Matilda (c.1080–1118), queen of Henry I and duchess of Normandy. First wife of Henry I and daughter of Malcolm Canmore, king of Scotland, and his queen St Margaret (the sister of Edgar the Atheling). Her marriage to Henry in 1100 was clearly intended to reinforce the legitimacy of his kingship by establishing a link with the old English royal house; Henry's determination to marry her was such that he had to await a definitive ruling from the archbishop of Canterbury, St Anselm, whether she had once been a nun, which would have automatically prevented the marriage. Matilda appears to have performed competently the expected queenly role of supporting her husband's rule and frequently acted as regent in England when he was in Normandy. She is said to have kept a splendid, but pious, court and was a generous patron of artists and musicians.

David Richard Bates

Matilda (c.1030–83), queen of William I and duchess of Normandy. The daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders, her marriage to William c.1050 was initially prohibited by the papacy on grounds of (unspecified) consanguinity. The couple made amends by founding two abbeys at Caen. The marriage seems to have been an exceptionally successful one, not just because it guaranteed the succession by producing nine known children, but also because Matilda was admirably suited to the role of deputy and supporter which medieval society required of aristocratic women. She frequently acted as regent during William's absences from Normandy and seems to have been a unifying force in an increasingly disunited family, maintaining some sort of mutual tolerance between her husband and their eldest son Robert Curthose up until her death.

David Richard Bates

Matilda ( Maud) (d. 1131), queen of David I of Scotland. Widow of Simon de Senlis and daughter of Earl Waltheof of Northumbria and his wife Judith, William the Conqueror's niece, she married the future David I in 1113. This marriage, arranged by Henry I, was of profound significance for Scottish history. It brought the Scottish royal house the earldom of Huntingdon (Waltheof's other earldom), dependent status as tenants-in-chief of the English crown for English lands, and a deep involvement in English society which facilitated the processes of modernization in 12th-cent. Scotland. Matilda was a benefactor of several religious houses, including Elstow abbey (Beds.), and the mother of two Scottish princes, both of whom predeceased David.

Keith J. Stringer