12th
Empress Matilda, or Maude, sole surviving legitimate offspring of Henry I of England, widow of Henry V, the Holy Roman Emperor, and wife of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, was one of the claimants to the throne when Henry I died at the end of 1135. Her cousin Stephen also claimed the English throne, took it and was crowned King, precipitating a civil war in England and Normandy until 1153 known as the Anarchy. Matilda invaded England and in 1141 captured Stephen and declared herself Queen, although the English people resisted bitterly and she was never formally crowned. She was entitled the Lady of the English. Later that year Stephen's Queen, also called Matilda, instituted a prisoner exchange in which Stephen was freed, and the Lady of the English fled leaving the throne to Stephen again.
