Empress Matilda - Widowhood, Heiress and Second Marriage

Widowhood, Heiress and Second Marriage

Matilda was summoned to Normandy by her father following her husband's death. Matilda was displeased; she was a respected figure in the Empire which was her home since childhood, and German was now her first language. Nonetheless, she had ceased to be involved in German political affairs and with an opponent on the throne, her future there did not promise anything significantly worthwhile. Accepting that likeliness of his marriage providing him a son was slim, Henry I decided that Matilda would be his heiress presumptive. After residing in Normandy for nearly a year with her father and stepmother, they set sail for England in 1126. In January 1127, Henry made his court, including Stephen of Blois, swear an oath of allegiance to Matilda. John of Worcester described a second oath, taken one year after the first, at Henry's Easter court on 29 April 1128.

The question of marriage was entirely down to Matilda's father. King Louis VI of France was discontented about Normandy and England united and as such, promoted the claim of William Clito in order to attempt to cause a rift in the court. Furthermore, Fulk, Count of Anjou, was likely to support Clito's claim due to the longstanding hostility between Normandy and Anjou. The animosity between Normandy and Anjou had temporarily been repaired with the marriage of William Adelin to Fulk's daughter Matilda. However, William's death meant the match was brief. Fulk then married his younger daughter Sibylla to William Clito, though Henry managed to sever the union by having Pope Calixtus II annul the marriage on the grounds of consanguinity. However, Louis VI then offered his wife's half-sister Joan to Clito for marriage. Her dowry was the Vexin, an area of land bordering Normandy. Furthermore, the murder of Charles I, Count of Flanders, in 1127 gave Louis the opportunity to install William as the new Count of Flanders, thus setting him up to be a strong rival of Matilda.

Henry was faced with a predicament of Clito's rising power and he recognised that his daughter must marry in a union of diplomacy to counter this. He arranged for her to marry Geoffrey of Anjou, Fulk's son. Matilda was outraged, and viewed Geoffrey as entirely beneath her, though she could not do anything to prevent the marriage. Matilda was sent to Normandy early in 1127, under the care of Robert of Gloucester, her half-brother. The wedding could not take place straight away, as Geoffrey was considered too young, having not yet turned 14. Nonetheless, he was considered handsome and intelligent, though neither of these traits served to console Matilda. The marriage took place in June 1128 at Le Mans. A month after the marriage, William Clito died suddenly from a battle wound, thus strengthening Matilda's position further.

The marriage, however, was a tempestuous relationship, and after little over a year since their wedding, Matilda left Geoffrey, travelling to Normandy and residing at Rouen. The cause behind the soured relations is not fully known, though historian Marjorie Chibnall stated that, "historians have tended to put the blame on Matilda This is a hasty judgement based on two or three hostile English chroniclers; such evidence as there is suggests Geoffrey was at least as much to blame". Henry eventually summoned her from Normandy, whereupon Matilda returned to England in August 1131. At a great council meeting on 8 September, it was decided that Matilda would return to her husband. Here she received another oath of allegiance, where Stephen once more made his vow to Matilda. The marriage proved a success when, in March 1133, Matilda gave birth to their first child, Henry, in Le Mans. In 1134, the couple's second son, Geoffrey, was born in Rouen. Matilda nearly died in childbirth, and as she lay critically ill, her burial arrangements were planned. However, she recovered from her illness.