Editing Empress Matilda (section)

==Matilda as ruler==

===Government, law and court===
[[File:MatyldaAnglie.jpg|thumb|alt=Picture of the Empress Matilda's Great Seal|Matilda's [[Great Seal of the Realm|great seal]], the image possibly an accurate likeness of her<ref name="Chibnall 1991 121"/>]]
In the Holy Roman Empire, the young Matilda's court included knights, chaplains and ladies-in-waiting, although, unlike some queens of the period, she did not have her own personal chancellor to run her household, instead using the imperial chancellor.<ref name="Chibnall 1991 26, 48"/> When acting as regent in Italy, she found the local rulers were prepared to accept a female ruler.<ref name=ChibnallP48>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=48}}</ref> Her Italian administration included the Italian chancellor, backed by experienced administrators.<ref name=ChibnallP48/> She was not called upon to make any major decisions, instead dealing with smaller matters and acting as the symbolic representative of her absent husband, meeting with and helping to negotiate with magnates and clergy.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=48–50}}</ref>

The Anglo-Saxon queens of England had [[England in the Middle Ages#Women in society|exercised considerable formal power]], but this tradition had diminished under the Normans: at most their queens ruled temporarily as regents on their husbands' behalf when they were away travelling, rather than in their own right.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolhurst|2013|pp=23–24}}</ref> On her return from Germany to Normandy and Anjou, Matilda styled herself as empress and the daughter of King Henry.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolhurst|2013|pp=37–38}}</ref> As an {{Langx|la|imperatrix|links=no|lit=empress|label=none}}, her status was elevated in medieval social and political thought above all men in England and France. On arrival in England, her charters' seal displayed the inscription {{Langx|la|Mathildis [[dei gratia]] Romanorum Regina|links=no|lit=Matilda by the grace of God, Queen of the Romans|label=none}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Beem|first=Charles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8eUYDAAAQBAJ|title=The Lioness Roared: The Problems of Female Rule in English History|publisher=Springer|year=2016|isbn=978-1-137-09722-4|pages=50–54|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-1-137-09722-4|orig-year=2006}}</ref> Matilda's enthroned portrait on her circular seal distinguished her from elite English contemporaries, both women – whose seals were usually oval with standing portraits – and men, whose seals were usually equestrian portraits.<ref name=":0" /> The seal did not depict her on horseback, however, as a male ruler would have been.<ref name="TolhusrtBeemP38">{{harvnb|Tolhurst|2013|pp=38, 41–42}}; {{harvnb|Beem|2009|p=8}}</ref> During the civil war for England, her status was uncertain; these unique distinctions were intended to overawe her subjects.<ref name=":0" /> Matilda also remained {{Langx|la|Henrici regis filia|links=no|lit=daughter of King Henry|label=none}}, a status that emphasised her claim to the crown was hereditary and derived from her male kin, being the only legitimate offspring of King Henry and Queen Matilda.<ref name=":0" /> It further advertised her mixed Anglo-Saxon and Norman descent and her claim as her royal father's sole heir in a century in which feudal tenancies were increasingly passed on by heredity and [[primogeniture]].<ref name=":0" />

In contrast with her rival Stephen and his wife Matilda of Boulogne — styled respectively {{Langx|la|rex Anglorum|links=no|lit=King of the English|label=none}} and {{Langx|la|regina Anglorum|links=no|lit=Queen of the English|label=none}} — Empress Matilda employed the title {{Langx|la|domina Anglorum|links=no|label=none}}.<ref name=":0" /> Several interpretations of the title ({{Langx|la|domina|links=no|lit=mistress}}), are possible. ''Domina'', is the feminine equivalent of the title [[Dominus (title)|''dominus'']], the meaning of which ranged from head of a household to an imperial title and translated as "master" or "lord". Whereas the {{Langx|ang|cwen|lit=queen}} carried the implication of a king's wife only, the {{Langx|ang|hlaefdige|lit=lady|link=none}} was used of a woman exercising temporal powers in her own right, as had [[Æthelflæd]] of Mercia.<ref name=":0" /> Notably, Matilda's husband Geoffrey never adopted the equivalent ''dominus Anglorum''.<ref name=":0" /> Initially between 1139 and 1141 Matilda referred to herself as acting as a ''[[feme sole]]'', "a woman [acting] alone", highlighting her autonomy and independence from her spouse.<ref>{{harvnb|Tolhurst|2013|p=38}}</ref> Additionally, it was also conventional that newly elected kings use ''{{Langx|la|dominus|links=no|label=none}}'' until their coronation as {{Langx|la|rex|links=no|lit=king|label=none}}, the interval being counted as an [[interregnum]].<ref>{{harvnb|Beem|2016|pp=50–54}}</ref> Since she was never crowned at Westminster, during the rest of the war she appears to have used this title rather than that of the queen of England, although some contemporaries referred to her by the royal title.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=103–104}}</ref> In spring and summer 1141, as Matilda was ''de facto'' queen regnant, some royal charters including titles of lands granted to [[Glastonbury Abbey]] and [[Reading Abbey]] described her as {{Langx|la|regina Anglorum|links=no|label=none}}, while another mentions {{Langx|la|coronae meae|links=no|lit=my crown|label=none}} and {{Langx|la|regni mei|links=no|lit=my kingdom|label=none}}.<ref name=":0" /> While [[Marjorie Chibnall]] believed the Glastonbury and Reading Abbeys' instances of ''regina Anglorum'' are either errors for ''domina Anglorum'' or else inauthentic; [[David Crouch (historian)|David Crouch]] judged this unlikely to be a scribal error and pointed out that Stephen's supporters had used ''rex Anglorum'' before his formal coronation, that she was hailed as ''regina et domina'' at Winchester in March 1141, and that she "gloried in being called" the royal title.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=102}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Crouch|first=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eALKAwAAQBAJ|title=The Reign of King Stephen: 1135–1154|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|isbn=978-1-317-89297-7|pages=170–171, n. 6–7|language=en}}</ref> Nonetheless, the style ''{{Langx|la|domina Anglorum|links=no|label=none}}'', now rendered as "Lady of the English", remained more common in documents.<ref name=":0" /> The chronicler William of Malmsebury calls her ''domina'' only.<ref name=":1" />

Matilda presented herself as continuing the English tradition of centralised royal government, and attempted to maintain a government in England parallel to Stephen's, including a royal household and a chancellor.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2000|pp=40, 43}}</ref> Matilda gathered revenues from the royal estates in the counties under her control, particularly in her core territories where the sheriffs were loyal to her cause.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2000|pp=41–42}}</ref> She appointed earls to rival those created by Stephen.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2000|p=44}}</ref> She was unable to operate a system of royal law courts, however, and her administrative resources were extremely limited, although some of her clerks went on to become bishops in Normandy.<ref>{{harvnb|White|2000|pp=40–41}}; {{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=175}}</ref> Matilda issued two types of coins in her name during her time in England, which were used in the west of England and Wales.<ref name="White2000P39">{{harvnb|White|2000|p=39}}</ref> The first were initially minted in Oxford during her stay there, and the design was then adopted by her mints at Bristol, Cardiff and Wareham after her victory at the Battle of Lincoln.<ref name="White2000P39" /> A second design was minted at Bristol and Cardiff during the 1140s.<ref name="White2000P39" />

On returning to Normandy for the last time in 1148, Matilda ceased to use the title Lady of the English, simply styling herself as empress again; she never adopted the title of Countess of Anjou.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=175}}; {{cite web | url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/18338 | title=Matilda [Matilda of England] (1102–1167), Empress, Consort of Heinrich V |mode=cs2| access-date=22 December 2013 | last1= Chibnall| first1= Marjorie | website=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | publisher=Oxford University Press | year = 2004–2013 }}</ref> Matilda's household became smaller, and often merged with Henry's own court when the two were co-located in Rouen.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=175}}</ref> She continued to play a special role in the government of the area around Argentan, where she held feudal rights from the grants made at the time of her second marriage.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=161}}</ref>

===Relations with the Church===
[[File:Normandie Eure Mortemer tango7174.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of Mortemer Abbey|[[Mortemer Abbey]] in Normandy, which received financial support from Matilda]]

It is unclear how strong Matilda's personal piety was, although contemporaries praised her lifelong preference to be buried at the monastic site of Bec rather than the grander but more worldly Rouen, and believed her to have substantial, underlying religious beliefs.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=177–178}}</ref> Like other members of the Anglo-Norman nobility, she bestowed considerable patronage on the Church.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=177}}</ref> Early on in her life, she preferred the well-established [[Rule of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] monastery of [[Cluny Abbey|Cluny]] alongside some of the newer Augustinian orders, such as the [[Victorines]] and [[Premonstratensians]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=178–180}}</ref> As part of this patronage, she re-founded the abbey of Notre-Dame-du-Vœu near [[Cherbourg]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=179–180}}</ref>

[[File:Empress Mathilda.png|thumb|15th century portrait of Matilda in the donor list of the [[Abbey of St Albans]]]]

As time went by, Matilda directed more of her attention to the [[Cistercian]] order. This order was very fashionable in England and Normandy during the period, and was dedicated to the [[Virgin Mary]], a figure of particular importance to Matilda.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=180–181}}</ref> She had close links to the Cistercian [[Mortemer Abbey]] in Normandy, and drew on the house for a supply of monks when she supported the foundation of nearby La Valasse.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=183–185}}</ref> She encouraged the Cistercians to build at Mortemer on a grand scale, with guest houses to accommodate a range of visitors of all ranks, and may have played a part in selecting the paintings for the monastic chapels.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=188}}</ref>