Matilda of Flanders

Timeline

1. c. 1031–1051Bruges, Flanders · FlandersMatilda was born in the County of Flanders, daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders and Adela, sister of King Henry I of France, of distinguished birth and well educated in noble ways. According to tradition Matilda initially refused William's proposal, considering his illegitimate birth beneath her station, but after mediation between the two families they eventually married, though the truth of this account is doubtful.
2. c. 1051–1066Rouen, Normandy · NormandyShe married William around 1051; although the marriage was initially opposed by the pope (the two were considered related by blood), a dispensation was later obtained with the help of Lanfranc, on the condition that each found a monastery in Caen. Matilda thereafter became an important political partner in Normandy, and when William campaigned in England in 1066 she remained as regent in Normandy, effectively maintaining the stability of the duchy.
3. 1068–1083Caen, Normandy · NormandyIn May 1068 Matilda was crowned Queen of England at Westminster Abbey by Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, the first Norman queen formally crowned in England. She served several times as regent of Normandy and covertly supported her eldest son Robert during his rebellion, causing a rift with William. Her health declined in later years, and she died on 2 November 1083 at the Abbey of the Holy Trinity in Caen, where she was buried, aged about fifty.