Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony

Matilda of England
Duchess of Saxony and of Bavaria
Tenure 1168–1180
Born January 6, 1156
Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England
Died 28 June 1189(1189-06-28) (aged 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; January 6, 1156 – 28 June 1189) was the eldest daughter of Henry II, King of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Through her marriage with Henry the Lion, she was Duchess of Saxony and of Bavaria.

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:

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

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

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Notes

  1. ↑ Historians are divided in their use of the terms "Plantagenet" and "Angevin" in regards to Henry II and his sons. Some class Henry II to be the first Plantagenet King of England; others refer to Henry, Richard and John as the Angevin dynasty, and consider Henry III to be the first Plantagenet ruler.
Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony
Cadet branch of the House of Anjou
Born: c. 1156 Died: 13 July 1189
German royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Clementia of Zähringen		 Duchess consort of Saxony
1168–1180 		Succeeded by
Judith of Poland
Duchess consort of Bavaria
1168–1180 		Vacant
Title next held by
Agnes of Loon
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