Empress Matilda (c. 7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167), also known as Matilda of England or Maude, is the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England.
Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, are the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood.
However, her brother's death in the White Ship disaster in 1120 results in Matilda's being her father's sole heir.
As a child, Matilda is betrothed to and later married Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, thus becoming Holy Roman Empress.
The couple has no known children and after eleven years of marriage Henry dies, leaving Matilda widowed.
However, she is then married to Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, in a union which her father hopes will produce a male heir and continue the dynasty.
She has three sons by Geoffrey of Anjou, the eldest of whom eventually becomes King Henry II of England.
Upon the death of her father in 1135, the throne is usurped by her cousin, Stephen of Blois, who moves quickly and successfully to claim the throne while Matilda is in Normandy, pregnant with her third child.
Their rivalry for the throne leads to years of unrest and civil war in England that have been called the Anarchy.
Matilda is the first female ruler of the Kingdom of England, though the length of her effective rule is brief: a few months in 1141.
She is never crowned and fails to consolidate her rule (legally and politically).
For this reason, she is normally excluded from lists of English monarchs, and her rival Stephen is usually listed as monarch for the period 1135–1154.
She campaigns unstintingly for her oldest son's inheritance, living to see him ascend the throne of England in 1154.
