"A Frisky, Gay Elena": Matilda, Duchess of Saxony and Bavaria (1156-1189)
Lady, because of
you I am pensive night and day here in Normandy; I dream that you
always smile at me in beauty and happiness (from Casutz
sui de mal en pena)
Thus wrote the famed
bellicose troubadour Bertran de Born after he spent some time in
Argentan, Normandy in the fall of 1182, where Henry the Young King's
father, Henry II held a great court. Bertran who accompanied his
overlord, Henry's younger brother Richard [the future Lionheart]
complained that he was nearly killed by the "boredom and
vulgarity of Argentan", but "the noble, lovable body and
sweet, mild face and good companionship and conversation of the Saxon
lady" protected him. Who was "a frisky, gay Elena",
the Saxon lady of "such a loving look" that saved Bertran's
life?
Matilda, the younger
sister of Henry the Young King was born as the eldest daughter of
King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine in June 1156,
fifiteen months after her brother Henry (b. 28 February 1155) and
three years after her brother William (b. 17 August 1153). The
latter's premature death must have coincided with Matilda's arrival.
The girl was named to honour her paternal grandmother, the Empress,
and christened by Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury at Holy Trinity
Aldgate. Altogether Henry the Young King was to have three younger
sisters, but it was Matilda, fifteen months his junior, with whom he
spent the greater part of his early years. They were Eleanor and
Henry's two eldest survivng children and from a very tender age
accompanied their mother on her travels between England and the
family continental domains (Matilda's first sea voyage took place
when she was but one month old).
Henry II and his children. Matilda is placed between Richard and Geoffrey, but she should be placed between Henry and Richard.
The records made it
clear that Matilda spent most of her early childhood with her mother
and brothers. She did not see much of her father, who at the early
stage of his reign was always busy consolidating power over his vast
domains. Frequemt absences from England worried Henry's subjects to
the point that the Archbishop of Canterbury felt obliged to remind
the king in a letter of his kingdom and his children "from the
sight of whom scarce even the hardest-hearted father could any longer
withhold his gaze" (John of Salisbury). The letter was written
in 1160, so the children were Henry, Matilda, Richard (b. 8 September
1157) and Geoffrey (b. 23 September 1158). As king's eldest daughter
Matilda had an important role to play in her father's dynastic
politics. In spring 1165, Rainald, archbishop of Cologne met with
Henry II and proposed the marriage between her and Heinrich der
Löwe [the Lion], Duke of Saxony. Heinrich (born
c. 1130), who was the son of Heinrich the Proud and Gertrude,
daughter of Emperor Lothar III, represented the Welfs, the greatest
German family after the Hohenstaufen emperors. His and Matilda'a
union was to be of great political significance and culminate in the
alliance between Matilda's youngest brother John and her son Otto IV
in the opening years of the 13th century. The agreement was reached
and the marriage contract signed near the end of the year. Matilda's
marriage portion was set by the covenant. According to feudal custom,
one of three occasions, next to the knighting of an eldest son or his
own ransom if taken captive on the battlefield, on which a lord could
levy a common tax or an aid, or tribute against each of his subjects
was the marriage of his eldest daughter. And thus the contracted
marriage between Matilda and Duke Heinrich the Lion of Saxony
prompted the 1166 survey. Prior to her departure for Germany in fall
1167, Matilda was staying with her mother, who was Henry's regent in
Anjou and Maine from May 1165 till March 1166, while Henry was in
England waging campaign against the Welsh. He joined his family to
celebrate Easter 1166 at Angers. Some time afterwards Eleanor
returned to England, taking Matilda with her. They spent much of 1167
- several weeks at Winchester - on preparations for Matilda's
marriage.
Coronation of Matilda and her husband in the Gospels of Henry the Lion comissioned by Heinrich in the 1170s and produced in the monastery of Helmarshausen, one of the leading schools of manuscript illumination in Germany. The ducal couple presented it to the church of St Blaise, Brunswick, founded by Heinrich upon his return from the Holy Land (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)
Matilda, who turned
11 in spring 1167, departed for Saxony late in September the same
year. Her mother accompanied her as far as Dover. The princess was
escorted by Earls of Arundel and Striguil and many others. She took
the same road as her paternal grandmother 50 years before her, when
she moved to Germany to marry her first husband, Heinrich V. Matilda
was married to the Duke on 1 February 1168. At the time of their
wedding he was in his late 30s, so the same age as her father, his
first marriage annulled on grounds of consanguinity. What do we know
about Heinrich? Rahewin, the co-author of the Deeds of
Frederick Barbarossa offers a vivid description of the
duke as a ruler of Bavaria (which he received from the Emperor). Most
of it sounds like a conventional praise, but also gives us a hint of
the man Matilda was married to: 'Learning the character and habits of
its men, by his great vigilance and wisdom he soon achieved such fame
that, after establishing peace throughout all Bavaria, he became
exceedingly dear to the good and a source of great terror to the bad.
So, fearing him in his absence as though he were present, no one
dared break the laws of peace which he had established upon pain of
death.' (p.278) Despite
her youth, Matilda often administered her husband's vast
lands during his absences, such as his pilgrimage to the Holy
Land in 1172-73. She also played an instrumental role in establishing
the cult of St Thomas Becket, her father's one time adversary, in her
duchies through patronage and by doing so, demonstrate to the world
that her father had recieved the martyr's forgiveness.
Brunswick Cathedral dedicated to St Blaise and St John the Baptist (later also to St Thomas Becket), rebuilt by the ducal couple, consecrated by their eldest son, Heinrich on 29 December (the feast day of St Thomas Becket) 1226.
In
1180 crisis arose between Matilda's husband and Emperor Frederick
Barbarossa. As a result the former was deprived of his fiefs and sent
into exile. The banishment was to last three years and even after
this period the duke needed the emperor's approval to return. The
ducal couple left Saxony the following year to seek refuge at Henry
II's court: 'as the time came near when the duke had to leave his
land and kindred, he and his wife , with his sons and daughters, and
with the counts and barons and great men of his land, left their land
and kindred and came to Normandy, to Henry, king of England, the
duchess' father, who received them joyfully' (Roger of Howden. 2, p.
269). Soon afterwards Heinrich's men returned to Saxony, whereas he
himself set off on pilgrimage to Compstella, leaving Matilda in her
father's care. She was pregnant at the time. Upon Heinrich's return
they joined Henry II's 1182 Christmas court at Caen and witnessed the
heated argument that arose between Matilda's brothers, Henry and
Richard. Apparently Matilda and Heinrich spent the whole of 1183 in
the Angevin continental domains, watching with concern as her family
was being torn apart by the war between Henry the Young King and
Geoffrey of Brittany on one side and Richard and Henry II on the
other, the strife which culminated in Henry the Young King's untimely
death on 11 June. We can only guess how Henry's passing affected the
sister who had spent most of his childhood with. 1184
saw Matilda with child again. Curiously, this son, William, was born
in the ancient English capital Winchester and was to become the
ancestor of the Hanoverian kings of England. Soon after his arrival
his parents received the much awaited news - Henry II's attempts to
secure their return to Germany had borne fruit - Frederick, persuaded
by the Pope, allowed them to come back, which they did in October
1185, leaving three of their children behind. Richenza, Otto and baby
William were to be raised at their grandfather's court. Unfortunately, Heinrich was to be exiled again in 1188.
Matilda and Heinrich, tomb effigies in Brunswick Cathedral (photo: http://www.braunschweigerdom.de/dom/layout_storage/ueberdom_kunst.php)
Sources:
Matilda
died in June 1189, aged 33, shortly prior to her father's death on 6
July. She was buried in the Brunswick Cathedral. Heinrich was to
outilve her for six years. He died on 6 June 1195 and was buried next
to her. They had at least six children: Richenza/Matilda (b.1172),
Hienrich (b. 1173/74), Lothar (b. 1174/75), Otto (b. 1175/76) and
William (b. 1184), but also a few more who did not survive infancy.
The eldest daughter, Richenza/Matilda married Count Geoffrey of
Perche, by whom she had a son Thomas, who met his death at the Second
Battle of Lincoln (20 May 1217), being the only notable
casualty of the engagement. Her second husband was Enguerrand III,
Lord of Coucy. The eldest son, Heinrich was
to become Count Palatine of the Rhine in 1195 and the younger
son, Otto the
only German king of the Welf dynasty and Holy Roman Emperor in 1209.
Back to Matilda
herself, was she really "a frisky, gay Elena" from
Bertran's sirventes? There may be a grain of truth in the
troubadour's words, especially when it comes to her good looks, but
one the other hand, Matilda was the epitome of religiousness and
conjugal fidelity - not without reason she was called "die
Fromme" [the pious"] by her subjects - so it would be
groundless to assume that there might have been any impropriety in
her behaviour towards Bertran. Still, we have to admit that the
duchess emerging from Bertran's songs sounds far more interesting
than "die Fromme" of her subjects.
For further reading
and... watching:
I
highly recommend this fascinating documentary on
Frederick Barbarossa and Heinrich der
Löwe.
Sources:
The Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa. Translated and annotated with an introduction by Charles Christopher Mierow with the collaboration of Richard Emery.
The Poems of the Troubadour Bertran de Born edited by William D. Paden, Tilde Sankovitch and Patricia H. Stablein
Eyton, Robert William. Court, Household and Itinerary of King Henry II
Bartlett, Robert. England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075-1225
The Poems of the Troubadour Bertran de Born edited by William D. Paden, Tilde Sankovitch and Patricia H. Stablein
Eyton, Robert William. Court, Household and Itinerary of King Henry II
Bartlett, Robert. England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075-1225
Keefe, Thomas. Feudal Assessments and the Political Community under Henry II and His Sons
Turner, Ralph. Eleanor of Aquitaine
Panton, Kenneth. Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy
Slocum, Kay. Liturgies in Honour of Thomas Becket
Turner, Ralph. Eleanor of Aquitaine
Panton, Kenneth. Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy
Slocum, Kay. Liturgies in Honour of Thomas Becket
Kashia, I love that you include troubadours. Betran de Born - how marvelous. (I dread how historical fiction writers trivialize their far-reaching presence. I am of a small circle who deeply study the 12th century trobar in Occitan.) Another clue in "Casutz sui" of Betran's inspiration of which he has come undone (descontena). "I don't want to have Turenne(Auverne - Aquitaine) nor Roais (Edessa), if I can't possess her, for she can't retain me." Edessa was the objective of the failed 2nd Crusade, and he plays with the word "retain". A patron in prison cannot retain an artist. What he says about looking down her dress - shames 50 Shades of Gray - it is full of masculine imagination.
ReplyDeleteIf I may suggest, "Bel m'es quan vei chamjar lo senhoratge" (I like it when I see the change of power) It is rife with wishful Plantagenetisms of old King Henry 2, natural inheritance calling out Richard by name. I've more to say on dear Tilda, but I'll leave room for others to comment.
Thank you, Mark :-) I will always be grateful to Bertran for "Mon chan fenis ab dol et ab maltraire" :-) I am planning to write a post about him and the Angevins, "The Young Lions and The Lord of Autafort" or sth in the similar vein.
DeleteI enjoyed Sharon Penman's portrayal of Matilda and it's lovely to find out about the 'real' Matilda. Eleven seems so young but par for the course in those days.
ReplyDeleteI too loved Sharon Penman's Tilda, especially when she emerged in Devil's Brood as a young wife and mother, reunited with her family after so many years.
DeleteFascinating post! I knew so little about Matilda.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathryn! :-) We shouldn't take her at face value. I always thought she was the least interesting of Eleanor's daughters, but Bertran's sirventes helped to shed a new light on her personality.
DeleteA very interesting post, Kasia. I agree, Bertran's "Elena" has more appeal. It's a shame she didn't have her mother's stamina, but poor thing didn't have a chance to breathe between pregnancies. And then outlived by her elder husband. The plight of medieval women, eh?
ReplyDeleteAlso enjoyed Mr Beaulieu's comment. I remember when I first found Sharon's blog & read back a couple years, how your posts captured me. You spoke of troubadours quite often, very inspiring for me & sparked my interest in this fascinating creature of the MA.
Thank you, Joan. I "discovered" Matilda while working on it.
DeleteYes,troubadours were fascinating. I need to write a separate post about Henry and Bertran :-)