MATILDA of Scotland (1080 - 1118 AD)

Also known as Good Queen Maud or Matilda of Blessed Memory, was Queen of England and Duchess of Normandy as the first wife of King Henry I. She acted as regent of England on several occasions during Henry's absences: in 1104, 1107, 1108, and 1111.

Daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Margaret of Wessex, Matilda was sent to be educated in a convent in southern England, where her aunt Cristina was abbess. According to Wilton Abbey's traditions in the 1140s, her aunt ordered her to take the veil in order to protect her from the lust of William II of England, which angered her father because of the effect it might have on her prospects of marriage. Henry I ascended the English throne in 1100 and quickly proposed marriage to Matilda due to her descent from the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex. However, there was a difficulty about the marriage: a special church council was called to be satisfied that Matilda had not taken vows as a nun. As Queen of England, Matilda embarked on several building projects for transportation and health, took a role in government as mediator to the Church, and led a literary court.

​

​