Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 2, 2014

Empress Matilda (1102–1167) was the claimant to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany to marry the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. Her younger brother, William Adelin, died in 1120, leaving a succession crisis, and on Henry V's death in 1125, her father arranged for her to marry Geoffrey of Anjou in a strategic alliance. Henry I nominated Matilda as his heir before his death in 1135, but Matilda and Geoffrey faced opposition from the Norman barons and the throne was instead taken by her cousin Stephen of Blois. In 1139 Matilda crossed to England to take the kingdom by force. She captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, but London crowds blocked her attempt to be crowned and she was never formally declared Queen of England. Robert of Gloucester, her half-brother, was captured, and Matilda exchanged him for Stephen. A stalemate developed. Matilda returned to Normandy in 1148, leaving her eldest son (later Henry II) to continue the campaign. Thereafter she focused on the administration of Normandy, provided her son with political advice, and worked extensively with the Church. (Full article...)

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