A king who reigned in peacetime, but only had one legitimate child to succeed him. But that child? It’s a girl. Determined to ensure his legacy continues and the land he’s ruled remains peaceful, he has his entire court, men of state and all-around important dudes swear an oath of loyalty to his daughter.
She will be his heir. She will be the first Queen Regnant.
Sound familiar? No, we are not talking about House of the Dragon. This is real life.
Empress Matilda has entered the chat
Born to Henry I of England and Edith/Matilda of Scotland, little baby Matilda has the blood of both William the Conqueror and the old Anglo-Saxon houses running in her veins. What we’re getting at is she is regal as f*ck. Then, in a twist that sounds like something George RR Martin would write, but was like actually a thing that happened, Matilda was sent off to Germany at the tender age of 9.
To get married. To a dude in his mid-20s.
Yikes.
But this wasn’t just any dude. This was Henrick V of Germany, the Holy Roman Emperor and before Matilda even made it out of her teens, she would be crowned the Holy Roman Empress (kind of).
As much as their marriage gives us the serious ick, it turned out to be pretty happy? Luckily, Maddie was not expected to act as a wife as young as 9, but instead, her new husband sent her off to get a BOMB-ass education. See, old Henrick here didn’t just want a wife to make him babies and sandwhiches. He wanted an EMPRESS to help him run his kingdom, give the finger to some unruly popes, and stand by him in times of war as his regent.
And at the tender age of 16, Matilda got to put those skills into action, ruling parts of Italy in her husband’s name for TWO YEARS. Excuse me, but what were you doing when you were 16? Because, for me at least, it was a lot less responsibility than *checks notes* ruling Italy.
But sadly, this happy marriage was cut short when Henrick V died of probably cancer (though the superstitious of the time would say it was a punishment for kidnapping the Pope 👀) and Matilda was sent back to her father’s court with nothing but two crowns, large amounts of priceless jewels and a weird mummified hand/ relic. So, while not exactly penniless, she was a stranger in her new home.
So, Matilda is now heading back to move in with her parents, not knowing what the world will hold for her. But, luckily her dad has decided to name her as heir! OMG YAY, right? And that’s when we have this scene that George RR Martin pulled straight from history. All the lords of the realm came to pledge their support to Rhaenyra er… I mean Matilda.
Unlike in Fire and Blood, the swearing actually happened TWICE. But, since George RR Martin is known for his brevity in storytelling, he decided to cut it down to just once (lol, literary humor!).
What follows this time is a civil war known in history as The Anarchy. Listen to our three-part series to learn the rest!
Want more Queens? Head to our Patreon, check out our merch store and follow us on Instagram!
Some sources:
https://www.thoughtco.com/empress-matilda-biography-3528825
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/wedding-princess-matilda