Empress Matilda

Rare card · No. 17738

Empress Matilda (c. 7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167), also known as Empress Maud or Athelicia, was Holy Roman Empress as the consort of Emperor Henry V from 1110 until 1125, and was subsequently a claimant to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy (1138–1153). Following the death of her father, King Henry I of England, as his only surviving legitimate child and nominated heir, she asserted her right to the English throne. However, her cousin Stephen of Blois usurped the crown. Matilda was the eldest child and only surviving daughter of Henry I of England and his first wife, Matilda of Scotland. As a child, she went to Germany where she was married to the future Henry V. She travelled with the emperor to Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned empress in St Peter's Basilica, and acted as the imperial regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry V had no children, and when he died in 1125, his rival Lothair of Supplinburg claimed the imperial crown. Matilda's brother, William...

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