plan to match a daughter of Henry II with a son of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, was abandoned, and instead Matilda left England in September 1167 to marry Henry the Lion.

Coronation of Henry the Lion and Matilda, from an idealized portrait on their tomb.

She married Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, on 1 February 1168 at Minden Cathedral. They had four sons and one daughter:

• Matilda (or Richenza) of Saxony (1172–1209/10), married Geoffrey III Count of Perche (see counts of Perche) and Enguerrand III, Lord of Coucy
• Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (1173/1174 – 28 April 1227)
• Lothar (1174/1175 – 16 October 1190).
• Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Swabia (1175/1176 – 19 May 1218).
• William, Duke of Lüneburg (11 April 1184 – 12 December 1213).

Three other children are listed, by some sources, as having belonged to Henry and Matilda:

• Eleanor (born 1178); died young
• Ingibiorg (born 1180); died young
• Son (stillborn 1182)

Regency and exile

At the time of their marriage, Henry the Lion was one of the most powerful allies of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. Matilda governed her husband's vast estates during his absence in the Holy Land from 1172 to 1173. In 1174, Henry the Lion became involved in a conflict with the Emperor Frederick, and Henry and Matilda were forced to flee Germany and take refuge in Normandy at her father's court in 1182. During this time at the royal court at Argentan, Matilda became acquainted with the Troubadour Bertran de Born, who, calling her "Elena" or "Lana", made her the object of his desire in two of his poems of "courtly love".

Matilda, her husband, and their family remained in Normandy under the protection and support of King Henry until 1185, when they were allowed to return to Saxony. Early in 1189 the Emperor again ordered Henry the Lion to go into exile. This time Matilda remained at Brunswick to defend the interests of her husband but died just three months later.

Ancestry

Sources

• Ralph of Diceto
• Robert of Torigny
• Wheeler, Bonnie. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady, 2002
• Diggelmann, Lindsay. Exile and the Poetic Standpoint of the Troubadour Bertran de Born, 2005

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matilda of England.

• Betran de Born, Casutz sui de mal en pena
• Bertran de Born, Ges de disnar non for'oimais maitis

Notes

House of Plantagenet   Henry II of England Wife: Eleanor of Aquitaine William IX, Count of Poitiers Henry the Young King Richard I of England Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile Joan of England, Queen of Sicily John, King of England Illegitimate: William de Longespée, Earl of Salisbury Geoffrey (archbishop of York)   Henry the Young King Wife: Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary William Plantagenet (died in infancy)   Richard I of England Wife: Berengaria of Navarre Illegitimate: Philip of Cognac   John, King of England Wife: Isabella of Angoulême Henry III of England Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall Joan of England, Queen of Scotland Isabella of England Eleanor of Leicester Illegitimate: Joan, Lady of Wales Richard FitzRoy Oliver FitzRoy Geoffrey FitzRoy John FitzRoy Henry FitzRoy Osbert Gifford Eudes FitzRoy Bartholomew FitzRoy Maud FitzRoy Isabel FitzRoy Philip FitzRoy William de Forz   Henry III of England Wife: Eleanor of Provence Edward I of England Margaret of England Beatrice of England Edmund Crouchback Katherine of England   Edward I of England Wives: Eleanor of Castile Margaret of France, Queen of England Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar Joan, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester Alphonso, Earl of Chester Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant Mary of Woodstock Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Edward II of England Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent   Edward II of England Wife: Isabella of France Edward III of England John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall Eleanor of Woodstock Joan of the Tower   Edward III of England Wife: Philippa of Hainault Edward, the Black Prince Isabella de Coucy Joan of England (1335–1348) Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York Mary of Waltham Margaret, Countess of Pembroke Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester   Richard II of England Wives: Anne of Bohemia Isabella of Valois   Henry IV of England Wives: Mary de Bohun Joan of Navarre, Queen of England Henry V of England Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester Blanche of England Philippa of England   Henry V of England Wife: Catherine of Valois Henry VI of England   Henry VI of England Wife: Margaret of Anjou Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales   Edward IV of England Wife: Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth of York Mary of York Cecily of York Edward V of England Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York Anne of York, Lady Howard Catherine of York Bridget of York Illegitimate: Elizabeth Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle Grace Mary John Tuchet, 6th Baron Audley unnamed   Edward V of England no consort or issue   Richard III of England Wife: Anne Neville Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales Illegitimate: John of Gloucester Katherine, Countess of Pembroke Richard of Eastwell Category