How did a runaway nun become the Queen of England and unite the Saxon and Norman bloodlines? This is the fascinating and often misunderstood story of Matilda of Scotland (also known as Princess Edith of Scotland), daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and St. Margaret of Wessex. Born into two powerful royal bloodlines—Saxon and Scottish—Matilda was sent as a young girl to the nunneries at Romsey and later Wilton, under the guardianship of her strict aunt, Christina. There, she was made to wear a nun’s veil, allegedly to protect her from the unwanted attention of Norman men following the conquest of England in 1066.
Rumours spread that the young princess had taken religious vows, branding her a nun in the eyes of the church and the English court and therefore ineligible for marriage. When her father discovered this, he was enraged, famously declaring he’d rather marry her to Alan the Red than see her become the bride of Christ and he took her back to Scotland.
Seven years after being orphaned in 1093 Matilda caught the attention of Henry I of England, the youngest son of William the Conqueror. Having just become King in 1100 he wished to marry her and make her the only Scottish Princess to become Queen of England in history, but was she free to wed? A special council headed by Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury was called to determine if she was truly a nun. Matilda herself testified and what she said about her time at the abbeys and her treatment at the hands of her aunt shocked the court and cleared the path for her marriage and coronation.
In this medieval queenship documentary from History Calling, I dive deep into her life, using original medieval sources such as Orderic Vitalis, William of Malmesbury, and Eadmer of Canterbury to uncover the truth. Was she a runaway nun who schemed her way to a crown, or a misunderstood princess wrongly cloistered and who never took any vows?
Join me as we uncover the real story of Matilda of Scotland, the woman who defied expectations to become the wife of Henry I, Queen Consort of England in 1100 and ultimately the mother of Empress Matilda and grandmother of Henry II.
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