EMPRESS MATILDA: the woman who should have been queen | The Real Rhaenyra Targaryen.@HistoryCalling

EMPRESS MATILDA, the daughter of Henry I, has gone down in history as being the almost Queen of England. Having been married off to the Holy Roman Emperor at the age of 12, Matilda was not expected to ever rule her father’s dominions, but when her only legitimate brother, William the Aethling drowned in 1120 in the White Ship Disaster, his sister’s position changed irrevocably. Her father’s second marriage produced no children and after she was widowed in 1128, the still childless Matilda was brought back to England where King Henry had his barons swear oaths of loyalty to her as his heir. His expectation was clearly that she would inherit the throne after him. However the woman who should have been Queen was supplanted by her cousin, Stephen of Blois, who became King Stephen and the resulting fight for the throne resulted in an English civil war known as the Anarchy, as Matilda and her second husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, battled to secure her inheritance. She almost won it too, coming incredibly close to being crowned Queen in her own right, before being forced to flee in a dramatic middle of the night escape through the snow, dressed all in white. How strong were her claims to the throne really though and why was she unable to make good on them? In this English history documentary from History Calling we look at the life of Empress Matilda, the daughter, wife and mother of Kings, who was arguably the first Queen of England, but who has not been recognised by history as a monarch in her own right and whose claim to the throne was only made good in the person of her son, Henry II. For those of you interested in the House of the Dragon TV show, Matilda's story is also the inspiration for that of Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen.

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THUMBNAIL: Empress Matilda, Gospel of Heinrich d. Lions and Mathildes of England (Cod. Guelf. 105 Noviss. 2°), 171v (detail). Emma D'arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, HBO. Fair use.

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