Matilda of Anjou, born as Isabella d'Anjou or Alice, (c. 1111 – 1154) was married in 1119 to William Adelin

William Adelin

William , surnamed Adelin , was the son of Henry I of England by his wife Matilda of Scotland, and was thus heir-apparent to the throne. His early death without issue caused a succession crisis.William was born in Winchester...

, son and heir of Henry I of England

Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...

. She was the daughter of Count Fulk V of Anjou

Fulk of Jerusalem

Fulk , also known as Fulk the Younger, was Count of Anjou from 1109 to 1129, and King of Jerusalem from 1131 to his death...

, and his first wife Ermengarde, Countess of Maine (died 1126).

Their betrothal occurred when she was no more than eight years old. She adopted the name Matilda after her marriage in June 1119, as had her mother-in-law, Edith of Scotland, after her own marriage to Henry I. William and Matilda set out on a trip from Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

 to England on 25 November 1120.

A considerable party of hundreds of nobles, courtier

Courtier

A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...

s, other retinue

Retinue

A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble or royal personage, a suite of "retainers".-Etymology:...

, and ship's crew set sail on two or more ships, one of which was named the White Ship

White Ship

The White Ship was a vessel that sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur, on 25 November 1120. Only one of those aboard survived. Those who drowned included William Adelin, the only surviving legitimate son and heir of King Henry I of England...

. On the crossing of the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 the White Ship was wrecked with the loss of all aboard save one. The disaster affected an entire generation of English and French politics as it threw the succession of the English throne into question.

While William had sailed on the White Ship, Matilda had not and survived her husband. She did not remarry and took vows at Fontevrault Abbey

Fontevraud Abbey

Fontevraud Abbey or Fontevrault Abbey is a religious building hosting a cultural centre since 1975, the Centre Culturel de l'Ouest, in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in Anjou, France. It was founded by the itinerant reforming preacher Robert of Arbrissel, who had just created a...

 eventually becoming Abbess

Abbess

An abbess is the female superior, or mother superior, of a community of nuns, often an abbey....

.

Ancestry

External links

• http://www.thepeerage.com/p10204.htm#i102036
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p10476.htm#i104751

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