Hello! Welcome to our first lesson. So we are going to start off with what is England anyways? England is not the entire island, that's Great Britain which is England, Scotland and Wales. Most of the Queens that we are covering were only Queens of England, however some were Queen of much larger empires, for example the sun never set on Queen Victoria's British Empire. Currently Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of the United Kingdom (UK) that includes Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
How does a Queen take the throne? Well, you may be going, well, duh, but let me explain.
Most royal families up to modern day, followed the idea that the first son inherits the crown (primogeniture.) If the oldest son dies the crown went to the next oldest son and only after all there were no more sons could a daughter become the Queen.
However, in 2013 the Queen modified succession through the Succession to the Crown Act. This states that the oldest child born in succession after October 28th, 2011 would be in succession before their siblings whether or not they were male or female.
Okay now on to the queens:
Maude: The almost Queen
Matilda or Maude was the first example of a girl being named her father’s heir. She was born to Henry the First, King of England in 1102. In 1114, at the age of 12 she married the Holy Roman Emperor-Henry the Fifth. He died in 1125 and Henry called her back to England because in 1120, Henry the first's only legitimate son died in a shipwreck.
He decide to name his daughter Matilda or Maude as his heir. Maude was now the Dowager Empress of Germany and she remarried to Count Geoffrey of Anjou. With the birth of her son Henry, her father felt that it was time to name her as his heir and made the lords swear loyalty to her. They did not believe that a woman could run the country so they worked behind her father back so when he died they already had a plan.
When her father died in 1135, the nobility ran Maude out of England and crowned her cousin Stephan instead. In 1139 she sailed back to England to claim her throne. The country descended into Civil War and Maude succeed in capturing Stephan. However Stephan’s' s wife (also Matilda) lead an army against her, leading to Stephan to being crowned King once again and Maude taking up residence in Normandy (Now France). The war was eventually resolved by Matilda's son Henry and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine becoming the next monarchs of England after Stephan's son died.
How does a Queen take the throne? Well, you may be going, well, duh, but let me explain.
Most royal families up to modern day, followed the idea that the first son inherits the crown (primogeniture.) If the oldest son dies the crown went to the next oldest son and only after all there were no more sons could a daughter become the Queen.
However, in 2013 the Queen modified succession through the Succession to the Crown Act. This states that the oldest child born in succession after October 28th, 2011 would be in succession before their siblings whether or not they were male or female.
Okay now on to the queens:
Maude: The almost Queen
Matilda or Maude was the first example of a girl being named her father’s heir. She was born to Henry the First, King of England in 1102. In 1114, at the age of 12 she married the Holy Roman Emperor-Henry the Fifth. He died in 1125 and Henry called her back to England because in 1120, Henry the first's only legitimate son died in a shipwreck.
He decide to name his daughter Matilda or Maude as his heir. Maude was now the Dowager Empress of Germany and she remarried to Count Geoffrey of Anjou. With the birth of her son Henry, her father felt that it was time to name her as his heir and made the lords swear loyalty to her. They did not believe that a woman could run the country so they worked behind her father back so when he died they already had a plan.
When her father died in 1135, the nobility ran Maude out of England and crowned her cousin Stephan instead. In 1139 she sailed back to England to claim her throne. The country descended into Civil War and Maude succeed in capturing Stephan. However Stephan’s' s wife (also Matilda) lead an army against her, leading to Stephan to being crowned King once again and Maude taking up residence in Normandy (Now France). The war was eventually resolved by Matilda's son Henry and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine becoming the next monarchs of England after Stephan's son died.
Sources
Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Empress Matilda (Maud): Rightful Ruler of England?"Woman's History. About Education, n.d. Web. 22 July 2015. <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/empressmatilda/p/empress_matilda.htm>
"Empress Matilda." Empress Matilda. Britannia, n.d. Web. 22 July 2015.
<http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon25a.html>.
Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Empress Matilda (Maud): Rightful Ruler of England?"Woman's History. About Education, n.d. Web. 22 July 2015. <http://womenshistory.about.com/od/empressmatilda/p/empress_matilda.htm>
"Empress Matilda." Empress Matilda. Britannia, n.d. Web. 22 July 2015.
<http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon25a.html>.