Matilda of England (1156–1189)
Matilda of England (1156–1189)
Duchess of Bavaria and Saxony . Name variations: Matilda, duchess of Saxony. Born in Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England, in June 1156; died in Brunswick, Germany, on June 28, 1189 (one source cites 1198); buried in Brunswick Cathedral, Lower Saxony, Germany; daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1202) and Henry II, king of England (r. 1154–1189); married Henry XII also known as Henry V the Lion (1129–1195), duke of Saxony and Bavaria (r. 1156–1195), on February 1, 1168; children: Henry Welf, count palatine of the Rhine; Otto IV of Brunswick (c. 1175–1218), earl of York, count of Ponthieu, duke of Bavaria, and Holy Roman emperor (r. 1198–1214); William of Winchester (1184–1213), duke of Brunswick-Luneburg.
Matilda of England was born in 1156, the daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, king of England. She married Henry V the Lion, duke of Saxony and Bavaria, in 1168. In 1180, when her husband refused to submit to forfeiture of his lands to the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, the town of Brunswick in Lower Saxony was besieged. Matilda appealed to the emperor's chivalry and the siege was ended, after which Matilda and Henry V sought refuge in England. In 1181, Henry V the Lion submitted to the forfeiture, returning to Brunswick in 1185. He was again exiled in 1189, the year Matilda of England died.