Matilda Anjou

Matilda was the daughter of Count Fulk V of Anjou and his first wife, Countess Irmengard of Mans ^[1] . In February 1113, Fulk V and Henry I of England met in the region of Alencon , where they concluded a peace treaty, which was ensured by the engagement of the son of Heinrich Wilhelm Adeline and the daughter of Fulk Matilda ^[2] . The young couple got married in June 1119 ^[3] .

On the evening of November 25, 1120 , returning from Normandy to England, Wilhelm decided to sail aboard the White Ship and drowned when the ship sank in the English Channel ^[4] . Matilda managed to avoid death, as she was assigned a place on another ship ^[5] . Wilhelm’s death left her a widow, and England - without an heir, which thus disavowed the treaty of England with Anjou ^[6] .

Upon his return from Jerusalem (c. 1121-1122), Fulk V demanded the return of the dowry of Matilda, which included castles and cities in the county of Maine, but Henry refused flatly ^[6] . After several months of fruitless quarrels, Fulk began to rush to war with England ^[6] , but instead married his other daughter, Sibylla , to William Cliton , the son of Robert Kurtges , who fought with Henry for power over Normandy ^{[7] [7]} .

Matilda, after the death of her husband, remained at the court of Henry I; she was treated like the daughter of a king ^[8] . Henry promised her that she would stay in England as long as she wanted to, while he intended to marry one of her close associates ^{[9] [8]} . She remained in England for several years, but, according to the Order Vitali , wanting to see her parents and home, returned to Anjou ^[8] . In her homeland, after a while she accepted the advice of Geoffrey, Bishop of Chartres, and in 1128 she cut her hair in the nuns of the abbey of Fontevro . In 1150, she became abbess of the abbey and died in 1154 ^[10] .