Role of a Queen – Matilda and Elizabeth I

• Tasks

Focus:

Building on earlier activities, pupils look at further sources relating to past female monarchs and continue to investigate differences and similarities.

Here pupils explore two original seals comparing the role of Matilda and Elizabeth I. What do these sources reveal about their roles?  How different is the role our Queen Elizabeth II today? Have any aspects of her role stayed the same?

Empress Matilda

Teacher explains that to meet our first queen we have to transport ourselves back to the year 1135, nearly 1000 years ago! Empress Matilda was the daughter of Henry I of England, one of William the Conqueror’s sons. She wasn’t supposed to be Queen, but her brother died and Henry her father, named her his heir so she would inherit throne when he died.

Matilda was a formidable woman! She fought against her cousin Stephen of Blois for 19 years as he tried to take the throne from her. Many of her father’s supporters sided with Stephen, as they thought a man would be a stronger and more effective leader. In the ‘Middle Ages’ women rarely held power or could control their own lives so it is important for us to find out about women who challenged this state of affairs.

Matilda fought back! She imprisoned Stephen in 1141 and tried to plan her coronation. However, Stephen’s wife then raised an army against Matilda and her supporters, and eventually Stephen was crowned King of England. Matilda escaped to France, not quite a Queen, but her son Henry II later became King of England. She continued to rule in Normandy which was under England’s control and advised her son. Matilda died in 1167 but she played an important role in the story of English monarchy. Her royal seal, used to ‘sign’ important documents shows Matilda looking powerful and impressive. A typical seal of this time highlighted the expectations of a medieval monarch: on the front a king sat on a throne, a symbol of justice to his people holding a sceptre. On the reverse the king was shown holding a sword sitting on a warhorse ready to defend his the kingdom. It was expected that a woman could not act as a judge or lead an army into battle and clearly not rule over a kingdom. This was the first time ever that female power had been pictured in this way and why her seal is so significant.

For more on the history of Matilda: https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/blog/matilda-empress

Elizabeth I

Nearly 400 hundred years later, Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Her mother, was the first of Henry VIII’s wives to be executed. Elizabeth I proved to be an incredibly powerful queen. She certainly made sure she dressed the part too! She never married as she believed that she was ‘married’ to her country. Also known as Good Queen Bess, she ruled for over 45 years, a very long time in those days, bearing in mind that the average Tudor only lived to around 35 years of age! Elizabeth I’s Great Seal was special as it was attached to all important documents from the Queen. It meant that the information in the document had the Queen’s ‘seal of approval’ and reflected her commands.

Elizabeth I was dedicated to maintaining her power and role as Queen of England. She kept her authority over the English nobility and her ambitious courtiers with elaborate court rituals. She was even adopted names from Greek mythology and literature of the age. Official ‘face patterns” had to be used to ensure that portraits showed her as youthful and powerful. The artist Nicholas Hilliard also produced ‘portrait miniatures’, small images of Elizabeth I worn at court to express personal loyalty to the Queen.

Elizabeth and her court went on ‘progresses’ so more people could see her. This was important for her control of the kingdom in an age before social media, the internet, radio, television or newspapers. Few could read or write, so the visual messages provided through her Great Seal and royal progresses made her visible throughout her kingdom and helped secure her position

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