Hello, do you know anything about Empress Matilda?

Question

if King Stephen of England was on the Throne of England in 1135-1154 then its impossible for Empress Matilda to be Queen in the year 1141 do you have an answer to this please, thank you, Fee

Answer 1

I Didn't read Rachelle's answer, but you can bet its right...

Answer 2

Empress Matilda, Countess of Anjou and Lady of the English (February 1102 – 10 September 1167) was the daughter and dispossessed heir of Henry I of England. Matilda was the first female ruler, although uncrowned and for a brief time, of the Kingdom of England. Her failure to secure that rule meant that her temporary and disputed period of reign in 1141 was extremely brief. She is often excluded from lists of English monarchs and even the official British monarchy website excludes her, listing Stephen of England as king from 1135-1154.

On the death of her father, Henry I, in 1135, Matilda expected to succeed to the throne of England, but her cousin, Stephen of Blois, a nephew of Henry I, usurped the throne with the support of most of the barons, breaking the oath he had previously made to defend her rights. An immediate reason for this was that Stephen was in England, whilst Matilda was in Anjou. The civil war which followed was bitter and prolonged, with neither side gaining the ascendancy for long, but it was not until 1139 that Matilda could command the military strength necessary to challenge Stephen within his own realm, including battles at Beverston Castle and other sites.

Matilda's greatest triumph came in April 1141, when her forces defeated and captured King Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln (1141). He was made a prisoner and effectively deposed. Although she now controlled the kingdom, Matilda never styled herself Queen but took the title "Lady of the English", possibly modeled on the Anglo-Saxon practice of naming female rulers "Lady of the..." such as King Alfred the Great's daughter Ethelfleda, Lady of the Mercians. Also the term Queen in Anglo-Saxon (cwen) had the connotation of wife, not a female ruler, so the distinction was necessary.

Her advantage lasted only a few months. When she marched on London, the city was ready to welcome her and support a coronation. However, she refused the citizens' request to have their taxes halved. On 24 June 1141, she found the gates of London shut and the civil war reignited. By November, the Empress Matilda was, in turn, forced out of London. With the capture of her most able lieutenant, the Earl of Gloucester, she was eventually obliged to release Stephen from captivity, and he was restored to the throne in November of the same year.

Answer 3

Matilda was the sole surviving child of Henry I.  Before he died, he proclaimed her his heir, and the nobles were summoned to swear fealty to her, including her cousin Stephen of Blois.

After Henry died, Matilda was supplanted by Stephen, who ignored his oath.  This led to civil war, with a goodly number of nobles on each side.  Stephen held the upper hand in England for the most part; Matilda had London & other parts for a while, but lost support (due in part to her own attitude).  Her 2nd husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou, helped her gain on the continent, however, and eventually their son Henry (later Henry II) was named Stephen's heir.  I know they had possession of Normandy before Stephen died, and Henry was more successful in England than his mother had been.

Some books show Matilda & Stephen as both ruling at the same time, with notation of civil war.

It's believed in some circles that this example is why the English were cool to the idea of a reigning Queen when Mary I came to the throne some 400 years later.  Or why Henry VIII was desperate for a son.