woman Matilda Countess of Flanders‏‎, daughter of Baldwin V Count of Flanders and Comtesse D'Auxerres Adela Alix Capet Princess of France Comtesse D'Auxerres‏.
Born ‎± 1031 at Flandres, died ‎ Nov 2, 1083 at Caen, Normandie‎, approximately 52 years, buried ‎ at Church of the, Holy Trinity, Caen, France

1 NAME Matilda (or Maud) of /Flanders/
2 SOUR S033320
3 DATA
4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001
1 BIRT
2 DATE 1032
2 PLAC Flanders, Belgium
2 SOUR S033320
3 DATA
4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001
1 DEAT
2 DATE 3 NOV 1083
2 PLAC Caen, Calvados, France
2 SOUR S033320
3 DATA
4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001


[De La Pole.FTW]

Sources: RC 81, 89, 140, 141; K and Q of Britain; Kraentzler 1062, 1157,
1218, 1241, 1265, 1342, 1346, 1350, 1371; Coe; A. Roots 162, 169; Guizot's
"France"; AIS; Pfafman; Davis.
Duchess of Normandy and Queen of England.
She was the ancestress of English rulers down to the present time (1991).
Two death dates: 2 or 3 Nov. 1083. No mention in all this of a second hubby
as claimed by Kraentzler in line 1371. The chart, source unknown, says William
was her second husband. Her first was Gerbod de Flandre, Advocate of the
Abbey St. Bertin and St. Omer. Their daughter, Gundreda of Chester, married
William de Warenne, First Earl of Surrey. Sile Rice in her novel, The Saxon
Tapestry, says Matilda had a daughter, Gundrada, by an unnamed first husband.
All other sources say Gundred/Gundrada was the daughter of William I, and
birth dates given would so indicate. Also, referring to Matilda (page 354),
"And her own daughter was the wife of Earl Warenne"--indicating this daughter
was not the daughter of William I.
AIS: Matilda of Flanders, born about 1031, Flandre, Belgium; died 2 Nov.
1083, Caen, France.
K-1350: Mathilde de Frandre, "Maid of Flandre". Born about 1031, Flandre,
Belgium; died 2 Nov. 1082, Caen, Calvados, France.

Source: Kraentzler 1371.
K: Gerbod de Flandre, Advocate of the Abbey St. Bertin and St. Omer.
K. and a chart, source unknown, are the only sources I've seen saying Matilda of
Flanders was married to anyone besides William the Conqueror.

Guizot says:
Matilda, daughter of Baldwin "The Debonnair," one of the most powerful
lords of the day, was "beautiful, well-informed, firm in the faith, a model of
virtue and modesty." And William asked for her hand in marriage. But she
replied, "I would liefer be veiled nun than given in marriage to a bastard."
(The above quotes apparently are from a chronicle of the period, but Guizot
does not name the chronicler).
William was hurt, but he decided he would have to gain more fame and power
before trying again. Guizot says, "Some years later, being firmly established
in Normandy, dreaded by all his neighbors, and already showing some
foreshadowings of his design upon England, he renewed his matrimonial quest in
Flanders, but after so strange a fashion that, in spite of contemporary
testimony, several of the modern historians, in their zeal, even at so distant
a period, for observance of the proprieties, reject as fabulous the story which
is here related on authority of the most detailed account amongst all the
chronicles which contain it."
This chronicle relates: "A little after that Duke William had heard how the
damsel had made answer, he took of his folk, and went privily to Lille, where
the Duke of Flanders and his wife and his daughter then were. He entered into
the hall, and, passing on as if to do some business, went into the countess's
chamber, and there found the damsel daughter of Count Baldwin. Her took her by
the tresses, dragged her round the chamber, trampled her under foot, and did
beat her soundly. Then he strode forth from the chamber, leapt upon his horse,
which was being held for him before the hall, struck in his spurs, and went his
way. At this deed was Count Baldwin much enraged; and when matters had thus
remained a while, Duke William sent once more to Count Baldwin to parley again
of the marriage. The count sounded his daughter on the subject, and she
answered that it pleased her well. So the nuptials took place with very great
joy. And after the aforesaid matters, Count Baldwin, laughing withal, asked his
daughter, wherefore she had so lightly accepted the marriage she had aforetime
so cruelly refused. And she answered that she did not know the duke so well
then as she did now; for, said she, if he had not great heart and high emprise,
he had not been so bold as to dare come and beat me in my father's chamber."
Guizot does not discount this story, noting it is contained in several
chronicles, and he adds, "... as to the ruffianly gallantry employed by William
to win his bride, there is nothing in it very singular, considering the habits
of the time, and we meet with more than one example of adventures if not
exactly similar, at any rate analogous."

[Have found no other reference to this tale elsewhere.]

Married ‎ at Rouen, Angi, France, France to:

man William the Conqueror King of England‏‎, son of Robert I "The Magnificent" Duke of Normandy and Herleva De Falaise‏.
Born ‎ Oct 14, 1024 at Falaise, Normandie, died ‎ Sep 10, 1087 at Hermenbraville, Rouen, Normandie‎, 62 years, buried ‎ at Abbey of St Step, Caen, Calvados, France

1 BIRT
2 DATE 14 OCT 1024
2 PLAC Falaise, Calvados, Normandy, France
2 SOUR S033320
3 DATA
4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001
1 DEAT
2 DATE 9 SEP 1087
2 PLAC Rouen, France
2 SOUR S033320
3 DATA
4 TEXT Date of Import: Jan 17, 2001


[De La Pole.FTW]

Sources: RC 81, 89, 140, 141; Kings and Queens of Britain; Coe; Norr; A.
Roots 121, 121E, 169; AF; Kraentzler 1062, 1156, 1218, 1241, 1265, 1342, 1346, 1350; Butler; Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants; Pfafman; AIS; Davis.
Roots: Duke of Normandy and King of England.
Descents: William I, the Conqueror, King of England, died 1087.
AIS: William the Conqueror, King of England, born 14 Oct. 1024, Falaise,
France; died 9 Sept. 1087, Hermenbraville, France.
Crowned King of England Dec. 25, 1066, after the Battle of Hastings. Reigned from 1066-1087, first of the English Royal House of Normandy.
Davis: William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy 1035-1087 and King of England 1066-1087. About one-fifth or one-sixth of William's 1066 invasion force was from outside Normandy, notably from Brittany, Flanders, Artois and Picardy.
K-1350: William I, Duke of Normandy and King of England, born 14 Oct. 1024
at Falais, Calvados, France; married Matilda about 1053; died 9 Sept. 1087 at
Hermenbraville, S-Infr., France.
Norr lists six or seven children by Matilda: Adelia, William II, Henry I,
Adelaide, Robert and Constance (and/or) Daughter, born about 1066. AF lists an Anna born about 1066. Others could be children of mistresses, not by
Matilda.
He had several other children besides the five listed by Butler, Butler
says. K. is the only one who lists Gundred as a daughter. He could be wrong.

Children:

1.
woman Gundred Princess of England‏
Born ‎± 1063 at Normandy, France, died ‎ May 27, 1085 at Castle Acre, Acre, Norfolk, England‎, approximately 22 years

1 BIRT
2 DATE ABT. 1063
2.
woman Adele Beauclerc De Normandy‏‎
Born ‎± 1067 at Normandy, France, died ‎ Mar 8, 1136/1137 at Mareigny-Sur-Loire, France‎, approximately 69 years
3.
man Henry I "Beauclerc" King of England‏
Born ‎ Sep 1068 at Selby, Yorkshire, England, died ‎ Dec 1, 1135 at St. Denis, Seine-St. Denis, France‎, 67 years

1 NAME Henry I King of /England/
1 NAME /Henry/ I
1 BIRT
2 DATE 1068
1 DEAT
2 DATE 1135


BIOGRAPHY: Henry was in reality a usurper. He imprisoned his older brother, Robert in Cardiff Castle in Wales, and it is said he had Robert's eyes put out. Henry reigned thirty-five years, not only over England, but over one third of France. In 1120 the White Ship went down on a hidden rock in the English Channel with the Crown Prince on board and it is said Henry I is never known to have smiled again. He had only one child left, Maude-Matilda, then a widow of the German Emperor Henry V. For political reasons she was next married to Geoffrey of Anjou, a boy of sixteen, ten years her junior. After the death of Henry I there was civil war between Matilda and her nephew Stephen, who got the throne for nineteen years. At one point in this contest Matilda had to escape from the Robert Doyley tower of Oxford Castle by sliding down a rope with gloved hands, the rope held by her favorite knight, Alain. She, with a few others dressed in white to avoid detection, crossed in the snowy night over the frozen Thames. The condition of the English people was deplorable during the reign of Henry I, owing to the blood-curdling cruelty of the Barons. Henry established a vigorous police system to check this, and tried to stop counterfeiting the money by mutilations. He oppressed his people by taxation.

BIOGRAPHY: Henry I was born in the year 1068---a factor he himself regarded as highly significant, for he was the only son of the Conqueror born after the conquest of England, and to Henry this meant he was heir to the throne. He was not an attractive proposition: he was dissolute to a degree, producing at least a score of bastards; but far worse he was prone to sadistic cruelty---on one occasion, for example, personally punishing a rebellious burgher by throwing him from the walls of his town.

BIOGRAPHY: At the death of William the Conqueror, Henry was left no lands, merely 5,000 pounds of silver. With these he bought lands from his elder brother Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, only to see them taken back again a few years later by Robert, in unholy alliance with his brother William Rufus.

BIOGRAPHY: Henry could do little to avenge such treatment, but in England he found numerous barons who were tired of the exactions and ambitions of their king. He formed alliances with some of these, notably with the important De Clare family. He and some of the De Clares were with William Rufus on his last hunting expedition, and it is thought that the king's death was the result of Henry's plotting.

BIOGRAPHY: Certainly he moved fast to take advantage of it; leaving Rufus's body unattended in the woods, he swooped down on Winchester to take control of the treasury. Two days later he was in Westminster, being crowned by the Bishop of London. His speed is understandable when one realises that his elder brother, Robert [Curthose], was returning from the crusade, and claimed, with good reason, to be the true heir.

BIOGRAPHY: Henry showed great good sense in his first actions as King. He arrested Ranulph Flambard, William's tax-gatherer, and recalled Anselm, the exiled Archbishop. Furthermore, he issued a Charter of Liberties which promised speedy redress of grievances, and a return to the good government of the Conqueror. Putting aside for the moment his many mistresses, he married the sister of the King of Scots, who was descended from the royal line of Wessex; and lest the Norman barons should think him too pro-English in this action, he canged her name from Edith to Matilda. No one could claim that he did not aim to please.

BIOGRAPHY: In 1101 Robert Curthose invaded, but Henry met him at Alton, and persuaded him to go away again by promising him an annuity of D2,000. He had no intention of keeping up the payments, but the problem was temporarily solved.

BIOGRAPHY: He now felt strong enough to move against dissident barons who might give trouble in the future. Chief amongst these was the vicious Robert of Bell
4.
woman Anna Princess of England‏‎
Born ‎± 1066 at Normandy, France‎

[De La Pole.FTW]

Sources: Norr; AF; Kraentzler 1370.
Norr: A daughter of William the Conqueror, born about 1066.
K: Alveva, no parents listed.
AF gives the name Anna. Very possible error. Both Norr and AF say born about 1066.
Ayers lists no wife.