Queen of the Conqueror: The Life of Matilda, Wife of William I (19 page)

However, both Anne of Kiev and Agnes of Poitou were able to exercise sole power only after the death of their husbands. A more direct comparison with Matilda is Gunnor, the long-term mistress and later wife of William’s great-grandfather, Duke Richard I. She wielded considerable authority during Richard’s lifetime and remained influential long after his death, when their son Richard II was in power. Gunnor’s skill in the political arena has led one recent commentator to highlight the similarities between her and Matilda, describing her as “one of those women who could make her influence felt in a predominantly masculine world.”
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There are also examples of women who defied their conventional role in society to the extent of taking part in military campaigns. They include another of Matilda’s contemporaries, Matilda of Tuscany, daughter of the powerful Italian prince Boniface III. The death of her brother in 1055 left her as sole heiress to the family’s vast estates at the age of just eight. From that time onward, she was trained in military as well as diplomatic affairs, and it was said that she rode into battle on behalf of the papacy when she was in her teens. Malmesbury describes her as “a woman who, forgetful of her sex, and compared to the ancient Amazons, used to lead forth her hardy troops to battle.”
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As regent during William’s absence, Matilda would now have the power to make laws throughout the duchy, dispense justice, levy taxes, and mint money. She also had a military force at her disposal, should she choose to use it. That the duke, a staunch traditionalist, should elevate his wife to such a position ahead of the potential male candidates—who, as well as Robert, included William’s half-brother Odo, and his right-hand man William fitzOsbern—would have sent shock waves throughout the duchy. Moreover, the planned invasion of England must have seemed an enormously risky enterprise, and it was very possible that William, like
his father more than thirty years before, would never return. Whatever his fate, though, he seemed confident that the duchy would stay safe under Matilda’s guidance. Indeed, as he stated to King Philip of France, who—perhaps disingenuously—expressed concern over his rival’s departure and the future of the duchy: “That is a care that shall not need to trouble our neighbours; by the grace of God we are blessed with a prudent wife and loving subjects, who will keep our border securely during our absence.”
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To ensure that Matilda’s appointment would be honored by his subjects, William summoned a great council at the ducal castle in Bonneville-sur-Touques and forced his chief magnates to swear an oath of fidelity to his son as heir and to his wife as regent.
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Three of his most trusted counsellors—Roger de Beaumont, Roger de Montgomery, and Hugh d’Avranches—were appointed as advisers to Matilda.
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Of these, Montgomery was William’s closest companion. Described as “a wise and prudent man,” he was renowned for his learning. These qualities would have endeared him to Matilda, and she was no doubt glad to have such a man among her advisers.
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Like her, he was also an active religious patron, and made several generous grants to monastic houses. He was married to the formidable Mabel of Bellême, and they showed their loyalty toward Matilda by naming one of their daughters after her.
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Among the advisers, Roger de Beaumont was described as being “first in dignity,” and his “mature age” lent him wisdom and experience that would be useful to the duchess.
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Whether the duke genuinely believed that his wife would need the guidance of Beaumont and his fellow counsellors, or whether this was a sop to their wounded pride, cannot be known for certain. Either way, everyone present knew that in practice Matilda would have the power to disregard their advice if she chose and to act according to her own volition.

The challenge that Matilda faced as regent of Normandy was considerable. As her husband once observed: “The Normans are a turbulent people, always ready to cause disturbances.”
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Even though William had achieved much in establishing his authority as duke, the Norman aristocracy was still dominant in both secular and ecclesiastical affairs, and power had become concentrated in the hands of a few great families.
The fact that William had strategically appointed representatives of some of these families to assist his wife in her regency was no guarantee of their loyalty.

Not only was Matilda confronted by potential threats from within the duchy, but the French king always had an eye to exploit any sign of weakness on the part of his rival. The same was true of Geoffrey III, the count of Anjou, whose territory bordered Normandy to the southwest. Both had been temporarily subdued by William’s campaigns prior to 1066, but his preeminence was unlikely to last for long. His wife was therefore a good deal more than just a caretaker; she must seize the initiative and rule as fully and effectively as her husband would have done.

While William waited for favorable winds to convey him and his fleet to England, his opponent was amassing substantial forces to defend his throne. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
records: “King Harold … gathered a greater raiding ship-army and also raiding land-army than any king here in the land had ever done before, because he was informed that William the Bastard wanted to come here and win this land.”
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But it was at this moment that his attention was diverted by a serious threat in the north of his kingdom, led partly by his own brother. Tostig had been made earl of Northumbria in 1055, but he was unpopular with the people of that region, and after suffering a decade of his ascendancy, they finally rebelled against him. He sought refuge in Flanders, the native land of his wife, Judith (Matilda’s aunt), and became deeply embittered against his brother, Harold, for failing to support him. Orderic Vitalis claims that Tostig gave his wife into the care of her half-brother, Baldwin, the count of Flanders, while he went to Normandy to seek William’s support.
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Having “boldly rebuked” the duke for allowing Harold to rule in England, Tostig swore that he would secure the crown for him if William agreed to invade England with a Norman army.
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At the head of a fleet of some sixty ships, Tostig proceeded to launch a series of “piratical” raids along the English coast, only to be driven off by Edwin of Mercia, and Morcar, his replacement as earl of Northumbria. After taking temporary refuge in Scotland, Tostig then joined forces with Harald Hardrada of Norway, who had declared himself the rightful
heir to King Cnut and assembled a fleet of three hundred ships with which to press his claim.
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In late summer 1066, he and Tostig invaded northern England. On September 20, in the first of the three great battles of 1066, they defeated Edwin and Morcar at Fulford and captured York, the most important city in the north.

Hardrada’s invasion was bad news for Harold, for, as the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
relates, a shortage of supplies had forced him to stand down both his army and his fleet. Undeterred, he regrouped his forces and marched north, and on September 25 he surprised Hardrada and Tostig’s forces at Stamford Bridge, a few miles northeast of York. The ensuing conflict was ferocious and bloody. Malmesbury described it as “an immense battle … in which both nations did their utmost.”
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But with the benefit of surprise, Harold was able to gain the upper hand, and both his brother and Hardrada were killed. The king did not have long to enjoy his victory, for word reached him, probably on October 1, that William had landed at Pevensey a few days earlier. He therefore turned his troops around, headed south, and, in a remarkable forced march, reached London in just five days. He then spent about six days there gathering troops (and presumably resting) before setting off on October 11 to confront William.

At St.-Valéry, where Duke William had moved his fleet because it was closer to England, he and his troops had to wait for a favorable wind to carry them to England. As the days dragged on, his men had begun to lose faith in the enterprise, and “grumbled in their tents” that their leader was “mad … to take over land rightfully belonging to others; God is against us, for He denies us a wind.”
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Hearing of this, William ordered that the remains of a local saint be brought among them in order to invigorate their prayers for a “favouring breeze.” According to Malmesbury, this worked an immediate effect, and on September 27, the ships’ sails were bolstered by the wind.
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Not wanting to waste a moment, the duke ordered his fleet to embark immediately, even though darkness was fast drawing in. A horn was blown from the
Mora
and a lantern was lit at her masthead to give the signal. “The fleet thus ready, with a following wind and sails billowing aloft he crossed the sea.”
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William and his army sailed through the night, and the speed of his flagship was such that at dawn, he and his crew found themselves alone in the middle of the Channel. According to Poitiers, the duke, undaunted, calmly called for breakfast, which he washed down with wine “as if in his chamber at home.”
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This episode may have been employed by William’s apologist for dramatic effect, but the
Mora
did outstrip the other ships of the fleet, which is perhaps not surprising given its marked superiority. Having waited for his fleet to reconvene, he landed in Pevensey Bay in what is today East Sussex. Pevensey was an ideal landing place; the bay itself offered shelter for William’s fleet, while the extensive walls of the old Roman fort of Anderida (now part of Pevensey Castle) offered a useful base from which to marshal his forces. Having overcome the bad omen symbolized by the lack of favorable winds, however, William faced another as soon as he reached England’s shores. Eager to disembark from his ship, he stumbled upon the ground. While his troops looked on aghast at an incident that seemed to presage grave ill fortune, a quick-thinking knight turned the situation to William’s advantage by crying: “You have England in your hand, duke, and you shall be king!”
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By the following day William had established himself at Hastings, where, according to the chronicler Wace, eager though he was for battle, he did not forget to pay homage to the divine presence that he claimed was at his side. Turning to his nobles, he declared: “Here I vow, that if it shall please God to give me the victory, that, on whatever spot it shall befall, I will there build a church to be consecrated to the blessed Trinity, and to St. Martin, where perpetual prayers shall be offered for the sins of Edward the Confessor, for my own sins, the sins of Matilda my spouse, and the sins of such as have attended me in this expedition, but more particularly for the sins of such as may fall in the battle.”
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What followed has become one of the most familiar stories in English history. By October 13, Harold and his army had arrived at Senlac, close to the present-day town of Battle in East Sussex, and some ten miles from where William had first landed at Pevensey. The duke’s forces were quartered about five miles away, around Hastings. It was in William’s interest to bring Harold to battle as quickly as possible, for he realized that the longer he waited, the more time Harold would have to raise troops. He therefore goaded Harold by ravaging what was part of the
Saxon’s old earldom. Although it might have been to Harold’s advantage to delay fighting, it seems that the English king was equally keen to confront William.