Empress Matilda

Timeline

1. 1102–1128Winchester · EnglandHenry I's only surviving legitimate child, designated heir in childhood. In 1114 she married Emperor Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire and received the title of empress; after being widowed in 1125 she returned to England, and her father arranged her remarriage to Geoffrey of Anjou to strengthen the southern defenses of Normandy.
2. 1135–1139Normandy · NormandyAfter Stephen usurped the throne in 1135, Matilda gathered support in Normandy, winning the backing of nobles including her half-brother Robert of Gloucester. In 1139 she crossed the sea and landed in England, formally pressing her claim against Stephen on the basis of her father's earlier oaths and documents of noble allegiance.
3. 1141London · Greater LondonAfter capturing Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, Matilda entered London to prepare for her coronation, but her harsh taxation and arrogant manner angered the citizens, and she was forced to withdraw within weeks. In the Battle of Winchester that same year she was counterattacked by Stephen's wife Matilda of Boulogne; Robert of Gloucester was captured, and after an exchange of hostages the situation deadlocked again.
4. 1142–1148Oxford · OxfordshireIn 1142 Matilda was besieged in Oxford Castle and escaped over the ice on a winter night in a white cloak, fleeing to Wallingford. For several years she maintained resistance with allies in the west and Wales, but lost her most important military pillar after Robert of Gloucester's death in 1147, and finally left England in 1148.
5. 1148–1167Rouen · NormandyAfter leaving England she stayed in Normandy, helping her husband Geoffrey manage their lands and raising her son Henry. Henry's first cross-channel invasion of England in 1149–1150 failed, and Matilda coordinated Norman resources and diplomacy from the rear. She remained active in politics after Henry succeeded in 1154, and died near Rouen in 1167.