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Matilda I, Countess of Boulogne

Matilda of Boulogne
Matilda of Boulogne.jpg
Queen consort of England
Tenure 22 December 1135 – 7 April 1141
1 November 1141 – 3 May 1152
Coronation 22 March 1136
Countess of Boulogne
Tenure 1125 – 3 May 1152
Predecessor Eustace III
Successor Eustace IV
Born c. 1105
Boulogne, France
Died 3 May 1152(1152-05-03) (aged c. 46–47)
Hedingham Castle, Essex
Burial Faversham Abbey
Spouse Stephen, King of England
Issue
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Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne
Marie I, Countess of Boulogne
William I, Count of Boulogne
House House of Flanders
Father Eustace III, Count of Boulogne
Mother Mary of Scotland

Matilda I (or Maud) (1105? – 3 May 1152) was suo jure Countess of Boulogne. She was also queen consort of England as the wife of King Stephen. She is not to be confused with the Empress Matilda, her first cousin, with whom she and her husband fought for the English throne in the civil war known as the Anarchy. During this period, Matilda was forced to play an unusually active role for a woman of the period when her husband was captured, and proved herself an effective general who managed to force her cousin to release him. Under the agreement that settled the civil war, her children did not inherit the throne.

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.


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