Hello, and welcome to today's history lesson.

My name is Mr. Merrett, and I'll be guiding you through today's lesson.

So let's get going.

Today's lesson is looking at Matilda's battles, and by the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to explain how Matilda's actions affected the battles fought during the Anarchy.

In order to do that, we need to use some key terms, and our key terms today are civil war and besieged.

A civil war is a war between citizens of the same country.

And if somewhere is besieged, then it's surrounded by people trying to capture it and no goods or people are allowed in or out.

Today's lesson will consist of three separate learning cycles, and our first learning cycle is looking at Matilda's court and the Battle of Lincoln.

So, let's get going.

So, after Empress Matilda made her way to England in August 1139, she set up her courts in the relatively safe city of Gloucester.

And from there, she directed her forces in the civil war known to historians as the Anarchy.

Matilda gave her supporters land and titles just as any ruling monarch would do.

She had a very similar temperament to her father, Henry I.

Both were forceful and strong-willed.

But whilst these were seen as positive traits in a male ruler, in a female ruler, they were perceived as being cold and arrogant.

Matilda was acting in a manner consistent with monarchs of her time, but not in a manner consistent with women of her time.

This had the effect of alienating some people.

Although she was still able to attract talented supporters to her cause.

Her most important supporter was her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester.

Miles of Gloucester was another gifted soldier who served Matilda.

He wasn't related to Robert of Gloucester, they just held lands in the same region.

Brian Fitz Count was also another very, very gifted soldier, and he was motivated by his honour of upholding the oath he made to Henry I to support Matilda's claim to the throne.

As a woman, Matilda was prevented from leading an army herself, but she could, however, direct operations from her base in Gloucester.

And Matilda's experience managing the affairs of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy were put to great use in this regard.

Okay, let's have a quick check for understanding now.

So where did Matilda establish her courts? Was it in Arundel, in Gloucester, or in London? Make your choice now.

Okay, if you chose b, Gloucester, then very well done, that is correct.

Now, warfare during the Anarchy was, generally speaking, a cautious affair with neither side willing to risk a pitched battle.

Instead, long sieges of castles was the norm and that was devastating for the peasants in the surrounding area whose lands were pillaged by hungry armies.

And this changed just after Christmas 1141 when Ranulf of Chester, who was angry that the north of England had been given to the Scots instead of him, he felt that he had the best claim for that particular area of land.

He rebelled against King Stephen and he took Lincoln Castle.

Stephen then besieged the castle, and although Ranulf was able to escape beforehand and then declare his support for Matilda.

Ranulf and Robert of Gloucester then marched a large army to Lincoln to confront the king.

And even though he was outnumbered, Stephen chose to stand and fight.

He was perhaps concerned that some people felt that he wasn't up to the job.

He was also concerned that his father had a reputation for cowardice.

His father got involved in the first crusade and left early, and Stephen was very keen not to be tarred with the same brush.

As a result, though, he was captured by Matilda's forces on the 2nd of February, 1141.

As a result, Stephen was now Matilda's prisoner and the civil war looked to be over.

Let's have a quick check for understanding now, it's a discussion question.

So what can we learn about mediaeval women from the way that Matilda ran her courts? Have a think about this question.

Write a little list if you can, pause the video, and I'll see you in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you got on fine with that little question there.

So some of the things you could have said was that queens were able to bestow land and titles on their followers, just like kings were able to do.

It was expected that women would have different personality traits to men.

And many people found commanding personalities off-putting in a women.

Women were also capable of directing armies when given the opportunity to do so.

So hopefully you've got some of those points.

If you got some different points, which is absolutely fine.

All right, let's go for our first task for the day then.

So I'd like you to read Laura's interpretation.

And Laura says, "Matilda acted just like a ruling monarch during the Anarchy." And what I'd like you to do now is to provide two pieces of evidence to support Laura's interpretation.

So pause the video whilst you do this, and I'll see you in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully, you got on fine with that task.

Let's think about what you could have said then.

So you could have said that a piece of evidence to support Laura's interpretation is that Matilda handed out lands and titles as rewards for her followers.

Another piece of evidence to support Laura's interpretation is that Matilda directed her military campaigns during the civil war, even though ideas at the time about gender prevented her from leading armies herself.

There's other things you could have said as well, but maybe you got a couple of those points.

As long as you've explained your points and explained how they support Laura's interpretation, that's the key thing here.

Right, let's move on now then to our second learning cycle for today, which is the Lady of England, but not the queen of England.

So Stephen was held in Bristol Castle, and initially, he was held in comfort, although later he was held in a dungeon, he was held in chains.

Now that the usurper was imprisoned, Matilda made plans to have herself formally declared queen.

And in order to do that, she needed the support of the church in order to be crowned in Westminster Abbey.

And the reason for that is that this was the traditional sites of coronation for the monarchs in England.

And this is also where the citizens of London would traditionally choose the monarch by crying out their support for the new ruler.

So Matilda needed to get crowned in London for the support of the crowd and also for access to Westminster Abbey.

Matilda gained the support of the church by making a deal with Henry of Blois, who was Stephen's younger brother and one of the most important churchmen in England.

Henry of Blois was the abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, which was the richest abbey in England.

And he was also the bishop of Winchester, which is where the royal treasury was.

So Henry of Blois had access to incredible funds.

He was one of the richest men in England.

Henry agreed to support Matilda in return for allowing him complete control over the church in England.

Henry called a church council in Winchester after Easter 1141, where Matilda was proclaimed Lady of England and Normandy.

And that was as designed as a precursor to her title as queen.

After that, in June, Matilda made her way to London for her coronation.

There, her attitude, which would've been regarded as positive in a man, but was seen as so out of place in a woman, it actually angered the citizens of the important port city.

And on 24th of June, the London mob rose up against Matilda and her followers and forced her to flee the city before she was crowned queen.

So Matilda's life was in danger at this point in time.

Well, let's have a quick check for understanding now then.

So true or false, the citizens of London happily accepted Matilda as their new monarch.

Is that true or is that false? Make your choice now.

Okay, if you chose false, then congratulations.

That is correct.

But let's justify that statement now.

Why is it a false statement? Is it false because the citizens of London prevented Matilda and her followers from entering the city? Or is it false because the citizens of London forced Matilda and her followers to flee the city? Okay, if you chose b, then congratulations.

That is the correct answer.

Right, let's go for another check for understanding.

It's a discussion question.

I want us to think, what can Matilda's actions in London and the reaction to them tell us about mediaeval women? So pause the video if you need to, try and make a little list, and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully, you got on fine with that question.

So let's think about what you could have said then.

So you could have said that women were expected to act in a certain way and people became angry if they did not do so.

The expectations for male monarchs and female monarchs were different, and women could be the subject of violence.

And again, if you've got different points, that's absolutely fine as well.

All right, let's go for our next task today then.

So why was it important that Matilda be crowned in London? I'd like you to give two reasons to support your answer.

So pause the video now whilst you do this task, and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hope you've got on okay with that task.

Let's think about what you could have written there.

So I said here, "It was important that Matilda be crowned in London because that was the location of Westminster Abbey, which is where the rulers of England were traditionally crowned.

If Matilda wanted to present herself as the rightful ruler of England, then she needed to uphold traditions like this.

Another reason that it was important for Matilda to be crowned in London was because London was an important port city at this time, and if the citizens there did not support Matilda, they could cause problems for her during her reign.

So maybe you got some different answers, which are absolutely fine, as long as you've explained your points.

That's the key issue here.

Right, let's move on now then to our third and final learning cycle for the day, which is the Rout of Winchester and the Siege of Oxford.

After King Stephen's capture, his wife, Queen Matilda of Boulogne, refused to surrender, and instead, she took command of Stephen's forces, which is a very unusual situation, a woman taking command of the army like this.

However, Matilda of Boulogne did have experience in these sorts of matters.

She actually took hold of Dover when it rebelled against Stephen previously.

She and her followers marched into London after Empress Matilda's eviction, and they reclaimed the city, as well as Henry of Blois' renewed allegiance.

Once he realised that Matilda is out of favour with the people of London, he switched sides again back to his brother's side.

In return, Empress Matilda and Robert of Gloucester besieged Henry's castle in Winchester.

And Queen Matilda reacted quickly.

She marched her reinforced troops, so her troops were reinforced with some of the citizens of London.

and she marched them to Winchester.

And Empress Matilda managed to escape this new besieging army, but her own army's retreat descended into chaos.

The Rout of Winchester, as it became known, resulted in the destruction of much of her forces as well as the capture of Robert of Gloucester.

And this was a devastating blow to Empress Matilda.

Robert's support was absolutely essential to her side's fortunes in the civil war.

Where Matilda was based was much of Robert's land, much of her army were Robert's men, she needed Robert of Gloucester if she has to have any hope in the civil war.

Now reluctantly, in 1141, the only thing that Matilda, the Empress Matilda could realistically do was exchange Robert for Stephen, which is exactly what happened.

And therefore, the anarchy created by the civil war just seemed to have no end in sight.

Now, Matilda then relocated her court to Oxford.

And the reason being is that Oxford was closer to London.

It was closer to Winchester.

It was closer to the really key parts of England at this point in time.

In September, 1142, Stephen launched a surprise attack on the city and managed to besiege the castle with Matilda inside.

Robert of Gloucester, at this point in time, was in Normandy.

He was assisting Matilda's husband Geoffrey in claiming the last of Stephen's stronghold in the duchy.

And therefore, Matilda was cut off from the rest of her forces and seemingly without hope.

However, just before Christmas, 1142, Matilda succeeded in yet another daring escape from the jaws of defeats.

She and just four of her knights escaped the castle wearing white cloaks to conceal themselves against the snowy landscape.

It is believed that she descended from one of the windows from a rope as well in these blizzard-like conditions.

They crossed the frozen River Thames on foot, and then they walked seven miles in the freezing cold until they could find horses and supplies.

The garrison then surrendered the next morning, and Matilda lived to fight another day.

As a result, the civil war was not over yet.

Well, let's have a quick check for understanding now then.

So in which two locations did Matilda suffer defeat in 1141 and 1142? Was it Arundel, Lincoln, Oxford, and Winchester.

So choose two of those now.

Okay, if you chose Oxford and Winchester, then very well done.

Those are correct answers.

And another quick check for understanding, it's a discussion question again.

So what can the actions of the two Matildas, that's Empress Matilda and Queen Matilda of Boulogne.

What can the actions of these two women tell us about mediaeval women? So make a little list, pause the video if you need to, and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you got on okay with that question.

So let's all think about what you could have said.

So you could have said that some women were able to overcome gender-related expectations and carry out tasks usually performed by men.

Some women were exceptional leaders.

And some women were incredibly brave and daring.

There's other things you could have said as well, but maybe you got some of those points in the screen in front of you there.

Well, let's go into our next task now then.

So what I'd like to do is to complete the table that I've got on the screen in front of you there showing the victories and defeats that Empress Matilda had faced so far during the Anarchy.

And the first line's been completed for you.

So one of her victories was the Battle of Lincoln and one of her defeats was the Rout of Winchester.

So try and get at least two more for each column.

If you can get more than that, that's fantastic, but try and get a minimum of two.

Pause the video whilst you do that, and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hope you've got on okay with that task.

So let's think about what you could have said then.

So in terms of her victories, as well as the Battle of Lincoln, she was able to capture King Stephen, and she controlled pretty much all of Normandy, certainly most of Normandy at this point in time.

In terms of her defeats, there was the Rout of Winchester, there was also the Siege of Oxford, and she was also evicted from London before being crowned.

So Empress Matilda was arguably very lucky at this stage in the Anarchy, in the fact that she managed to escape almost certain defeat and capture over and over again.

Right, let's go to our final task for today now then.

So to what extent was Matilda winning the civil war by 1142? I'd like you to support your answer with two pieces of evidence.

And if it helps you, you can use the table that you just completed to help you answer the question.

So regardless of what your opinion is, please make sure that you support it with evidence and explain your point of view as well.

Explain why you think whatever it is that you think.

So pause the video whilst you do that, and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully, you got on okay with that task.

Let's think what you could have written then.

So I've got an answer on the screen here in front of us, and I said that, "Matilda had been winning the civil war up until the 24th of June, 1141.

But after the citizens of London kicked her out of the city, things started to go wrong for her.

Before June, 1141, Matilda was in control of South Wales, the Southwest, and most of Normandy, and had gathered several powerful barrens to her cause, as well as capturing King Stephen.

After June, 1141, she lost her greatest supporter, Robert of Gloucester, and had to trade him for Stephen, and was almost captured twice during the Rout of Winchester and the Siege of Oxford." So that's my opinion then, I've supported with some evidence.

If you've got a different opinion, that's absolutely fine, as long as you've backed it up with evidence of your own.

All right, let's summarise today's lesson now then.

So Matilda initially established her court in Gloucester and attracted several powerful barons to fight for her.

At the Battle of Lincoln on the 2nd of February, 1141, Matilda's forces captured King Stephen and held him prisoner.

Matilda then tried to have herself crowned queen of England and Normandy.

But on 24th of June, 1141, the citizens of London rioted and forced her out of the city.

Robert of Gloucester was captured during the Rout of Winchester and was subsequently traded for King Stephen.

Matilda was almost captured during the Siege of Oxford, but made a daring escape during Christmas 1142.

Thank you very much for joining me today.

Hopefully, you've enjoyed yourself.

Hopefully, you've learnt something, and hopefully, I'll see you again next time.

Bye-bye.