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Matilda of Flanders, duchess of Normandy, queen of England

Overview

Title social-status
duchess of Normandy, queen of England
Date of Death
1083

Biography

(See also Genealogical Table(s): 1, 2, 2.4.2)
Matilda, daughter of Baldwin V of Flanders was a descendant of king Alfred, through his daughter Aelfthryth who married Baldwin II of Flanders. Matilda married William I "the Conqueror" (1053) with whom she had nine children: Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy, Richard (+1075), Adeliza/Adelaide a self-consecrated nun, Cecilia abbess of La Trinité in Caen, William II Rufus, Matilda, Constance countess of Brittany, Adela countess of Blois, and Henry I, king of England. She served at times as regent for her husband in both England and Normandy, though Orderic Vitalis reports (Historia Ecclesiastica 5.10) that William was furious when she sent large sums of money to her exiled son Robert against the king's orders because she could not bear to enjoy wealth while her first-born was oppressed by [self-inflicted] poverty.