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Year 7

The life of Matilda and medieval women

I can use my knowledge about Matilda's life to draw wider conclusions about the lives of medieval women.

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Year 7

The life of Matilda and medieval women

I can use my knowledge about Matilda's life to draw wider conclusions about the lives of medieval women.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Historians can learn about medieval women by studying Matilda's early life.
  2. Historians can learn about medieval women by studying Matilda's role in the Anarchy.
  3. Historians can learn about medieval women by studying Matilda's court.
  4. Historians can learn about medieval women by studying Matilda's later life.
  5. Matilda's life is one particularly well documented way in which historians can learn about medieval women.

Keywords

  • Baron - a baron is a great lord or landholder in the kingdom

  • Anarchy - the Anarchy was an absence of government in society; political or social disorder

  • Civil war - a civil war is a war between citizens of the same country

  • Empire - an empire is a group of countries or provinces ruled from the centre by one person or a group of people

Common misconception

Surnames have always been used and they generally aren't changed from one generation to the next.

During the medieval period, people went by their first name and one or more given names. These given names could be nicknames based on their place of origin or occupation or a distinguishing feature. Some people chose their own given names.


To help you plan your year 7 history lesson on: The life of Matilda and medieval women, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

For Task C-1, have students walk around the classroom and 'teach' their facts to other students. Increase the difficulty by asking them to explain why their facts are important and what they can tell us about the lives of medieval women.
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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
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Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following were NOT reasons for tensions reducing in the civil war in the 1140s?
Matilda was now out of the country.
Correct answer: Matilda and Stephen asked the public to stop fighting.
Many of the barons had grown tired of the constant fighting.
The pope called for a Second Crusade.
Correct answer: Stephen died so his supporters did not want to continue fighting.
Q2.
Complete the sentence: Stephen agreed Matilda's Henry would inherit the throne after his death, which led to a peaceful succession.
Correct Answer: son, Son
Q3.
Why did the death of Stephen's son, Eustace, remove an obstacle to the end of the civil war?
Eustace was angry with Matilda who had agreed to make Henry her heir instead
Correct answer: Eustace was angry with Stephen who had agreed to make Henry his heir instead
Eustace was angry with Stephen who had agreed to make Matilda his heir instead
Eustace was angry with Matilda who had agreed to make Stephen her heir instead
Q4.
Complete the sentence: a is a formal agreement between two countries.
Correct Answer: Treaty, treaty
Q5.
Where did Matilda spend the rest of her life following the end of the civil war?
the Holy Roman Empire
England
Correct answer: Normandy
Q6.
Which of the following examples show how much Henry II valued his mother's advice?
he had her crowned joint ruler at his coronation
any decisions that he made were signed in both his name and Stephen's
he only did exactly what she advised him to do
Correct answer: any decisions that he made were signed in both his name and Matilda’s

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keyword to the correct definition.
Correct Answer:baron,a great lord or landholder in the kingdom
tick

a great lord or landholder in the kingdom

Correct Answer:Anarchy,an absence of government in society; political or social disorder
tick

an absence of government in society; political or social disorder

Correct Answer:civil war,a war between citizens of the same country
tick

a war between citizens of the same country

Correct Answer:empire,a group of countries or provinces ruled by one person or a group
tick

a group of countries or provinces ruled by one person or a group

Q2.
Put the following events in Matilda's early life in chronological order.
1 - Matilda married Emperor Henry V
2 - She ruled the Empire's lands in Italy on behalf of the Emperor
3 - Henry V died and Matilda became a widow
4 - Matilda was named heir to the throne by her father
5 - Matilda married Count Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou
6 - Matilda's son - the future Henry II - was born
Q3.
Put the following events in Matilda's later life in chronological order.
1 - Matilda and Geoffrey joined a rebellion against her father
2 - Matilda's father, Henry I, died
3 - Stephen of Blois took the throne from Matilda - the Anarchy began
4 - Stephen was captured and Matilda almost won the civil war
5 - Matilda was thrown out of London before she could be crowned
6 - Matilda's son, Henry II, continued the civil war for his mother
7 - Henry II was crowned king - the Anarchy ended
Q4.
Which of the following women played an important role in Matilda's story?
Queen Elizabeth I
Correct answer: Dowager Queen Adeliza
Correct answer: Queen Matilda of Boulogne
Queen Victoria
Q5.
What was one of the reasons that England did not have another female ruler for the next 400 years after the Anarchy?
Correct answer: influential men blamed Matilda's gender for the problems caused by the Anarchy
Matilda wrote into law that no other woman could become queen
influential women blamed Matilda's gender for the problems caused by the Anarchy
Henry II wrote into law that no other woman could become queen
Q6.
What can Matilda's life teach historians about medieval women?
Correct answer: women could be trusted to rule and did so successfully
women were only allowed to marry once in their lifetime
Correct answer: women were able to wield power in their husband’s name
Correct answer: women were capable of directing armies

Additional material

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