Empress Matilda - England’s First Queen Regnant?

I have profiled all of England’s remarkable Queens who ruled in their own right. Mary I, Elizabeth I, Mary II, Anne, Victoria, and Elizabeth II. But there’s one more fascinating woman I simply must profile to complete the set; Empress Matilda. She was sent to Germany as a child to marry the Holy Roman Emperor. But after a shipwreck swallowed her younger brother, she returned to England to claim the crown. Had she been born a man, she would have been an undisputed monarch. But her sex allowed her cousin, Stephen to get his butt on the throne first. Their family feud lead to 15 years of civil war known as the Anarchy, from which neither emerged as a true monarch. Fans of House of the Dragon will recognize Matilda as the inspiration for Rhaenyra Targaryen. And Matilda was portrayed by Alison Pill in the 2010 historical fiction Pillars of the Earth. But let’s explore her true story, without the addition of fire-breathing lizards. And decide if she truly was first Queen Regnant of England... Music: Angevin - Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200110 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advertising@airwavemedia.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices