Episode 9: Empress Matilda: Chess Grandmaster of Siege Warfare

The war of dynastic succession in 12th century England and Normandy is known as the Anarchy. (1135-1154). Barons and nobles of all ranks joined in the family quarrel over the succession to Henry I. Matilda, Henry’s only surviving legitimate child and widow of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, challenged her cousin and rival Stephen of Blois, who managed to seize the crown. This was a game of chess or chequers, in which seizing castles and fortified towns was what mattered, as well as bringing nobles with their retainers over to one’s side. Matilda played astutely but only won when she ceased to pursue the crown for herself and demanded it for her son. She continued as the power behind Henry II’s throne from Normandy.

This episode’s guest, Dr Catherine Hanley, is the author of the latest scholarly biography of Empress Matilda, Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior (Yale University Press, 2019). Holding a PhD in Medieval Studies from the University of Sheffield, she is the author of several history books.

Catherine Hanley: Matilda (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019)

Marjorie Chibnall: The Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English (London: Basil Blackwell, 1991)

Keith Stringer: The Reign of Stephen: Kingship, Warfare and Government in 12th-century England (London: Routledge, 1993)

Paul Dalton and Graeme White (eds.): King Stephen’s Reign, 1135-1154 (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2008)

Jim Bradbury: Stephen and Matilda: The Civil War of 1139-53 (Stroud: the History Press, 2009)

Helen Castor: She-Wolves: the Women who Ruled England before Elizabeth (London: Faber & Faber, 2010)

Michael Clarke: Great British Commanders: Leadership, Strategy, and Luck (Pen & Sword, 2024)

Catherine Hanley: War and Combat 1150-1217: the Evidence from Old French Literature (Boydell and Brewer, 2003)

Catherine Hanley: Two Houses, Two Kingdoms: A History of France and England, 1100-1300 (Yale University Press, 2023)