Empress Matilda

EMPRESS MATILDA!

Granddaughter of the famed William the Conqueror, this was no weak-willed lady sitting in her castle waiting to be rescued by her knight!

It's the winter of 1141/42. The walls of Oxford Castle are holding fast, but no food or drink is coming in. The besieging army is well placed in both position and supplies. And there's no one to come to your aid. Desperate times call for desperate measures - and a great deal of nerve and the heart of a gambler. And the Empress Matilda was just such a person. She was besieged in Oxford Castle in the winter of 1141 and had no army to come to her aid and her cousin Stephen's army was well entrenched and prepared to wait for her to finally surrender and end the civil war that had wracked England for the past few years. But Matilda was not going to give up - she was not just fighting for her claim to the English throne but for the future of her eldest son Henry. And her solution to the Siege of Oxford more than earns her a place in the list of Medieval Badasses.

Badass Act 1 : Escaping the Siege of Oxford! It was a winter cold enough the have frozen the Thames where it passed through Oxford, allowing one to walk across (or slide!) safely. Waiting one snowy night, the Empress Matilda and a few loyal followers were lowered over the castle walls and onto the ground below. Clothed in white they picked their first across the ice-covered Castle Mill Stream, a backwater of the Thames that passed near the castle and just outside the city walls. They then crossed enemy lines, disguised not only by their white clothes but the flurries of snow and the darkness of night. They then made their way to Wallingford Castle, then held by her supporter Brien FitzCount, roughly thirteen miles away. One very daring solution to be sure!

Of course this was by no means this lady's only badass act. She was the elder of the two children of Henry I ('Beauclerc' or 'The Lion of Justice'), King of England and his wife Matilda of Scotland (who brought the ancient blood of the Saxon kings back to the English throne) and his only daughter. She was sent to live in Germany at the age of nine, intended to be the eventual bride of Henry V, the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany, who was roughly 16 years older than Matilda. They married shortly before her twelth birthday. It was by all accounts a rather successful marriage, despite Henry's tendency toward isolation and mood-swings. Matilda often acted as regent for her husband and was well-respected by his people. She was left a widow at age twenty-three and returned to England, now the only surviving child of her father - her brother having drowned in the White Ship catastrophe - and her father, King Henry I (Beauclerc or the Lion of Justice), named her his successor and had his barons swear repeatedly to uphold this, including her cousin, Stephen of Blois.

But while King Henry wanted his daughter to succeed, she was by no means a liberated lady. Her father needed her for other political gains, particularly to gain peace between his duchy of Normandy and the neighbouring county of Anjou. Marriages were a time-honored method of buying "peace" in the middle ages, so the the twenty-six year old Empress Matilda was promptly married to the fifteen-year old Count Geoffrey of Anjou. Political matches are hardly expected to be love matches, but Matilda and Geoffrey seemed to have taken an instant dislike to each other that reached epic proportions. The proud and refined Empress could hardly have liked being married to a mere count, and worse yet, a young lad, and even worse yet, from a line of counts that proudly claimed to be descended from the devil! And the wayward Geoffrey, who by all counts lived up to his name "le Bel" (the Handsome) seemed to be quite the womanizer, and being married to a proud, prickly older woman who wanted nothing to do with him had to rankle his manly pride more than a bit! More than once King Henry had to placate one or both married parties when the fighting got too bitter and one or the other left. Somehow though, the Empress would give birth to three sons : her pride and joy and eldest, Henry, and Geoffrey and William.

King Henry would finally die in 1135, hopeful that his wishes and the repeated oaths would pave the way for his daughter Matilda to succeed him on the English throne. Instead and somewhat surprisingly, her cousin, Stephen of Blois, assumed the throne, using his presence in England to literally beat her to the throne (she was in Anjou at the time).

It would have been easy for Matilda to just give up at this point - the odds looked pretty stacked against her. Even her illegitimate half-brother, Robert, the Earl of Gloucester, declared for Stephen. But Matilda was never one to give up - not only was she fighting for her rights, but for her son Henry's rights. She started her campaign in Normandy, and would fight there for four long years ...

Badass Act 2 : Bolstered by the support of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester (who had decided for unknown reasons to remove his support of Stephen and aide his half-sister), Matilda finally boldly set sail to challenge Stephen in England itself. She landed and took up a place in Arundel Castle, the home of her stepmother and new husband. It didn't take long for Stephen to catch wind of this and he besieged Arundel Castle and captured Matilda - and then let her go!! Pretty badass to land with few supporters and then somehow manage to get away!

A long period of civil war would now be sparked off, known as a period "when Christ and his Saints slept ...". Empress Matilda managed to finally capture Stephen, whose own queen, another Matilda, would wage a campaign that was ultimately successful to free her husband. The Empress's pride mixed with a bit of a desire for some payback ultimately resulted in the people of London running her out of town before she could be crowned. But Matilda was down, not out!

Badass Act 3 : Siege of Winchester. Stephen's queen arrived with her forces, led by the Flemish mercernary, William de Ypres, to lay siege to Winchester where the Empress had fled after the rowdy Londoners sent her packing. The Bishop of Winchester, Stephen's own brother, who had earlier thrown in his lot with the Empress, turned coat again and decided to support his brother and left the city with his forces. The Empress's forces had no choice but to make a run for it. The Empress was noted to have rode astride like a man - a daring and probably quite painful decision (imagine the chafing in a time of no undergarments!) - and made it out of the siege.

Ultimately the Empress would be forced to return to Anjou, but as her son Henry gew to manhood, support for him swelled, especially as Stephen's heir Eustace was hard for even his most loyal followers to stomach. After Eustace's untimely (or timely!) death, Stephen finally acknowledged young Henry of Anjou as his heir ... a son who would very much take after his mother and marry a woman not unlike her, the famous Eleanor of Aquitaine!

The de Braoses - One Badass Husband and Wife

One Badass Couple - William and Maud (nee St Valery) de Braose.

William de Braose was a substantial and powerful landowner along the Welsh Marches in the late 12th/early 13th century. Life along the Welsh Marches in this period was tumultous at best. Jockeying for land was the norm between the Welsh lords and their English counterparts. Political upheaval, bickering, backstabbing, etc., was the order of the day. And the de Braose was not one to turn down a chance to capitalize from all of this. He held lands along the southern and mid-Welsh marches, along with lands in Ireland and Normandy. His Welsh holdings often put him in contention with the local Welsh lords. And even more so after his badass act number 1!

(1) Badass Act Number One - In 1175 William de Braose lured three Welsh princes and other notable Welsh leaders to a dinner at his home of Abergavenny Castle. Why did they come? In Wales at that time hospitality was held sacrosant. And de Braose was about to violate that tenant big-time. Among the attendees to de Braose's great Christmas feast was Seisyll ap Dyfnwal, Lord of Gwent Uwchcoed, a man who de Braose blamed for his uncle Henry FitzMiles. Seisyll and other lords were assured of de Braose's peaceful intent and as Christmas was also a traditional time for setting aside differences and looking forward to starting things over in the new year. Seisyll ap Dyfnwal and his men set aside their arms and entered the castle, looking doubtless forward to a wnderful feast and a chance to peacefully work out their differences. Instead they were slaughtered wholesale by armed men once inside the castle. No one was spared. And to complete the complete annhilation of Seisyll ap Dyfnwal lineage, de Braose and his men rode off to Seisyll ap Dyfnwal's home and murdered his younger son, Cadwalladr, a boy of seven (his elder brother Geoffrey had been with his father at Abergavenny and killed with him), and made off with his wife, whose fate was unknown. De Braose's Christmas massacre earned him the moniker, "The Ogre of Abergavenny" and effectively removed all the senior Welsh leadership in the area and severely destabilised the region. It also earned him and his family the enduring enmity of the Welsh and the family name became a byword for dishonour and double-dealing.

(2) Badass Act Number Two - William de Braose became a close associate of King John's. When King John captured his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, a rival claimnant for the the throne of England (and his younger sister, Eleanor, effectively ending any potential threat from that quarter), he gave custody of the fifteen-year-old Duke of Brittany to William de Braose. He was held at Rouen castle, under de Braose's charge, but would suddenly disappear a few months later. It has been conjectured that De Braose not only knew, but may have played a hand in Arthur's disappearance. And this knowledge may have led to his eventual falling out with King John.

William de Braose married a lady who was every bit as pragmatic and ruthless as he was, Maud de St Valery. William entrusted Hay Castle to her amongst other things.

(1) Badass Act Number One - In the abscence of her husband, Maud held Pains Castle against a massive siege led by Gwenwynwyn, Prince of Powys. She was able to hold the castle against this all-out assault for three weeks until reinforcements arrived. Three thousand Welshmen died during the attempted taking of Pains Castle.

(2) Badass Act Number Two - This alleged act would turn the full-force of King John's enmity on her. After her husband's quarrel and falling-out with King John, heavy fines were levied against William de Braose with the additional stipulation that their eldest son and heir, another William, be delivered into the king's custody as surety for his loyalty. Maud admantly refused, stating that, "she would not deliver her children to a king who had murdered his own nephew". Unfortunately she said this loudly and publicy and was overheard by officers of the king (and doubtless enemies of the de Braose's!) who rushed to tell King John. John's full wrath would soon be unleashed on the family. All of their castles and lands were confiscated, the family fleeing to different points of refuge. Maud and her eldest son William fled to Ireland, but were eventually captured and imprisoned in Corfe Castle where they were walled alive into a dungeon there and left to starve to death. William de Braose the Senior eventually made it to France where he died in exile a year later.

(3) Badass Act Number Three - Lady of Legends. Several local legends sprung up around Maud de Braose. In one she is alleged to have built Hay Castle single-handedly in one night, carrying the stones in her apron. She was also said to be extremely tall and often donned a man's armour while leading troops into battle.

On an interesting side note, William and Maud's grandson, another William de Braose, would find himself entangled in the family legacy with King John. Almost twenty years after his grandfather died in exile and his grandmother and uncle at Corfe Castle, this younger de Braose would find himself with a noose around his neck, ready to be hung for the crime of adultery. But who did he commit adultery with that would cost him life. None other than Joanna, wife of Llewellyn 'Fawr' ap Iowerth, Prince of Wales - and illegitimate daughter of King John! He was hung on 2 May 1230 : "In this year William de Breos the Younger, lord of Brycheiniog, was hanged by the Lord Llywelyn in Gwynedd, after he had been caught in Llywelyn's chamber with the king of England's daughter, Llywelyn's wife." (Chronicle of Ystrad Fflur). Joanna herself was banished for at least a year until her husband welcomed her back to his court and home. But Joanna and Llewellyn's romance is well-deserving of its own write up and will be told in another edition of this blog!

John Marshal

John Marshal, Hereditary Royal Master-Marshal, magnate in Wiltshire, ruthless capitalised on the chaos of the English civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maude.

Claims to badassery :
(1) Covered the Empress Maude's escape from Winchester, fighting a desperate rearguard action to buy her time to escape. He was ambushed at the Abbey of Wherwell, about ten miles northwest of Winchester. He and an unnamed knight took refuge in the tower of the abbey's church. After refusing to surrender to King Stephen's men, they set the church alight hoping to flush John Marshal out. Marshal still refused to surrender and even threatened to kill the knight with him if he tried to surrender or open the trapdoor of the tower. Eventually Stephen's men left and when Marshal stuck his head out an opening hot, molten lead from the church roof splashed onto his eye - burning him and destroying the eye, literally melting it in the socket. Not only did Marshal not die from sepsis or from the sheer pain such an injury must have caused him, he made it home to his castle at Marlborough - on foot - 25 miles away!

(2) Ruthless = understatement! Soon after this, Marshal found himself in trouble with King Stephen again. Marshal had given up one of his young sons, William (who would later become quite famous in his own regard and quite a badass himself), to Stephen as a hostage, which was a common practice in those times, a sort of "behave yourself because I hold the lives of your kin in my hands" thing. Well, Marshal was undaunted by this and began reinforcing his garrison at Newbury despite Stephen's besieging army and his son as hostage. Angrily, Stephen threatened to hang young William Marshal in front of the castle. John Marshal's reply was to go right ahead as, "I still have the hammer and the anvil with which to forge still more and better sons!" Fortunuately for history, Stephen couldn't bring himself to order young William Marshal's death, and John Marshal had successfully gambled and won.