The Runaway Nun Who Became Queen Of England | Life Of Matilda Of Scotland | Wife Of Henry I

In an English convent in the 11th century, a young Scottish princess was veiled against her will and in defiance of her father's wishes. Years later she stood before a tribunal accused of being a runaway nun and barred from marriage. What she said next changed everything and cleared her path to a crown. This is the little-known story of Matilda of Scotland, a woman who puts pay to the idea that medieval princesses were meek, mild, quiet and pliant because ladies and gentlemen, this one was a fighter. A quick disclaimer before we get going, there are almost no images of Matilda so unless you see a picture here which specifically states that it's her, please assume that it's a generic image I'm using for illustrative purposes so that you're not just looking at a black screen a lot of the time. Matilda of Scotland was born in around 1080, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and Queen Margaret of Wessex, also known as Saint Margaret. She was initially called Edith, however at some point that name was changed and she is more frequently known to history as Matilda, though you will also see her called Maud or Maud. Her early childhood was spent in her homeland under the supervision of her mother, who, although strict, seems to have genuinely liked children and made an effort to connect with and actively parent her own, teaching them about religion, little surprise there from someone destined to be made a saint, and calling them mea viscera, meaning my flesh. Matilda had three older half-brothers from her father's first marriage and six full brothers and a sister called Mary, but their home life together didn't last long, for by around 1086, when she was only five or six years old, the little princess was sent with Mary to live with their mother's sister, Christina, who was a nun at The abbey we see today, though very old, is not the same building Matilda would have lived in, but it gives you some idea of the type of building she would have known. Now nunneries were used at this time as a kind of school for aristocratic girls, from both the new Norman elite, who had arrived after the conquest in 1066, and the displaced Anglo-Saxons, and Malcolm and Margaret's decision to send their girls there, especially as they'd be in the custody of a close family member, wasn't unusual. Christina was meant to oversee the education of her nieces, and she did so. The contemporary English-born monk, Orderic Vitalis, who was only about five years older than Matilda, but spent most of his life in France, wrote in his Ecclesiastical History, which he started in the 1110s, that the girls were to be brought up and instructed in sacred learning. They remained with the nuns, among whom they were educated both in literature and good principles and conduct. Given that he was writing about events within his own lifetime, and would have been part of a network of monastic houses from whom he could obtain information, his account seems reliable enough on the whole, and there is no suggestion that Christina and the other nuns did not fulfil their obligations to educate the princess as well. However, their aunt also made them wear the veil and habit of a nun, and this is where the potential trouble began for Matilda in later years when she sought to marry. Sometime before 1093, the princesses moved to the monastery at Wilton, though it's unclear if their aunt went with them, and it was at Wilton that they were visited by their father, King Malcolm. He observed the girls dressed like nuns and was furious. According to Matilda's own account, which we'll come back to in more detail later, he tore the veil off her head and said that he would rather see her married to Alan Rufus, Earl of Richmond, than be a nun, which has caused confusion ever since as to whether he was actually engaging her to Alan or was being sarcastic. This story, minus the reference to Lord Richmond, is also repeated in another source, which it has to be said is of generally slightly dubious reliability. It was written by Herman of Tournai in about 1140, in a book full of factual errors and clearly influenced by his knowledge of later events. And as well as the story of the Scottish king's visit, he says that shortly beforehand, King William II of England visited her too, but left when he saw her dressed as a nun, something the abbess of the convent had done in haste to protect her from a possible attack. Now William Rufus was famously not interested in women and Matilda's biographer, Lois L. Honeycutt, following in the footsteps of Edward Augustus Freeman in the 19th century, speculates that he may have been there as part of a vague plan to marry the Scottish princess, which he wasn't really keen on, and so he left when he saw her wearing a veil as it gave him the perfect excuse to get out of the match. We simply don't know if this is true, however, and the story of the king's visit appears nowhere except in the much later Herman of Tournai's account. Between 1093 and 1099, Matilda drops out of view, though Honeycutt, citing Herman of Tournai's information, says that her father must have taken her back home. If so, it was a short family reunion, for a triple tragedy was about to strike the royal house of Scotland. In November 1093, Matilda's father and brother Edward were killed during a battle with the English in Northumbria, and when Queen Margaret heard the news of her husband and son's demise, she died too a few days later on the 16th. Princess Matilda was now an orphan. It seems as though she and her siblings were driven from Scotland by her paternal uncle, perhaps after a siege at Edinburgh Castle, and he quickly became Donald III of Scotland. But exactly what went on remains murky to this day, just as the princess's whereabouts are. Honeycutt, writing in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, says that Matilda found shelter in England with the help of King William, again that's William II, and of her uncle, her mother's brother, Edgar Efteling. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, died 1109, ordered the Bishop of Salisbury to compel the lost daughter of the Scottish king to return to the monastery, but whether action was taken on this order is not known. Donald was soon deposed by Matilda's half-brother, Duncan II, who reigned for just six months before being deposed and killed himself. Donald III was back in power, but only until 1097 when he was deposed again and imprisoned, this time by Matilda's full brother, Edgar, who became king and reigned for a decade. As I said, we simply don't know where she was during much of this time, though Orderic Vitalis tells us that her hand in marriage was sought but was refused. She surfaces again in 1100 as a potential bride for Henry I of England, who had just acceded to the throne after the slightly suspicious death of his older brother, William II, who'd taken an arrow to the chest during a hunting trip in the New Forest. See my video all about his death to decide if you think it was a tragic accident or murder. As a potential Queen of England, Matilda's childhood and adolescence in the convents was now under scrutiny, and Archbishop Anselm initially considered her a runaway nun, who was ineligible for marriage as a result of her status. Neither Henry nor Matilda was prepared to accept this assessment of her past, though, and Matilda fought hard to be allowed to marry the king. It's rare that we get to hear the voice, so to speak, of a woman from this long ago, given the general lack of sources which were generated by them and which survived to us. However, we have a fantastic exception in the case of Matilda, and it's all thanks to a contemporary monk and chronicler called Edmure of Canterbury, who was born in about 1060, and so was an adult at the time these events were occurring, and was a friend of Archbishop Anselm. This means that he had an excellent source for the information he provided about what Matilda had to say on the subject of her supposed failing as a nun, and he may even have been an eyewitness to some of the investigations which followed, as he claims he was describing only what I saw and heard. Mind you, we should still make allowances for the fact that he might have written his Nestorian Ovorum in Anglia with a view to making his patron Anselm look good, and to staying on good terms with the royal family. The original is in Latin, which I've translated online, so just bear in mind that this translation may not be perfect. Edmure tells us that, He goes on to tell us that by 1100, however, and was loved by the king, who had presumably got to know her during the time she had spent in England, which was most of her life. Edmure isn't the only one who claims this was a love match either. Writing several decades later, English monk William of Malmesbury, a monastery Matilda would later control by the way, who was born in around 1095, and so just a child at the time of events, claimed in his Gesta Regum Anglorum, which was completed in 1125, with a second edition finished in 1127, that, He notes though that despite Matilda's modest fortune, she held high rank as a great-great And I would add that in an era when the Norman Conquest was still only 34 years old, we shouldn't discount the strategic value of marrying a bride with both Scottish royal blood and Anglo-Saxon connections. Had she been a peasant girl or a member of the minor nobility, I don't think it would have mattered how much Henry thought of her personality. She wouldn't have become his queen. And what she said turned the tide of the whole case. Before I reveal his account of her words though, if you're enjoying this content and want more from me, please remember to give the video a thumbs up and leave a comment below. And you can also subscribe to the channel for free and switch on the notification bell to get updates about my new videos. If you're already subscribed, it's sometimes worth checking too that your notifications are still switched on, as they sometimes get deactivated, possibly due to device updates on your phone etc. You can get more from me by becoming a YouTube channel member by hitting the join button, or by heading over to patreon.com slash history calling to become one of my patrons, for whom I provide bonus material like early access to ad-free videos and extra podcasts. That's linked below for you, as is my book Find Your Irish Ancestors Online, which you can purchase from Amazon, and my website historycallingofficial.com, where you can get two complimentary downloads by joining my free mailing list. Edmure gives us what he presents as a direct quote from the princess, suggesting that perhaps he even heard her testimony. According to him, she said, I do not deny that I have worn a veil. For when I was a young girl, and as you know well, I feared the rod of my Aunt Christina. She, in order to preserve my chastity against the violence and lust of the Normans, who at that time threatened our modesty, would place a black cloth upon my head, and, when I threw it off, would often torment and humiliate me with harsh words and obscene reproaches. I used to carry that veil in her presence, groaning and trembling, but as soon as I was out of her sight, I would cast it to the ground, trample it with my feet, and burning with hatred, I would foolishly rage against it, though I knew no better. In no other way, as my conscience bears witness, was I ever veiled. If anyone should say that I was offered, meaning offered to God, let him understand how that came about. My father, as many who are still alive know, when he perhaps once saw me veiled, as I have said, seized by anger, tore the veil from me with his own hands, cursed the deceitful imposition, and declared in the hearing of Count Allan, who had suggested it, that he had destined me to be a wife, not to share the life of the holy nuns. This is the answer to my accusers, this is my reasoning, which I beg your wisdom to consider carefully, and act for me as your fatherly care knows best. So here we get an incredible insight into the childhood of this medieval princess, and it doesn't seem pleasant. Her aunt Christina, perhaps with good intentions, had forced her to live the life and wear the clothing of a nun against Matilda's very strong wishes, as well as those of her father, and Matilda was adamant that she had never taken the veil willingly or taken holy vows as a nun. She also shows her spirit here. This was no browbeaten little girl who simply did as her aunt told her. Matilda, by her own account, fought back as hard as she could against her veiling, even though it meant physical punishment and obscene approaches from Christina, and when she was older, she continued to fight for the marriage she wanted with Henry. Was she telling the truth about her adoption of the veil though? William of Mansbury would later tell a slightly different tale, stating that Matilda wore it of her own free will, so as to find a reason to reject the unworthy offers of marriage which her father led before her more than once. Whether you give more credence to this version, or to what Matilda herself said, as reported by Edmure, is up to you. Anselm had to be sure that she was telling him the truth though, and so he sent for witnesses who had seen her during her youth. Two archdeacons, William of Canterbury and Humboldt of Salisbury, quote, publicly declared that they had examined everything most diligently with the nuns there, meaning Wilton, and had found nothing that could A synod of church men and nobles ultimately decided that Matilda was free to marry, having never been a true nun, and though Herman of Tournai says that Anselm still had misgivings, on the 11th of November 1100, he nevertheless married her to Henry and crowned her Queen of England in Westminster Abbey. According to Edmure, the girl was not dragged into this unwillingly, and I do not say she was violated, nor that she should be condemned. This was a marriage which Matilda had wanted, and which she fought for, and she won the fight. She and Henry would go on to have two children, a girl named Matilda in February 1102, and a boy named William in late 1103. Queen Matilda was beloved in her adopted country, and remained as its queen until her death at Westminster on the 1st of May She was buried in Westminster Abbey near Edward the Confessor. Her son William would die in a disaster known as the White Ship Tragedy in 1120, after which her daughter Matilda, who was married off to the German Emperor at the age of 12, was declared the heiress to the throne. When Henry I died in 1135, however, supposedly from eating too many lampreys and having had no further children by his second wife, Adeliza of Louvain, the throne was seized by his nephew, King Stephen. This sparked a deadly civil war between Stephen and Empress Matilda, as she and her second husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, tried to get it back. I have videos on the White Ship Disaster, Henry I's death, and Matilda's attempts to get her throne, all of which are linked below for you. I hope you enjoyed the tale of the so-called runaway nun, and sometime exiled princess of Scotland, who managed to manoeuvre a path all the way from a convent to a crown. She would be the only princess of the Northern Kingdom to ever be Queen of the Southern, though many centuries later, another Scottish noblewoman, not a princess but still aristocracy, named Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, would do much the same thing, marrying the future George VI to ultimately become Queen of the United Kingdom. Let me know below if you believe Matilda's story that she was never a real nun, or if you think she lied about her past in order to secure her future. I'll leave the videos about her husband and children, linked on screen for you now in the end cards, and whatever you choose, please enjoy, and until next time, keep learning.