Editing Matilda of Flanders (section)

==Marriage==
Matilda, or Maud, was the daughter of [[Baldwin V, Count of Flanders]], and [[Adela of France, Countess of Flanders|Adela]], herself daughter of King [[Robert II of France]].{{sfn|Schwennicke|1984|loc=Tafeln 5, 11, 81}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matilda: William the Conqueror's queen |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/norman/matilda-william-the-conquerors-queen/ |access-date=2022-11-02 |website=HistoryExtra |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:GuillaumeSceau.png|250px|right|thumb|Seal of [[William the Conqueror]]]]

According to legend, when the Norman duke [[William the Bastard]] (later called ''the Conqueror'') sent his representative to ask for Matilda's hand in marriage, she told the representative that she was far too high-born to consider marrying a [[Legitimacy (family law)|bastard]].<ref group=lower-alpha>Matilda's principal attribute was her descent from [[Charlemagne]] and her many royal ancestors, her closest being her grandfather Robert II of France. She was the niece of King [[Henry I of France]], William's suzerain, and at his death in 1060, first cousin to his successor King [[Philip I of France]]. A member of the [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocracy]], she was closely related to most of the royal families of Europe. A marriage to a member of the (Carolingian) royal family was a means of upward mobility for a soldier or [[Nobility|nobleman]] like William. Her descent from [[Alfred the Great]] (whose daughter [[Ælfthryth, Countess of Flanders|Ælfthryth]] was the mother of [[Arnulf I, Count of Flanders]], and great-great-great-great-grandmother of Matilda) also proved a legitimizing factor as queen of England. See {{harvnb|Hilton|2010|p=17}}, {{harvnb|Le Jan|2000|p=56|loc=Notes 14, 57}}, {{harvnb|Wareham|2005|p=3}}</ref> After hearing this response, William rode from Normandy to [[Bruges]], forced himself into her bedroom and soundly beat her.<ref>{{Cite web|title=In Bayeux, France, the story of the last conquest of England comes alive|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-05-12-8501300010-story.html|access-date=2021-11-15|website=Chicago Tribune|date=12 May 1985 }}</ref> Another version has the illegitimate duke dragging her from her horse and pursuing his rough courtship in the roadside mud.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Strickland|first=Agnes|title=Lives of the Queens of England|publisher=Aldine Book Publishing Company|year=1840|location=Boston|pages=13}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Naturally, Baldwin took offence at this; but, before they could [[Duel|draw swords]], Matilda settled the matter{{sfn|Hilliam|2004|p=20}} by refusing to marry anyone but William.{{sfn|Hilton|2010|p=17}}

Historians have regarded the tale as more fictional than historical; the marriage itself may in fact have been arranged by William and Baldwin, as both would have welcomed an alliance between Flanders and Normandy.{{sfn|Douglas|1964|p=79}}{{sfn|Gillingham|1975|p=26}} William and Matilda were married after a delay in {{circa|1051–2}},{{sfn|Keats-Rohan|1999|p=495}} despite a papal ban by [[Pope Leo IX]] at the [[Council of Reims]] on the grounds of [[consanguinity]].{{sfn|Morris|2012|p=67}} A papal [[Dispensation (Catholic Church)|dispensation]] was finally awarded in 1059 by [[Pope Nicholas II]].{{sfn|Hilton|2010|p=18}} Lanfranc, at the time prior of [[Bec Abbey]], negotiated the arrangement in Rome and it came only after William and Matilda agreed to found two churches as penance: the [[Abbaye aux Hommes]] and the [[Abbaye aux Dames]].{{sfn|Bates|1982|p=199}}

According to some more romantic tellings of the story, she initially refused his proposal on this account. Like many royal marriages of the period, it breached the rules of [[consanguinity]], then at their most restrictive (to seven generations or degrees of relatedness); Matilda and William were third-cousins once removed. She was about 20 when they married in 1051/2; William was some four years older, and had been [[Duke of Normandy]] since he was about eight (in 1035).

The marriage appears was by all accounts very happy and fruitful. Matilda bore her husband at least eight children in a period of twenty years, and most contemporaries believed that William was never unfaithful to her.{{sfn|Douglas|1964|p=393}}{{sfn|Gillingham|1975|p=26}} 

When William embarked on the [[Norman Conquest]] of England, sailing in his flagship ''[[Mora (ship)|Mora]]'', which Matilda had given him. She governed the [[Duchy of Normandy]] in his absence, joining him in England after more than a year, to be crowned in an elaborate ceremony.{{sfn|Gathagan|1999}} She subsequently returned to Normandy, but crossed to England repeatedly, and ruled England in William's absence between the years 1081 and 1083. Matilda also regularly served as regent in [[Normandy]]. She was about 52 when she died in Normandy in 1083.

Apart from governing Normandy and supporting her brother's interests in Flanders, Matilda took a close interest in the education of her children, who were unusually well educated for contemporary royalty. The boys were tutored by the Italian [[Lanfranc]], who was made [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in 1070, while the girls learned Latin in [[Abbey of Sainte-Trinité, Caen|Sainte-Trinité Abbey]] in [[Caen]], founded by William and Matilda as part of the papal [[Dispensation (Catholic Church)|dispensation]] allowing their marriage