Matilda, Daughter of Henry I | History Extra

Another great article in History Extra, this time by historian Helen Castor on one of England's more enigmatic pseudo-Queens of England - Matilda, Empress and daughter of King Henry I of England (March 2012).

A little snippet for you - read more here @ History Extra:

Matilda’s story left a complex and ambiguous precedent in English politics. Women could pass on the throne to their male heirs, that much was clear, and no principle had been explicitly established to exclude them from the succession.

All that stood in the way of Matilda’s path to the throne, it transpired, was another coup exactly like the one that had made her father king. The result was civil war. Despite her sex, Matilda’s claim was not dismissed out of hand by the nobles she sought to rule. 

Matilda is a fascinating character - much has been written about her and her times, most notably, “Queen Emma & Queen Edith: Queenship and Women’s Power in Eleventh-Century England” by Pauline Stafford, and “The Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English” by Majorie Chibnall.

Helen Castor: She Wolves

From The Arts Desk:

“Throughout our history, women and power have made an uneasy combination”. Dr Helen Castor made it clear the path to power depended on more than the right alliances, lineage, and marriage partner. Even if all those were spot on, being female was enough to halt any rise. The series began with the medieval Queens Matilda and her daughter-in-law Eleanor of Aquitaine. Both wanted to rule, not reign like Queen Elizabeth II.

She Wolves brings Dr Castor’s book She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth to television. The programme’s sensational title was a given. With an audience beyond the niches of either a history readership or gender studies, the book is a natural for television with clearly told, linear stories that resonate despite being from at least 600 years ago. But with only one contemporary image apiece for Matilda and Eleanor (both seen here), televisual material was lacking.

See also this article from the Radio Times.

Review: She Wolves - The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth

From the Financial Times:

Shakespeare dubbed Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, the “she-wolf of France”, a title that Helen Castor applies to four women who grasped regal power in England between the 12th and 16th centuries: Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Margaret of Anjou and Isabella of France.

Castor, however, gives their medieval stories a Tudor frame, opening with the dilemma of the dying Edward VI confronted by the fact that all the contenders for the throne are women, and concluding with the dramas of the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey, the triumphant Mary and the resolute Elizabeth I.

Through the tales of her heroines Castor traces the background to this indictment, before showing how it was negotiated by Mary and Elizabeth Tudor. She skilfully combines this analysis with driving narratives, using vivid details from contemporary chronicles to bring those distant days alive. She Wolves makes one gasp at the brutality of medieval power struggles – and at the strength and vitality of the women who sought to wield royal power.