This article is about Matilda I, Countess of Boulogne. For another Countess of Boulogne
named Matilda, see Matilda II, Countess of Boulogne. For her other namesakes, see Matilda
of Boulogne. Matilda I was suo jure Countess of Boulogne.
She was also queen consort of England as the wife of King Stephen.
Early life and marriage She was born in Boulogne, France, the daughter
of Eustace III, Count of Boulogne, and his wife Mary, daughter of King Malcolm III of
Scotland and Saint Margaret of Scotland. Matilda was first cousin of her husband's rival, Empress
Matilda. Through her maternal grandmother, Matilda was descended from the pre-Conquest
English kings. In 1125, Matilda married Stephen of Blois,
Count of Mortain, who possessed a large honour in England. When Matilda's father abdicated
and retired to a monastery the same year, this was joined with Boulogne and the similarly
large English honour Matilda inherited. On Eustace III's death, Matilda and her husband
became joint rulers of Boulogne. Two children, a son and a daughter, were born to the countess
and count of Boulogne during the reign of King Henry I, who had granted them a residence
in London. The son was named Baldwin, after Matilda's uncle, King Baldwin I of Jerusalem.
The daughter was named Matilda. Baldwin died in early childhood and the young Matilda is
thought to have died during childhood too, although she lived long enough to be espoused
to Waleran de Meulan, Earl of Worcester. Queenship
On the death of Henry I of England in 1135, Stephen rushed to England, taking advantage
of Boulogne's control of the closest seaports, and was crowned king, beating his rival, the
Empress Matilda. Matilda of Boulogne was heavily pregnant at that time and crossed the Channel
after giving birth to a son, Eustace, who would one day succeed her as count of Boulogne.
Matilda was crowned queen at Easter - 22 March 1136.
Matilda was a supporter of the Knights Templar. She founded Cressing Temple in 1137 and Temple
Cowley in 1139. Like her predecessor, Matilda of Scotland, she had a close relationship
with the Holy Trinity Priory at Aldgate. She took the prior as her confessor and two of
her children were buried there. In the civil war that followed, known as the
Anarchy, Matilda proved to be her husband's strongest supporter. When England was invaded
in 1138, she called troops from Boulogne and its ally Flanders, and besieged Dover Castle
with success and then went north to Durham, where she made a treaty with David I of Scotland
in 1139. After Stephen was captured at the Battle of
Lincoln in 1141, she rallied the king's partisans, and raised an army with the help of William
of Ypres. While the Empress Matilda waited in London to prepare her coronation, Matilda
and Stephen's brother Henry of Blois had her chased out of the city. The Empress Matilda
went on to besiege Henry of Blois at Winchester. Matilda of Boulogne then commanded her army
to attack the besiegers. There was a rout in which the Empress's half-brother, Robert
of Gloucester, was captured. The two Matildas then agreed to exchange prisoners and Stephen
ruled as king again. Matilda died of a fever at Hedingham Castle,
Essex, England, and is buried at Faversham Abbey, which she and her husband founded.
Issue Stephen and Matilda had three sons:
Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne, married Constance of France, no issue
Baldwin of Boulogne William of Blois, Count of Mortain and Boulogne
and Earl of Surrey, married Isabel de Warenne, no issue
They also had two daughters: Matilda of Boulogne, married Waleran de Beaumont,
1st Earl of Worcester, no issue Marie I, Countess of Boulogne, married Matthew
of Alsace, had issue Ancestry
Notes
Sources Norgate, Kate. "Matilda of Boulogne". Dictionary
of National Biography 38. pp. 53–53. Marjorie Chibnall, ‘Matilda’, Oxford Dictionary
of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [1].
Duggan, Anne. Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe: Proceedings of a Conference Held at
King's College London, April 1995. The Boydell Press.
Hilton, Lisa. Queens Consort, England's Medieval Queens. Great Britain: Weidenfeld & Nichelson.
ISBN 978-0-7538-2611-9. Matthew, Donald. King Stephen. Carnegie Publishing.