Empress Matilda

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/empress-matilda

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Empress Matilda born?Circa February 7, 1102
2. Where was Empress Matilda born?England
3. What is the title adopted?Lady of the English (domina Anglorum)
4. What is the death?September 10, 1167
5. Who was Empress Matilda?Empress Matilda was the daughter of King Henry I of England. She became Empress of the Holy Roman Empire by marrying Emperor Henry V. Later she fought to become the ruler of England.
6. Why did she fight for the English crown?Her father named her the only legitimate heir to the throne. When her cousin Stephen took the throne instead, it sparked a civil war called the Anarchy. Matilda wanted to claim the crown she believed was rightfully hers.

Holy Roman Empire: A complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Middle Ages and was ruled by an emperor, often considered the successor to the Western Roman Empire.
The Anarchy: A period of civil war in England and Normandy between 1135 and 1154, primarily fought between the supporters of Empress Matilda and King Stephen.
Angevin Empire: A collection of territories in western Europe ruled by the kings of the House of Anjou, which included England, Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and Aquitaine.
Regent: A person appointed to administer a state because the monarch is a minor, is absent, or is incapacitated.