Empress Matilda

“ Then Queen Matilda made a pathetic appeal to this haughty, arrogant woman in behalf of Stephen, who remained, heavily ironed, in prison. She assured the empress that the loss of power was of little moment; all she asked was that her husband might be set at liberty. She even proposed that if her life were spared, and her son were permitted to enjoy the Earldom of Boulogne, she would enter a convent, her husband a monastery, and promised that both would forever forego all claim to the crown of England. ”

“ Matilda's first husband had been thirty years older than herself; the second was ten years younger—a boy scarce fifteen, the heir of an upstart race whose territory, insignificant in extent, was so placed as to make their hostility a perpetual thorn in the side of the ruler of Normandy, until it was bought off with Matilda's hand. The empress and her boy-husband soon quarrelled; and in July 1129 Geoffrey, now Count of Anjou, drove his wife out of his dominions. She withdrew to Rouen (Sim. Durham, a. 1129) , and remained there till July 1131, when she went with her father to England. ”

“ He was himself occupied in furthering the interests of his halfsister Matilda in Normandy, where he procured the surrender of Caen and Bayeux to her husband in June 1138. On 30 Sept. 1139 he landed at Arundel with 140 knights and the Empress Matilda herself. Leaving her in Arundel Castle he set off with only twelve followers, and rode hurriedly across southern England to Bristol, where the empress soon rejoined him. ”

“ They were not favourably received, and John of Oxford, after again visiting the pope unsuccessfully (Materials, i. 61) , went on to the Empress Matilda, to whom he accused Becket of contending for church privileges for the sake of personal ambition and worldly lucre (ib. Rolls Ser. v. 145-6) . In April or May 1165 he was sent with Richard of Ilchester [q. v.] , archdeacon of Poitiers, and afterwards bishop of Winchester, to negotiate with the Emperor Frederic I about the marriage of the king's daughter Matilda to Henry the Lion of Saxony. ”

“ During the wars between the Empress Maud and Stephen, the latter was ably seconded by his queen, Matilda of Boulogne. For the first five years of his usurpation, the king was disturbed only by the revolt of Baldwin, Earl of Exeter, and the invasion of David, King of Scotland. Matilda showed herself to [108] be an able politician and a brave soldier. In June, 1137, she laid siege to Dover Castle, which had been seized by the rebels, and, at the same time, sent orders to her Boulogne subjects to blockade the fortress by sea. ”

“ MATILDA (1102-1164) , queen of England and empress, daughter of Henry I. of England, by Matilda, his first wife, was born in 1102. In 1109 she was betrothed to the emperor-elect, Henry V., and was sent to Germany, but the marriage was delayed till 1114. Her husband died after eleven years of wedlock, leaving her childless; and, since both her brothers were now dead, she was recalled to her father’s court in order that she might be recognized as his successor in England and Normandy. The Great Council of England did homage to her under considerable pressure. ”

“ The ex-empress hath brought a pestilent set of hungry foreigners over with her; and every one of them is looking for some great estate or bishopric or abbey; others will follow, and they will have no bowels of compassion for the people of this land. 'Tis true King Stephen hath done much amiss or hath allowed evil things to be done in his name, but Matilda will do worse, and will have less power than he to prevent the rapacity and bloodthirstiness of others! Steel-clad barons and knights will not yield obedience to the distaff. Even the church will be divided. ”

“ The Empress, too, called up her friends; they hurried to her support, quartered themselves in the city with the goodwill of the inhabitants, and beset both the bishop’s palace and his fortress with all the troops they could muster. [914] But his summons was no less effectual than hers. It brought up all the barons who still held with Stephen; it brought up a troop of mercenaries; [915] best of all, it brought up, not only William of Ypres with his terrible Flemings, [916] but a thousand valiant citizens of London with Stephen’s own Matilda at their head. ”

“ She who gave the king her hand and heart, is accused by the man who, at that time, promised to be her lord and protector. She, who by the unanimous verdict of the nation, received the name of mother of the country, is tried by those men who at that day would have joyfully shed their blood for her. So unhappy is Queen Caroline Matilda, and she alone among all the Queens of Denmark! At an age, and gifted with all the qualities, which seemed to determine her felicity, she finds herself on the verge of an abyss, in which her honour, her dignity, and her peace may be lost. ”

“ So the young Queen had to seek the advice of her chief lady, Madame de Plessen, and she was guided by her in all things. It was the wish of this lady to bring back to the lax court of Christian VII. the stiff and wearisome etiquette that had prevailed in the reign of the King’s grandfather, Christian VI. In her eyes Matilda was not only a young married woman, but the Queen of the land, whom the King himself might only approach according to the rules of etiquette. Christian must be made to understand that Queen Matilda was his honoured consort, and not his mistress. ”

“ She was one of the daughters of Baldwin, Count of Flanders, by Adele, daughter of Robert, King of France; and, through an Anglo-Saxon ancestress, she had in her veins the blood of Alfred the Great. But even with a much less illustrious descent, Matilda would have been highly distinguished among the princesses of the eleventh century. Nature had gifted the daughter of Count Baldwin with beauty and talent, and careful education had rendered her one of the most attractive and captivating among the high-born maidens of whom Christendom could boast. ”

“ The English envoy was so delighted at Caroline Matilda's reception, that he wrote home at once:—"The princess seems to gain approbation and affection wherever she shows herself, and those more closely connected with her praise unanimously and in the highest terms her disposition and conduct." The English cabinet, however, did not put entire faith in this enthusiasm. The youth of the princess could not but cause anxiety, because the king, her husband, was, so to speak, a child too. ”

“ These may be deemed trite reflections: still it is worthy of remark, that many of the turbulent spirits who then made earth echo with their fame would have been literally and altogether as though they never had been—for historians make little or no mention of them—were it not for the lasting monument raised to them in this tapestry by woman’s industry and skill.
Matilda the Queen’s character is pictured in high terms by both English and Norman historians. “So very stern was her husband, and hot, that no man durst do anything against his will. ”

“ She was described by her foes as an ambitious and blood-thirsty woman: other writers, however, among them the excellent Reverdil, declare that she was more sinned against than sinning. Even the way employed to draw her into the plot against the favourite, was of a nature to deceive even a more sensible woman. In order to secure her adhesion, a paper was shown her containing a full account of the court plot: January 28 was the day fixed for the king's abdication, and the appointment of Matilda as regent, and Struensee as protector. ”

“ It was probably during the spring of 1770 that the flood of passion broke the Queen’s last barriers down. Her enemies afterwards declared that she entered on this fatal dalliance about the time of the Crown Prince’s illness. Certain it is that after Struensee had been appointed her private secretary, a marked change took place in Matilda’s manner and bearing. She is no longer a pathetic figure of wronged and youthful innocence, but appears as a beautiful and self-willed woman who is dominated by a great passion. There were no half measures about Matilda ”

“ A piece, nineteen inches broad and two hundred and twenty-six feet long, crowded with fighting men—some on foot, some on horseback—with buildings and castles, must have taken much time and busied [Pg cxvii] many hands for its working. Yet of all this, nought has ever turned up in any notice of Matilda’s life. She was not, like the Anglo-Saxon Margaret queen of Scotland, known to fill up her time amidst her maids with needlework, nor ever stood out a parallel to an older Anglo-Saxon high-born lady, the noble Ælfleda, of whom we now speak. ”

“ Never strong physically, Matilda was possessed of remarkable vitality and an iron will, and she showed great powers of execution and administration, never shirking the gravest responsibilities. A part of her life was spent in the rough camps of her devoted feudal soldiery, and--weak woman though she was--she led them on to battle more than once, when they seemed to need the inspiration of her presence. ”

“ The entire decay of the queen dowager's influence on the one hand, and the too little known character of Caroline Matilda on the other, promised them no support, if they declared for either party. The king, on his departure, had displayed neither the sentiments of an obedient son nor the attention of a loving husband, and none of the statesmen at the head of affairs appeared to be in special favour with him. The friendship of the courtiers, which never springs up without selfish views, and cannot last without tangible advantages, hence saw no object that could decide their choice. ”

“ Not only was the count young and handsome; he was also as rich as a prince, and so courteous that he was beloved by all. There were few among the ladies who did not hope that they might be chosen as his bride.
At the castle nothing was talked of but the ball that was to be given for the count. Matilda listened to all that was said, and the more she heard, the more she wished that she too might go to the dance and mingle with the other ladies. All the while she had been at the castle she had kept the ball with her, but she had been careful not to use any of the three wishes it contained. ”

“ As Matilda grew towards womanhood, more than one Norman chieftain had endeavoured to obtain her hand in marriage; but on preferring their request to William Rufus, that politic monarch had refused his consent. He did not wish to see an English princess, a lineal descendant of Alfred the Great, allied to any man whose power or abilities might enable him to aspire to the throne. Matilda, therefore, remained in the seclusion of the cloister until King Henry sent to her his proposals of [154] marriage. It is related that the young princess received the offer with dislike if not with disdain. ”

“ This is the only request they make. They know that they are powerful enough to accomplish the queen's recall, but to maintain it may be their difficulty."
After a little further conversation, the baron added:
"At the instant when the queen dowager and her son, Prince Frederick, are put under confinement in their own apartments, when the principal ministers are arrested, and the King of Denmark's order obtained for Queen Matilda's immediate return to Copenhagen, all eyes will be turned upon the conduct of the British Resident. ”

“ Matilda as Queen of England radiated a beautiful character. Her piety, her conjugal virtues, and her generous spirit were worthy of the daughter of Margaret Atheling, and of her queenly position in a country greatly disrupted by greed and political factions. Her exertions for the good of her people were varied. She tried in every way to improve the conditions of the country, causing roads to be made through wild heaths and forests, thus facilitating commerce which had never been looked upon as a national asset. ”

“ In the meantime, the care and zeal of the young ladies had brought the Princess Hippolita to herself, who, amidst the transports of her own sorrow, frequently demanded news of her lord, would have dismissed her attendants to watch over him, and at last enjoined Matilda to leave her, and visit and comfort her father. Matilda, who wanted not affectionate duty to Manfred, though she trembled at his austerity, obeyed the orders of Hippolita, whom she tenderly recommended to Isabella ”

“ Matilda was a girl of a mystic temperament, credulous, it is true, and somewhat superstitious like all the other people of her time, and yet filled with a deep yearning for a greater knowledge of the secrets of the universe. Her ideal of authority was formed by intercourse with the various members of her own circle, who were all devoted heart and soul to the cause of the Holy See, and it was but natural that, when she became old enough to think and act for herself, all her inclinations should lead her to embrace the cause of the pope. ”

“ A deputation of noblemen having been appointed by the queen dowager to observe the queen after her enlargement till her departure, under the fallacious show of respect for the royal personage so lately [152] injured and degraded—when they were admitted to Caroline Matilda's presence, and wished her in her Majesty's name a happy voyage, she answered—
"The time will come when the king will know that he has been deceived and betrayed; calumny may impose for a time on weak and credulous minds, but truth always prevails in the end. ”