title: D. Elton Trueblood

texts:
<mask> (December 12, 1900 – December 20, 1994), who was usually known as "<mask>" or "D<mask>", was a noted 20th-century American Quaker author and theologian, former chaplain both to Harvard and Stanford universities. Early life and education
<mask> was born December 12, 1900 in Iowa, the fourth of five children, and was graduated from William Penn College in Iowa in 1922. He did graduate study at Brown University, Hartford Seminary, and Harvard University before finishing his PhD at Johns Hopkins University in Philosophy. Career
During his career, Trueblood held faculty and chaplain positions at Haverford College, Guilford College, Harvard University, Stanford University, and Earlham College. He then settled in the Quaker community of Richmond, Indiana intending to help spur the growth of Earlham College from a small regional religious school into a nationally recognized institution of higher learning. He was a founder of the Earlham School of Religion, a Quaker seminary in Richmond, and contributed to a renaissance of American Quaker thought and action spurred on partly by the common experiences of Quaker intellectuals as conscientious objectors during World War II (although Trueblood himself was not a pacifist). He actively sought to mentor younger Quakers into his nineties.Trueblood also founded the Yokefellow movement and supported Stephen Ministries. His Yokefellow funders included some of his past students, such as planned community developer Charles Samuel Coble, whom Trueblood taught and also coached in track in the late 1920s at Guilford College. He was a political conservative who supported Nixon's foreign policy, including the Vietnam War, and gave the invocation at the 1972 Republican National

masks:
David Elton Trueblood
Elton Trueblood
. Elton Trueblood
Elton Trueblood


title: D. Elton Trueblood

type: original

texts:
 Convention. Nonetheless, he was known for maintaining an internationalist perspective, serving for many years as the permanent representative from the global Quaker community to the World Council of Churches, an organization he helped bring into being. In the 1950s, he served as a senior advisor to President <mask>. Eisenhower, who created a post for him as Director of Religious Information at the U.S. Information Agency (formerly the Voice of America). Time magazine profiled him in this role on March 15, 1954. During the Nixon Administration he again served as an adviser to the President.Publications
<mask> wrote 33 books, including: The Predicament of Modern Man, Alternative to Futility, Foundations for Reconstruction, Signs of Hope, The Logic of Belief, Philosophy of Religion, Robert Barclay, Abraham Lincoln: Theologian of American Anguish, The Idea of a College, The People Called Quakers, The Incendiary Fellowship, The Trustworthiness of Religious Experience (1939 Swarthmore Lecture), A Place to Stand, Your Other Vocation and The Humor of Christ. <mask>'s short book, The Predicament of Modern Man, received much attention near the end of World War II for the way it addressed a widespread interest in finding spiritual meaning and morality in the face of such extreme suffering during World War II. In the book he asserted that searching for morality without a foundation in religion was a futile effort, using the analogy of trying to make cut flowers in a vase live forever. <mask> wrote a shorter version of this basic thesis for Reader's Digest, which generated volumes of mail; he reportedly responded to every letter. Some reviewers have considered <mask>'s books, especially The Logic of Belief and Philosophy of

masks:
Dwight D
Elton Trueblood
Trueblood
Elton
Trueblood


title: D. Elton Trueblood

texts:
 Religion, among his most rigorous intellectual contributions to the field of philosophy of religion. <mask>'s book on Abraham Lincoln caught the attention of Nancy Reagan, who talked about it in an interview with Good Housekeeping in September 1981. It was reissued in 2012 by Phoenix Press with the title Abraham Lincoln: A Spiritual Biography .Trueblood told several students and reviewers that he sought to provide the general audience with many readable works to promote a depth of religious thought among his readers. One of his final books was an autobiography titled While it is Day, which traced his personal journey from boyhood in Iowa and placed his personal history in the context of the history of his family's long connection with Quakerism. Friend of Presidents
Trueblood became a lifetime friend of President Herbert Hoover, who was also a Quaker. They first met when <mask> was the chaplain and a faculty member at Stanford University and Hoover had retired to Palo Alto, California. They lived near each other and eventually struck up a friendship that lasted for decades. When Hoover died in 1964 while Trueblood was traveling in southeast Asia, the State Department flew Trueblood back to the United States to perform the funeral service at the request of Hoover's family. Trueblood was also friends with Presidents <mask>. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.Family and retirement
He had four children (Martin, Arnold, Sam and Elizabeth) with his first wife, Pauline, who died in 1955. Trueblood was remarried in 1956 to Virginia Zuttermeister in ceremonies held at the Washington National Cathedral. Trueblood retired from Earlham College in 1966, but lived in Richmond, Indiana, for nearly the

masks:
Trueblood
Elton
Dwight D


title: D. Elton Trueblood

texts:
 rest of his life. For many years he also maintained a summer home on Lake Paupac (), a Quaker retreat in the Pocono Mountains near Greentown, PA. He continued to write books and give public speeches in retirement. Trueblood died on December 20, 1994. His obituary was featured in The New York Times.His cremains are interred at his study, Teague Library, on the campus of Earlham College. References

Further reading
<mask>od. While It Is Day: An Autobiography. Richmond, IN: Yokefellow Press, 1974. Newby, Elizabeth, ed. A Philosopher's Way: Essays and Addresses of D<mask> <mask>. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1978.Newby, James R., ed. Basic Christianity: Addresses of D<mask> Trueblood. Richmond, IN: Friends United Press, 1978. The Best of <mask>, An Anthology. Nashville: Impact Books, 1978. External links

Biography of <mask>od
Text of memorial by U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar in the Congressional Record

1900 births
1994 deaths
20th-century Quakers
American Christian theologians
American Quakers
Brown University people
Earlham College faculty
Guilford College faculty
Hartford Seminary alumni
Harvard University alumni
Johns Hopkins University alumni
Writers from Richmond, Indiana
Quaker ministers
Quaker theologians
Quaker writers
Stanford University people
William Penn University alumni
20th-century American

masks:
Elton Trueblo
. Elton
Trueblood
. Elton
Elton Trueblood
Elton Trueblo


title: Monika Gruber

texts:
<mask> (born 29 June 1971 in Wartenberg, district Erding) is a German cabaret artist and actress. Life and career

Youth and education
<mask> was raised with her two younger brothers on their parental farm in Tittenkofen, Upper Bavaria. After completing her A-levels, she worked for several years as a foreign language secretary. At the age of 27, she had completed a two-and-a-half-year program at the Zerboni drama school. Her first theater engagement was from 2000 to 2005, as an ensemble member of Iberl-Bühne, directed by Georg Maier in Munich-Solln. TV career
In 2002, <mask> gained her first experience as a cabaret artist in the comedy series Kanal fatal , in which she portrayed Kellnerin Monique, a typical Bavarian waitress who, in broad vernacular speech, talks about her adventures in gastronomy. At the same time, she also performed in Günter Grünwald's Freitagscomedy.From 2003 to 2009, she was a member of the Bavarian Television sketch series Die Komiker. She reported from Oktoberfest in Munich for Bayerischer Rundfunk or BR ('Bavarian Broadcasting') in 2004, and in 2006 she was a celebrity gossip commentator for Grünwald Freitagscomedy. In 2009, Gruber and Grünwald shot a four-part sketch show called Normal is des ned. That collaboration with Grünwald and BR ended in September 2009. In 2012, the German broadcaster ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) gave Gruber her own TV series, Leute, Leute!, a boulevard satire. Contrary to the wishes of ZDF, Gruber didn't extend her contract for Leute, Leute! at the end of 2012, in order to gain more time for live performance.In

masks:
Monika Gruber
Monika Gruber
Gruber


title: Monika Gruber

texts:
 the same year, she won a Bavarian TV award in the category of comedian for Die Große Quatsch Variety Show (Pro7), <mask> <mask> live 2011 (BR), and Grünwald Freitagscomedy (BR). From January 2011 to the end of 2013, Gruber, along with Bruno Jonas and Rick Kavanian, was a core member of Die Klugscheißer, a monthly satirical TV series of Bavarian Television. The show was discontinued when she withdrew to focus on her stage programs. In April 2014, Gruber was again a regular guest on Grünwald Freitagscomedy, and she continued to perform with Günter Grünwald on a more regular basis in autumn 2014. For this reason, the title of the series was to be changed to Grünwald & Gruber Freitagscomedy. At the end of the year, however, <mask> and Bavarian Television announced that these plans would not be realized because of scheduling and conceptual difficulties. In addition to her cabaret and comedy performances, Gruber acted in various TV productions.From 2008 to 2011, she played the leading role of Hannelore Herbst in the Bavarian Television series Der Kaiser von Schexing. From 2011 to 2013, she played reporter Barbara Hansen in the first 30 episodes of the ARD series Hubert & Staller. At the same time, she also played Moni Riemerschmidt in the new Heiter bis tödlich episodes of the Bavarian police series München 7 along with Florian Karlheim, Andreas Giebel, and Christine Neubauer. Cabaret stage program
Gruber toured through the south of Germany and Austria in 2004 with her first solo program, Kellnerin Monique, schmeckt's ned? In 2005, her solo program Hauptsach' g'sund

masks: Monika Gruber Gruber


title: Mona Maris

texts:
<mask> (born <mask> or Maria Rosa Amita Capdeville, November 7, 1903 – March 23, 1991) was an Argentine film actress. Early life
<mask> was born <mask>. Some sources spell her last name as Cap de Vielle, while others give her birth name as Maria Rose Amita Capdevielle, <mask>, or Maria Rosa Cap de Vielle. Her mother was Spanish Basque and her father was French Catalan. Orphaned when she was four years old, <mask> lived with her grandmother in France and was educated in a convent there, as well as in England and Germany. By the age of 19, she spoke four languages — French, German, English and Spanish. In the April 1930 issue of Picture Play magazine, William H. McKegg wrote that <mask> "has assimilated much from each country [in which she has lived]—cynical frankness of the French, the simplicity of the Germans—the romanticism of the Italians, and the independence of the English."Film career

<mask>' ambition to become an actress originated during World War I, when she was a student in Luders, France. She and her classmates wrote, directed, and presented short plays to entertain soldiers billeted near the school. After graduation <mask> begged to go to England and her mother finally relented. In England she found a woman was given much more freedom than in either Spain or South America. She traveled to England under the indirect chaperonage of an Argentine family. Her stay was intended to last only six months, but was extended another two years. The Argentine ambassador in Berlin received a letter which led to <mask> being introduced to the President of the United Film Association.Soon she journeyed to Germany, where she participated in

masks:
Mona Maris
Mona Maria Emita Capdeville
Mona Maris
Mona Maria Emita Capdeville
Rosa Emma Mona María Marta Capdelle
Maris
Maris
Maris
Maris
Maris


title: Mona Maris

texts: Universum Film AG productions. She was given a screen test during which the camera was not loaded with film. A prominent director noticed <mask> and offered her a five-year contract. She counseled with her grandmother, who reluctantly allowed her to accept. <mask>' screen debut was in the German film Los Esclavos del Volga, directed by Richard Eichberg. (The book Hollywood—Se Habla Español says, "<mask>' film career began with the 1925 silent movie The Apache", while a 1985 Associated Press newspaper article wrote "She first appeared in the British-made movie, The Little People in 1924.") Jorge Finkielman wrote about her performance in his book, The Film Industry in Argentina: An Illustrated Cultural History: "Her portrayal of the character Tatiana showed that she was an actress who could be expected to turn out noteworthy performances."Joseph Schenck, president of United Artists, granted her the prospect of a Hollywood career. At the time she had completed just four films in Germany. Her Hollywood film career began with the 1925 movie The Apache. Spanish, French, and German came easily for her, but in the early years of sounds films, her English was almost unintelligible. From 1931 to 1941, she starred in 19 Spanish-language versions of successful American pictures, which were produced by the Fox Film Company. <mask> also appeared in seven English dialogue motion pictures for three studios. In 1985, <mask> described her image as an actress."They used to hiss whenever I was on screen," she said. "I was always playing the heavy. Here (in Argentina) when they need a heavy, they get an English girl. There (in the United States), when they

masks: Maris Maris Maris Maris Maris


title: Mona Maris

texts:
 needed a heavy, it was the Spanish girl." <mask> remained active at age 81, in the role of French aristocrat Marie Anne Périchon de Vandeuil, "a disturbed, broken-hearted grandmother" in the film Camila (1984), which was described as "the most successful Argentine film in decades." Personal life
She was married twice. Her first marriage took place while she was working in Europe and dissolved before she traveled to the United States.She began an affair with Clarence Brown in 1931, and he reportedly proposed to her. Despite multiple sources listing them as being married, they were not, and the affair ended shortly after the proposal, with <mask> later saying she ended the relationship because she had her "own ideas of marriage then." She married Herman Rick in 1960. They divorced in 1969. <mask> had no children. Death
<mask> died  in her native Buenos Aires on March 23, 1991, aged 87. She is buried at La Chacarita Cemetery.4
 Los Angeles Times, "Argentine Film Actress Given Welcome Here", January 1, 1929, p. A1
 Los Angeles Times, "<mask> Gives Recipe for Foreign Actress to Get By Successfully in Hollywood", December 29, 1929, p. B11

External links

 Photographs of <mask>

Argentine film actresses
Argentine silent film actresses
People from Buenos Aires
Argentine people of Basque descent
Argentine people of Spanish descent
1903 births
1991 deaths
Argentine people of French descent
Deaths from lung disease
20th-century Argentine actresses
Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery
Argentine expatriates in France
Argentine expatriates in the United Kingdom
Expatriate actresses in the United States
Argentine expatriates in the United

masks:
Maris
Maris
Maris
Mona Maris
Mona Maris
Mona Maris


title: Dagmar Schultz

texts:
<mask> (born 1941 in Berlin) is a German sociologist, filmmaker, publisher and professor. Biography
<mask> grew up in a female household; her father committed suicide in World War II. After a few semesters studying journalism, North American studies and Romance studies at the Free University of Berlin, she went to the USA. In 1965, she graduated with a master's thesis on "The Role of Broadcasting in Africa with Special Emphasis on West Africa" and completed her studies in broadcasting, television and film at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. However, her dream of working as a documentary filmmaker on television proved to be unrealizable: "My job interview at CBS or NBC was such that the gentlemen asked me, 'What do you mean, why we hire women here?' That was a rhetorical question - and the answer: 'Yes, as a cleaning woman and as secretaries.' " In 1965 <mask> taught at Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi.In 1966/67 she went to Puerto Rico, where she worked in the Anti-Poverty Programs of the Office of Economic Opportunity. From 1969 to 1970, she taught seminars on women's studies and on race and class at Columbia College Chicago and was active in the women’s movement. In 1972 <mask> was awarded a Ph.D. at University of Wisconsin–Madison with a dissertation on workers' education and her Habilitation from the Free University of Berlin with a study on the life and work of women and men professors. In 1973 she returned to Germany and taught women's studies and cultural and immigration issues at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies at the Free University of Berlin. Alongside, she established together with a few fellow campaigners a book publishing house specialized on feminist literature and the Feminist Women's Health Center in Berlin in 1974, the first of its kind in Germany. She worked with the center until 1981. She also co-founded Orlanda Women's Press (Orlanda Frauenverlag) in 1974 and was

masks:
Dagmar Schultz
Schultz
Schultz
Schultz


title: Dagmar Schultz

texts: (co-)editor until 2001.As a visiting professor, she taught sociology of education at State University of New York in 1981. In 1984, she helped civil rights activist and poet Audre Lorde, whom she got to know at the 1980 UN World Conference on Women in Copenhagen, to become a visiting professor at FU Berlin. In 1989 she habilitated at the Institute of Sociology of the Free University of Berlin. In 1991, <mask> followed the call for a professorship for "Social and Educational Work with Women" at the Department of Social Work and Social Education of Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin, where she remained until her retirement in 2004. Her work focused on women in social work, intercultural social work, medical sociology and social education, socialization and cultural competence in psychosocial care. Since 2004, <mask> <mask> has been involved in writing and organising reading tours in the United States for her partner Ika Hügel-Marshall (author of Invisible Woman. Growing up Black in Germany) and other events.In 2007 she was co-producer of the film "Hope in My Heart - The May Ayim Story". In 2011 <mask> was honored by Peter-André Alt with the "Margherita von Brentano Award", the highest endowed award for gender studies and women's projects in Germany. In 2012, <mask> Lorde archive at the FU Berlin, on the other she produced and directed a documentary about the time in Germany by the author Audre Lorde ("Audre Lorde - The Berlin years from 1984 to 1992"). She wrote the screenplay together with her partner Ika Hügel-Marshall. The film had its premiere at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival and was shown at numerous other international festivals. The same year, <mask> became dignified the "Magnus-Hirschfeld-Award" for her life's work as one of the first activists of the lesbian and women's movement since the 1970s, an award donated by the gay section of SPD to honor outstanding achievements for the emancipation of

masks: Schultz Dagmar Schultz Schultz Schultzdre Schultz


title: Dagmar Schultz

texts:
 lesbians, gays and transgender people. <mask> <mask> is passionate about photography, and among others her photos of plants and flowers have appeared on book covers at Orlanda Verlag and Fischer Verlag.Books
 <mask> <mask>, Simone Langenheder: Die Entwicklung der Frauengesundheitszentren in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und ihre Bedeutung für die Gesundheitsversorgung von Frauen BMFSFJ 1996
 <mask> <mask>: Ein Mädchen ist fast so gut wie ein Junge: Sexismus in der Erziehung. Band 1: Interviews, Berichte, Analysen. 2. Auflage 1980
 <mask> <mask>: Ein Mädchen ist fast so gut wie ein Junge: Sexismus in der Erziehung. Band 2: Schülerinnen und Pädagogen berichten. 1979
 <mask> <mask>, Carol Hagemann-White: Das Geschlecht läuft immer mit: die Arbeitswelt von Professorinnen und Professoren. Centaurus 1991
 Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, <mask> <mask> (Hrsg.): Macht und Sinnlichkeit: ausgewählte Texte 3., erw. Aufl. 1991
 May Opitz, Katharina Oguntoye, <mask> <mask>: Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out. 1992
 Ika Hügel-Marshall, Chris Lange, May Ayim, Ilona Bubeck, Gülşen Aktaş, <mask> <mask>: Entfernte Verbindungen. Rassismus, Antisemitismus, Klassenunterdrückung. 1993
 Edith Hoshino Altbach, Jeanette Clausen, <mask> <mask>, Naomi Stephan: [ German Feminism: Readings in Politic and Literature.] SUNY Press Albany 1984
 <mask> <mask>: Changing political nature of workers’ education: a case study of the Wisconsin School for Workers.Dissertation 1972

Filmographie
 2007, Hope in my heart : A profile of the life and work of May Ayim as co-producer alongside Maria Binder
 2012, Audre Lorde : the Berlin Years, 1984 to 1992 as a producer and director as well as alongside Ika Hügel-Marshall as co-screenwriter

References

1941 births
Living people
German sociologists
Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin faculty
Writers from Berlin
German women writers
University of Michigan alumni
University of Wisconsin–Madison

masks: Dagmar Schultz Dagmar Schultz Dagmar Schultz Dagmar Schultz Dagmar Schultz Dagmar Schultz Dagmar Schultz Dagmar Schultz Dagmar Schultz Dagmar Schultz


title: Sonny Liew

texts:
<mask> (born 26 September 1974) is a Malaysia-born comic artist/illustrator based in Singapore. He is best known for The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (2015), the first graphic novel to win the Singapore Literature Prize for fiction. Early life and education
Born in Seremban, Malaysia, Liew attended school at Victoria School and Victoria Junior College in Singapore. He went on to read philosophy at Clare College in Cambridge University in UK and studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001. Career
His first foray into comic illustration was with Singaporean tabloid paper The New Paper in 1995, contributing a comic strip titled Frankie and Poo. A compilation of the strips was published by Times Publishing in 1996. Shortly after his graduation from Rhode Island Liew got his first break into the American comics industry when Shelly Bond signed him on for Vertigo Comics' My Faith in Frankie together with Mike Carey and Marc Hempel.His work has appeared in the Flight Anthologies edited by Kazu Kibuishi, and he has served as editor of the Eisner-nominated Southeast Asian comics anthology Liquid City  from Image Comics. In 2011, he was nominated for an Eisner award in the pencilling/inking category for his work on SLG and Disney's Wonderland, written by Tommy Kovac.Other titles include  Marvel Comics' Sense and Sensibility adaptation, First Second Books' "The Shadow Hero" with Gene Luen Yang, An origin story for the obscure Golden-Age comic book hero The Green Turtle, who is thought to be the first Asian-American superhero  and DC Comics' "Doctor Fate" with Paul Levitz. He is also the


title: Sonny Liew

texts:
 creator of Malinky Robot, a Xeric Award recipient in 2004 and winner of the “Prix de la Meilleure BD” (Comic Album of the Year) at the Utopiales International SF Festival in Nantes in 2009. He was a recipient of  Singapore's Young Artist Award in 2010. The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye

The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye was first published and released by Epigram Books in 2015. It charts the life and career of a fictional comic book artist, the eponymous Charlie Chan Hock Chye, and by weaving together fact and fiction, and different genres, tells the story of the formative years of Singapore's modern history and the history of comics. Shortly before the book's release in Singapore, the National Arts Council withdrew its grant of $8,000 for the title, citing "sensitive content" and its potential to "undermine the authority and legitimacy" of the government.The comic became the best-selling local fiction title that year. The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye was published in the United States by Pantheon Books in 2016 and went on to make bestseller lists at Amazon and The New York Times, which is unprecedented for a Singaporean graphic novel. Besides winning the Singapore Literature Prize, it also won the Book of the Year accolade at the Singapore Book Awards in 2016. It was awarded the Pingprisen for Best International Comic in 2017. At the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, <mask>w and The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye won three Eisner Awards—Best Writer/Artist, Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Asia, and Best Publication Design. It was also nominated for three other Eisner Awards—Best Letterer,


title: Sonny Liew

texts:
 Delcourt)
Artist, Writer
Pride and Prejudice (2009, Marvel Comics)
Cover Artist
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #50 (2009, Marvel Comics)
Artist. With Roger Landridge (Writer). Wonderland (2009, Disney Press)
Artist, Co-Creator
 Malinky Robot (French Edition) (2009, Bao)
Artist, Writer
 Liquid City (Vol.1, 2, 3) (2008-2014, Image Comics)
Editor, Artist, Writer
Wonderland (2006-7, Slave Labor Graphics/Disney Press)
Artist, Co-Creator . With Tommy Kovac (Writer). Re-Gifters (2007, DC Minx)
Artist, Co-Creator. With Mike Carey (Writer), Marc Hempel (Inker). Flight (Vol. 2, 5, 8) (2005–11, Image Comics/Villard)
Artist, Writer
Malinky Robot: Bicycle (2005, Slave Labor Graphics)
Artist, Writer
My Faith in Frankie (2004, DC Vertigo)
Artist, Co-Creator. With Mike Carey (Writer), Marc Hempel (Inker).Malinky Robot: Stinky Fish Blues (2002, Self-Published under Red Robot Productions)
Artist, Writer
Marvel Universe Millennial Visions (2002, Marvel Comics)
Pin-up Artist
Frankie & Poo: What is love (Incomplete and abridged) (1996, Times Books International)
Artist, Writer

References

External links

Official site
Blog site
Flight official site
Slave Labor Graphics official site
Liquid City official site
<mask>'s interview on Kochipan(in French)

Comic strip cartoonists
Malaysian comics artists
Singaporean comics artists
1974 births
Living people
Eisner Award winners
Eisner Award winners for Best Writer/Artist
Eisner Award winners for Best Publication Design
Victoria School, Singapore alumni
Malaysian people of Chinese descent
Victoria Junior College alumni
Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge
Malaysian


title: Zhu Xu (Jin dynasty)

texts:
<mask> (died 393), courtesy name Cilun, was a military general of the Jin dynasty (266–420). He was most famous for his involvement in the crucial Battle of Fei River in 383, in which he set up a ruse that caused the disastrous retreat of the Former Qin army. Prior to Fei River, <mask> put down the rebellion of <mask>n and defended Xiangyang from Qin for more than a year before he was captured and served a brief stint under Qin. After Fei River, <mask> returned to Jin and continued to serve the state. He guarded the northern borders and fought against the states of Zhai Wei and Western Yan before retiring in 392. Background
<mask> came from a family line of generals in Yiyang Commandary (義陽郡, around present-day Zaoyang, Hubei). His father, <mask> (朱燾) once served as Colonel of the Western Rong and Governor of Yizhou.<mask> would continue the family trend, and by 365, he was already serving as General of Hawkish Display and Chancellor of Jiangxia. Prior to the Battle of Fei River

Sima <mask>n's Rebellion
That same year, the Inspector of Liangzhou, Sima <mask>n, rebelled in his province and placed the Inspector of Yizhou, Zhou Chu (周楚), under siege at Chengdu. The Grand Marshal of Jin, Huan Wen appointed <mask> to be Commander-Protector of the Expeditionary Force tasked in saving Chengdu. The following year, <mask> attacked Sima <mask>n at Chengdu together with Zhou Chu. Sima <mask>n's soldiers scattered during the fight. <mask> soon captured Sima <mask>n and his

masks:
Zhu Xu
Zhu
Sima Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Tao
Zhu Xu
Xu
Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Xu
Xu
Zhu Xu
Xu


title: Zhu Xu (Jin dynasty)

texts:
 subordinates before sending them to Huan Wen, who had them all executed. <mask> was awarded the office of General Who Attacks Barbarians and the title of Viscount of Xiangping (襄平子).Huan Wen's 3rd Northern Expedition
In 369, <mask> participated in Huan Wen's third northern expedition against Former Yan. During the expedition, <mask> and Deng Xia defeated Yan's general, Fu Yan at Linzhu (林渚, around present-day Xinzheng, Henan). The campaign ended in failure for Huan Wen as he was decisively routed by Murong Chui at the Battle of Fangtou. Qian Hong's Revolt
In 374, <mask> was appointed Inspector of Yanzhou. Around the same time, a native of Changcheng County (長城; present-day Changxing County, Zhejiang), Qian Hong (錢弘), gathered more than a hundred people under his wing and revolted, hiding out in Mount Yuanxiang (原鄉山). The court issued <mask> to campaign against the rebels after appointing him Marshal of the Centre Army and Administrator of Wuxing. <mask> sent his army out and pacified the rebellion after reprimanding Qian Hong and the others.Following this, <mask> returned to his position as Inspector of Yanzhou. Siege of Xiangyang
In 376, <mask> was called up by Huan Chong to defend Liangzhou from invading Former Qin forces. However, the province swiftly fell before they could arrive, so <mask> and the others stopped advancing and returned. The following year, Huan Huo appointed him Inspector of Liangzhou and stationed him at Xiangyang. In 378, Fu Jian ordered Fu

masks:
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu


title: Zhu Xu (Jin dynasty)

texts: Pi to lead a large-scale siege on Xiangyang. When Qin forces arrived at the Han River, <mask> initially did not think much of them as they did not have any boats with them. He was only alerted after Qin's general, Shi Yue, swam across the Han River with his cavalries and caught him by surprise.Shi Yue captured the boats on <mask>'s side for Fu Jian and the others to use. As Qin forces approached, <mask>'s mother, Lady Han (韓氏), personally inspected the Xiangyang's defence and noticed that the northwest corner was weak. She led hundreds of women in the city to construct a new wall behind the old one. When Qin forces arrived, the old wall fell, but the defenders mounted behind the new one that the women built. The wall was dubbed "The Wives' Wall (夫人城)" and can still be seen today in Xiangyang. The following year, <mask> was expected to receive reinforcements from Liu Bo (劉波). However, Liu Bo feared the Qin army's strength and refused to approach them.Meanwhile, <mask> sent his men out to fight skirmishes with the Qin soldiers, but Qin only reacted by pulling back and refusing to give fight. This gave <mask> the false impression that Qin was planning a retreat, so he did not prepare proper defence for what was to come. Without <mask>'s knowledge, the Protector of Xiangyang, Li Bohu (李伯護), made contact with Qin, promising them to provide them an entry to the city. Fu Pi attacked Xiangyang again in February or March 379, this time capturing the city and <mask>. Escape

masks:
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu
Zhu
Zhu Xu
Zhu
Zhu Xu


title: Zhu Xu (Jin dynasty)

texts:
 attempt from Qin
After being sent to the capital, Fu Jian was impressed by <mask>'s loyalty and appointed him Logistical Director of the Masters of Writing. Meanwhile, Li Bohu was executed for his betrayal against Jin. Despite Fu Jian's flattery, <mask> was determined to return to Jin.He fled to his hometown in Yiyang, where he hid in the home of his friend Xia Kui (夏揆). However, Fu Jian became suspicious of Xia Kui and arrested him, so <mask> decided to give himself up to Fu Hui (苻晖). This only made Fu Jian further admire <mask> for his integrity, and <mask> was appointed as a Master of Writing. Battle of Fei River
In 383, <mask> accompanied Fu Jian in his campaign to conquer Jin once and for all. Fu Jian led a massive army to face the Jin forces at Fei River, which were commanded by Xie <mask>an. With an overwhelming number on his side, Fu Jian sent <mask> to intimidate Jin into surrendering. However, <mask> instead leaked information about the Qin army to Jin general, Xie Shi, saying, "If all the millions of Qin soldiers were to assemble, it would be difficult for us to defeat them.As of now, their troops have yet to gather, so it is best that we attack quickly. Once their vanguard is defeated, their morale will surely plummet. Only then can we rout them." <mask> later returned to Fu Jian, who had not known what <mask> had done. As the battle was about to begin, Xie <mask>an told Fu Jian to move his army slightly back away from the river to allow the Jin troops

masks:
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu
Zhu Xu
Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu
Xu


title: Zhu Xu (Jin dynasty)

texts:
 to cross. Fu Jian agreed, so his brother Fu Rong commanded the Qin army to move back. As soon as they moved, <mask>, who was serving in the rear, shouted, "The Qin army has been defeated!"Many of the Qin soldiers were conscripts who were not willing to fight, so upon hearing <mask>'s order, they began to panic and flee from the battlefield disorderly. Xie <mask>an quickly crossed the river and attacked the Qin forces, decisively routing them. Fu Rong was killed in battle while Fu Jian barely escaped, but his northern empire would soon crumble because of this defeat. As for <mask>, he managed to escape back to Jin together with another Jin general Zhou Xiao and the abdicated ruler of Former Liang, Zhang Tianxi. Post-Fei River

Battles with Zhai Liao
After his return to Jin, <mask> continued his service with the state, being first appointed as Prancing Dragon General and Interior Minister of Langye. He was later stationed at Luoyang after being promoted to Inspector of Yuzhou and Chief Controller of Yangzhou and five counties in Yuzhou. In 386, a Dingling chieftain, Zhai Liao, rebelled against Jin in Liyang (黎陽; northeast of present-day Xun County, Henan) after killing its administrator, Teng Tianzhi (滕恬之).<mask> ordered Qin Ying (秦膺) and Tong Bin (童斌) to lead troops against Zhai Liao. Later that year, Liao attacked Qiao (譙; present-day Bozhou, Anhui) but was repelled by <mask>. In 387, <mask> was entrusted with the positions of Inspector of Qingzhou and Yanzhou. He

masks:
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu


title: Zhu Xu (Jin dynasty)

texts:
 was then stationed in Pengcheng to replace Xie <mask>an, although he later moved his base to Huaiyin, as it was closer to the capital and further from the borders of the powerful Later Yan. That same year, Zhai Liao's son, Zhai Zhao, attacked Chenliu and Yingchuan. <mask> sent Qin Ying to defend the commanderies, and Zhai Zhao was driven back. For his merits, <mask> was appointed General Who Campaigns Against the Caitiff.<mask> later requested the court to transport 100,000 hu (斛) of rice and 5,000 pieces of cloth for military use from Jiangzhou. In 388, <mask> was made Chief Controller of Sizhou, Yongzhou, Liangzhou, and Qinzhou and Inspector of Yongzhou. He was also given the generals Yang Quanqi and Zhao Mu (趙睦) to serve as his subordinates. <mask> sent another request to the court, this time asking for supplies from 1,000 hectares of land from the office of the former Inspector of Jingzhou, Huan Shisheng (桓石生) as well as 80,000 hu of rice. Afterwards, he went to guard Luoyang. Defence of Luoyang
In 390, the Western Yan Emperor, Murong Yong, led his troops to invade Luoyang, so <mask> crossed the Yellow River and faced Yong's general, Wang Ci (王次). Wang Ci was defeated at the Qin River and retreated.<mask> then sent Zhao Mu and Huan Bucai (桓不才) to pursue the fleeing Yan army, allowing them to defeat Yong at Taihang. Murong Yong retreated to Shangdang, and not long after, <mask> received the submission from the minor warlord named Yang Kai. <mask> continued to

masks:
Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu


title: Zhu Xu (Jin dynasty)

texts:
 pursue Murong Yong as far as the White River (白水) in Shangdang, where they fought for 20 days. Meanwhile, Zhai Liao, now Heavenly King of Zhai Wei, took advantage of <mask>'s absence and tried to attack Luoyang. Hearing this, <mask> quickly withdrew. <mask> attacked Zhai Zhao at Shimen (石門; north of present-day Fuyang, Anhui) while his Army Advisor, Zhao Fan, routed Zhai Liao at Huai County (懷縣; present-day Wuzhi County. Henan).After Zhai Liao retreated, <mask> stayed in Luoyang for a while and left his general <mask> (朱黨) to defend Shimen. Soon, <mask> placed his son, <mask> (朱略) in charge of Luoyang while he himself withdrew to Xiangyang. Because of this, Sima Daozi commented that <mask>'s victories and defeats were equal, without further praise nor criticism. Assisting Zhou Qiong
Later, the Former Qin general, Dou Chong, feigned surrender to Jin. After Jin accepted him, Dou immediately defected back to Qin and invaded Hanzhong. The Jin administrators, Huangfu Zhao (皇甫釗) and <mask>n (周勳), surrendered three counties of Baxi (巴西; around present-day Langzhong, Sichuan) to Dou. Jin's Inspector of Liangzhou, Zhou Qiong (周瓊), had little troops to resist them, so he asked <mask> to send reinforcements.<mask> issued Huangfu Zhen (皇甫貞; not to be confused with Former Yan's Huangfu Zhen) to assist Zhou Qiong, and the two men drove Dou Chong out from Hanzhong while killing Huangfu Zhao and <mask>n. Retirement and death
Near the end of his life, <mask> requested the court

masks:
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Dang
Zhu Xu
Zhu Lüe
Zhu Xu
Zhou Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu
Zhou Xu
Zhu Xu


title: Zhu Xu (Jin dynasty)

texts:
 for permission to resign multiple times, citing his old age and illness. However, the court refused to grant him. Near the end of 392, <mask> once more requested for his resignation, but was again denied. As a result, <mask> left his post without authorization. Just ten days later, he surrendered himself to the Minister of Justice and asked to be punished. The court showed him leniency and pardoned his actions.He was then allowed to resign, with his final positions handed over to Chi Hui (郗恢). <mask> died in 393 and was posthumously appointed General of the Left and Cavalier in Regular Attendance. References

 Fang, <mask>ling (ed.) (648). Book of Jin (Jin Shu). Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.Jin dynasty (266–420) generals
392

masks:
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Zhu Xu
Xuan


title: Martin Schlaff

texts:
<mask> (born 6 August 1953) is an Austrian businessman. He was occupied in trade with East Germany before the German reunification. According to investigations by the German parliament, Schlaff was an unofficial employee of the Stasi. His Stasi codename was "Landgraf" and registration number "3886-86". His net worth is estimated over €8 billion. Career with East Germany
<mask> was born in Vienna, Austria, to Jewish refugees from World War II. He and his brother James took over the commercial firm Robert Placzek AG.The Stasi archives have files about him as early as 1982. Schlaff had several meetings with East German officials in 1982. Stasi documents describe how Senior Stasi officers were impressed with Schlaff's "extensive holdings, his various companies, and his access to the needed America technology". According to the German parliament's investigations, Schlaff supplied East Germany with goods that were embargoed by the West. Disappeared public funds after the Fall of the Berlin Wall
When the parliament of Germany investigated public funds that disappeared after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, it found out that East Germany (GDR) had transferred large amounts of money to Schlaff through accounts in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, in return for goods "under Western embargo". Moreover, high-ranking Stasi officers continued their post-GDR careers in management positions in Schlaff's group of companies. For example, in 1990 Herbert Kohler, Stasi commander in Dresden, transferred 170 million marks to Schlaff for "harddisks" and months later went to work for him.The investigations concluded that "Schlaff's empire of companies played a crucial role" in the Stasi attempts to secure the financial future of Stasi agents and keep the intelligence network alive. The Stern magazine noted that KGB officer Vladimir Putin (now President of Russia) worked with his Stasi colleagues in Dresden simultaneously. Recent activities

In recent years he has purchased mobile phone companies in Eastern Europe and resold them for big profits. In 2010 he established a bank in Liechtenstein called Sigma Bank. In March 2008, The Sunday Times reported that Schlaff's 2007 divorce from his wife

masks:
Martin Schlaff
Schlaff


title: Martin Schlaff

texts:
 police raided Schlaff's apartment and announced that they had found evidence of a 3 million dollar bribe. Within 24 hours Sharon suffered a stroke and went to coma, never recovering. Schlaff's partner Robert Nowikovsky has also been investigated. An investigative exposé in Ha'aretz "targeting Avigdor Lieberman, unearthed connections between the financier of the corruption-laden Oasis Casino in Jericho and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his predecessor Ariel Sharon." Police alleged that Sharon had received a $3 million bribe, and Lieberman is still under investigation for allegedly receiving a bribe from Schlaff. According to Ha'aretz, "The $3 million that parachuted into Gilad and Omri Sharon's bank account toward the end of 2002 was transferred there in the context of a consultancy contract for development of kolkhozes (collective farms) in Russia. Gilad Sharon was brought into the campaign to make the wilderness bloom in Russia by Getex, a large Russian-based exporter of seeds (peas, millet, wheat ) from Eastern Europe.Getex also has ties with Israeli firms involved in exporting wheat from Ukraine, for example. The company owns farms in Eastern Europe and is considered large and prominent in its field. It has its Vienna offices in the same building as Jurimex, which was behind the $1-million guarantee to the Yisrael Beiteinu party." Schlaff activities seem to be related to Getex. In June 2010 Schlaff's NYC business partner, Solomon Obstfeld, who ran LH Financial, was found dead in an apparent suicide or murder. In September 2010 journalist Gidi Weitz published an investigative story in Ha'aretz on Schlaff's allegedly corrupt and illegal activities, both financial and political, in several countries including Austria and Israel. In April 2011, the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, was put under investigation after being accused of receiving bribes from <mask>f among other businessmen.See also
 Sokratis Kokkalis - Another billionaire who worked for the Stasi according to the Stasi archive

References

1953 births
Living people
Austrian billionaires
Austrian chief executives
Austrian expatriates in Israel
Austrian Jews
Businesspeople from Vienna
People of the


title: Empress Matilda

texts: Empress <mask> ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with her husband to Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned in St Peter's Basilica, and acted as the imperial regent in Italy. <mask> and Henry V had no children, and when he died in 1125, the imperial crown was claimed by his rival Lothair of Supplinburg. <mask>'s younger brother, William Adelin, died in the White Ship disaster of 1120, leaving <mask>'s father and realm facing a potential succession crisis. On Emperor Henry V's death, <mask> was recalled to Normandy by her father, who arranged for her to marry Geoffrey of Anjou to form an alliance to protect his southern borders. Henry I had no further legitimate children and nominated <mask> as his heir, making his court swear an oath of loyalty to her and her successors, but the decision was not popular in the Anglo-Norman court. Henry died in 1135, but <mask> and Geoffrey faced opposition from Anglo-Norman barons.The throne was instead taken by <mask>'s cousin Stephen of Blois, who enjoyed the backing of the English Church. Stephen took steps to solidify his new regime but faced threats both from neighbouring powers and from opponents within his kingdom. In 1139, <mask> crossed to England to take the kingdom by force, supported by her half-brother Robert of Gloucester and her uncle King David I of Scotland, while her husband, Geoffrey, focused on conquering Normandy.

masks: Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 <mask>'s forces captured Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, but the Empress's attempt to be crowned at Westminster collapsed in the face of bitter opposition from the London crowds. As a result of this retreat, <mask> was never formally declared Queen of England, and was instead titled "Lady of the English" (). Robert was captured following the Rout of Winchester in 1141, and <mask> agreed to exchange him for Stephen. <mask> became trapped in Oxford Castle by Stephen's forces that winter, and to avoid capture was forced to escape at night across the frozen River Isis to Abingdon, reputedly wearing white as camouflage in the snow.The war degenerated into a stalemate, with <mask> controlling much of the south-west of England, and Stephen the south-east and the Midlands. Large parts of the rest of the country were in the hands of local, independent barons. <mask> returned to Normandy, now in the hands of her husband, in 1148, leaving her eldest son to continue the campaign in England; he eventually succeeded to the throne as Henry II in 1154, forming the Angevin Empire. She settled her court near Rouen and for the rest of her life concerned herself with the administration of Normandy, acting on her son's behalf when necessary. Particularly in the early years of her son's reign, she provided political advice and attempted to mediate during the Becket controversy. She worked extensively with the Church, founding Cistercian monasteries, and was known for her piety. She was buried under the high altar at Bec Abbey after her death in 1167.Childhood
<mask> was born to Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy, and his first wife,

masks: Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda


title: Empress Matilda

texts: <mask> of Scotland, possibly around 7 February 1102 at Sutton Courtenay, in Berkshire. Henry was the youngest son of William the Conqueror, who had invaded England in 1066, creating an empire stretching into Wales. The invasion had created an Anglo-Norman elite, many with estates spread across both sides of the English Channel. These barons typically had close links to the kingdom of France, which was then a loose collection of counties and smaller polities, under only the minimal control of the king. Her mother <mask> was the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland, a member of the West Saxon royal family, and a descendant of Alfred the Great. For Henry, marrying <mask> of Scotland had given his reign increased legitimacy, and for her it had been an opportunity for high status and power in England. <mask> had a younger, legitimate brother, William Adelin, and her father's relationships with numerous mistresses resulted in around 22 illegitimate siblings.Little is known about <mask>'s earliest life, but she probably stayed with her mother, was taught to read, and was educated in religious morals. Among the nobles at her mother's court were her uncle David, later the king of Scotland, and aspiring nobles such as her half-brother Robert of Gloucester, her cousin Stephen of Blois and Brian Fitz Count. In 1108 Henry left <mask> and her brother in the care of Anselm, the archbishop of Canterbury, while he travelled to Normandy; Anselm was a favoured cleric of <mask>'s mother. There is no detailed description of <mask>'s appearance; contemporaries described <mask> as being very beautiful, but this may have simply reflected the conventional


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 practice among the chroniclers. Holy Roman Empire

Marriage and coronation

In late 1108 or early 1109, King Henry V of Germany sent envoys to Normandy proposing that <mask> marry him, and wrote separately to her mother on the same matter. The match was attractive to the English king: his daughter would be marrying into one of the most prestigious dynasties in Europe, reaffirming his own, slightly questionable, status as the youngest son of a new royal house, and gaining him an ally in dealing with France. In return, Henry V would receive a dowry of 10,000 marks, which he needed to fund an expedition to Rome for his coronation as the Holy Roman emperor.The final details of the deal were negotiated at Westminster in June 1109 and, as a result of her changing status, <mask> attended a royal council for the first time that October. She left England in February 1110 to make her way to Germany. The couple met at Liège before travelling to Utrecht where, on 10 April, they became officially betrothed. On 25 July <mask> was crowned German queen in a ceremony at Mainz. There was a considerable age gap between the couple, as <mask> was only eight years old while Henry was 24. After the betrothal she was placed into the custody of Bruno, the archbishop of Trier, who was tasked with educating her in German culture, manners and government. In January 1114 <mask> was ready to be married to Henry, and their wedding was held at the city of Worms amid extravagant celebrations.<mask> now entered public life in Germany, complete with her own household. Political conflict broke out across the Empire shortly after the marriage, triggered when Henry

masks: Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda


title: Empress Matilda

texts: arrested his chancellor, Archbishop Adalbert of Mainz, and various other German princes. Rebellions followed, accompanied by opposition from within the Church, which played an important part in administering the Empire, and this led to the formal excommunication of the Emperor by Pope Paschal II. Henry and <mask> marched over the Alps into Italy in early 1116, intent on settling matters permanently with the Pope. <mask> was now playing a full part in the imperial government, sponsoring royal grants, dealing with petitioners and taking part in ceremonial occasions. The rest of the year was spent establishing control of northern Italy, and in early 1117 the pair advanced on Rome itself. Paschal fled when Henry and <mask> arrived with their army, and in his absence the papal envoy Maurice Bourdin, later antipope under the name Gregory VIII, crowned the pair at St Peter's Basilica, probably that Easter and certainly (again) at Pentecost.<mask> used these ceremonies to claim the title of the empress of the Holy Roman Empire. The Empire was governed by monarchs who, like Henry V, had been elected by the major nobles to become the king. These kings typically hoped to be subsequently crowned by the pope as emperors, but this could not be guaranteed. Henry V had coerced Paschal II into crowning him in 1111, but <mask>'s own status was less clear. As a result of her marriage she was clearly the legitimate queen of the Romans, a title that she used thereafter on her seal and charters, but it was uncertain if she had a legitimate claim to the title of empress. After his imperial coronation in 1111, Henry continued to call himself king and emperor

masks: Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 of the Romans interchangeably. Both Bourdin's status and the ceremonies themselves were deeply ambiguous.Strictly speaking, the ceremonies were not imperial coronations but instead were formal "crown-wearing" occasions, among the few times in the year when the rulers would wear their crowns in court. Bourdin had also been excommunicated by the time he conducted the second ceremony, and he was later deposed and imprisoned for life by Pope Callixtus II. Nonetheless, <mask> maintained that she had been officially crowned as the empress in Rome. Her use of the title became widely accepted. <mask> consistently used the title empress from 1117 until her death; chanceries and chroniclers alike conceded her the honorific, seemingly without question. Widowhood
In 1118, Henry returned north over the Alps into Germany to suppress fresh rebellions, leaving <mask> as his regent to govern Italy. There are few records of her rule over the next two years, but she probably gained considerable practical experience of government.In 1119, she returned north to meet Henry in Lotharingia. Her husband was occupied in finding a compromise with the Pope, who had excommunicated him. In 1122, Henry and probably <mask> were at the Council of Worms. The council settled the long-running dispute with the Church when Henry gave up his rights to invest bishops with their episcopal regalia. <mask> attempted to visit her father in England that year, but the journey was blocked by Count Charles I of Flanders, whose territory she would have needed to pass through. Historian Marjorie Chibnall argues <mask> had intended to discuss the inheritance of the English crown on


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 this journey. <mask> and Henry remained childless, but neither party was considered to be infertile and contemporary chroniclers blamed their situation on the Emperor and his sins against the Church.In early 1122, the couple travelled down the Rhine together as Henry continued to suppress the ongoing political unrest, but by now he was suffering from cancer. He died on 23 May 1125 in Utrecht, leaving <mask> in the protection of their nephew Frederick, the heir to his estates, and in possession of the imperial insignia. It is unclear what instructions he gave her about the future of the Empire, which faced another leadership election. Archbishop Adalbert subsequently convinced <mask> that she should give him the insignia, and led the electoral process which appointed Lothair of Supplinburg, a former enemy of Henry, as the new king. Now aged 23, <mask> had only limited options as to how she might spend the rest of her life. Being childless, she could not exercise a role as an imperial regent, which left her with the choice of either becoming a nun or remarrying. Some offers of marriage started to arrive from German princes, but she chose to return to Normandy.She does not appear to have expected to return to Germany, as she gave up her estates within the Empire and departed with her personal collection of jewels, her own imperial regalia, two of Henry's crowns, and the valuable relic of the Hand of St James the Apostle. Succession crisis

In 1120, the English political landscape had changed dramatically after the White Ship disaster. Around three hundred passengers – including <mask>'s brother William Adelin and many other senior nobles


title: Empress Matilda

texts: – embarked one night on the White Ship to travel from Barfleur in Normandy across to England. The vessel foundered just outside the harbour, possibly as a result of overcrowding or excessive drinking by the ship's master and crew, and all but two of the passengers died. William Adelin was among the casualties. With William dead, the succession to the English throne was thrown into doubt. Rules of succession were uncertain in western Europe at the time; in some parts of France, male primogeniture was becoming more popular, in which the eldest son would inherit a title.It was also traditional for the king of France to crown his successor while he was still alive, making the intended line of succession relatively clear. This was not the case in England, where the best a noble could do was to identify what Professor Eleanor Searle has termed a pool of legitimate heirs, leaving them to challenge and dispute the inheritance after his death. The problem was further complicated by the sequence of unstable Anglo-Norman successions over the previous sixty years. William the Conqueror had invaded England, his sons William Rufus and Robert Curthose had fought a war between them to establish their inheritance, and Henry had only acquired control of Normandy by force. There had been no peaceful, uncontested successions. Initially, Henry put his hopes in fathering another son. William and <mask>'s mother—<mask> of Scotland—had died in 1118, and so Henry took a new wife, Adeliza of Louvain.Henry and Adeliza did not conceive any children, and the future of the dynasty appeared at risk. Henry may have begun to look among his nephews for a possible

masks: Matilda Matilda


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 heir. He may have considered his sister Adela's son Stephen of Blois as a possible option and, perhaps in preparation for this, he arranged a beneficial marriage for Stephen to Empress <mask>'s wealthy maternal cousin Countess <mask> of Boulogne. Count Theobald IV of Blois, another nephew and close ally, possibly also felt that he was in favour with Henry. William Clito, the only son of Robert Curthose, was King Louis VI of France's preferred choice, but William was in open rebellion against Henry and was therefore unsuitable. Henry might have also considered his own illegitimate son, Robert of Gloucester, as a possible candidate, but English tradition and custom would have looked unfavourably on this. Henry's plans shifted when Empress <mask>'s husband, Emperor Henry, died in 1125.Return to Normandy

Marriage to Geoffrey of Anjou

<mask> returned to Normandy in 1125 and spent about a year at the royal court, where her father was still hoping that his second marriage would generate a son. If this failed to happen, <mask> was Henry's preferred choice, and he declared that she was to be his rightful successor if he should not have another legitimate son. The Anglo-Norman barons were gathered together at Westminster on Christmas 1126, where they swore in January to recognise <mask> and any future legitimate heir she might have. Henry began to formally look for a new husband for <mask> in early 1127 and received various offers from princes within the Empire. His preference was to use <mask>'s marriage to secure the southern borders of Normandy by marrying her to Geoffrey, the eldest son of Count Fulk V of Anjou. Henry's control of

masks:
Matilda
Matilda I
Matilda
Matilda
Matilda
Matilda
Matilda
Matilda


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 Normandy had faced numerous challenges since he had conquered it in 1106, and the latest threat came from his nephew William Clito, the new count of Flanders, who enjoyed the support of the French king. It was essential to Henry that he not face a threat from the south as well as the east of Normandy.William Adelin had married Fulk's daughter <mask>, which would have cemented an alliance between Henry and Anjou, but the White Ship disaster put an end to this. Henry and Fulk argued over the fate of the marriage dowry, and this had encouraged Fulk to turn to support William Clito instead. Henry's solution was now to negotiate the marriage of <mask> to Geoffrey, recreating the former alliance. <mask> appears to have been unimpressed by the prospect of marrying Geoffrey of Anjou. She felt that marrying the son of a count diminished her imperial status and was probably also unhappy about marrying someone so much younger than she was; <mask> was 25 and Geoffrey was 13. Hildebert, the Archbishop of Tours, eventually intervened to persuade her to go along with the engagement. <mask> finally agreed, and she travelled to Rouen in May 1127 with Robert of Gloucester and Brian Fitz Count where she was formally betrothed to Geoffrey.Over the course of the next year, Fulk decided to depart for Jerusalem, where he hoped to become king, leaving his possessions to Geoffrey. Henry knighted his future son-in-law, and <mask> and Geoffrey were married a week later on 17 June 1128 in Le Mans by the bishops of Le Mans and Séez. Fulk finally left Anjou for Jerusalem in 1129, declaring Geoffrey the count of Anjou and Maine. Disputes
The marriage proved


title: Empress Matilda

texts: difficult, as the couple did not particularly like each other. There was a further dispute over <mask>'s dowry; she was granted various castles in Normandy by Henry, but it was not specified when the couple would actually take possession of them. It is also unknown whether Henry intended Geoffrey to have any future claim on England or Normandy, and he was probably keeping Geoffrey's status deliberately uncertain. Soon after the marriage, <mask> left Geoffrey and returned to Normandy.Henry appears to have blamed Geoffrey for the separation, but the couple were finally reconciled in 1131. Henry summoned <mask> from Normandy, and she arrived in England that August. It was decided that <mask> would return to Geoffrey at a meeting of the King's great council in September. The council also gave another collective oath of allegiance to recognise her as Henry's heir. <mask> gave birth to her first son in March 1133 at Le Mans, the future Henry II. Henry I was delighted by the news and came to see her at Rouen. At Pentecost 1134, their second son Geoffrey was born in Rouen, but the childbirth was extremely difficult and <mask> appeared close to death.She made arrangements for her will and argued with her father about where she should be buried. <mask> preferred Bec Abbey, but Henry wanted her to be interred at Rouen Cathedral. <mask> recovered, and Henry was overjoyed by the birth of his second grandson, possibly insisting on another round of oaths from his nobility. From then on, relations became increasingly strained between <mask> and Henry. <mask> and Geoffrey suspected that they lacked genuine support in England for their claim to the

masks: Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 throne, and proposed in 1135 that the King should hand over the royal castles in Normandy to <mask> and should insist that the Norman nobility immediately swear allegiance to her. This would have given the couple a much more powerful position after Henry's death, but the King angrily refused, probably out of a concern that Geoffrey would try to seize power in Normandy while he was still alive. A fresh rebellion broke out in southern Normandy, and Geoffrey and <mask> intervened militarily on behalf of the rebels.In the middle of this confrontation, Henry unexpectedly fell ill and died near Lyons-la-Forêt. It is uncertain what, if anything, Henry said about the succession before his death. Contemporary chronicler accounts were coloured by subsequent events. Sources favourable to <mask> suggested that Henry had reaffirmed his intent to grant all his lands to his daughter, while hostile chroniclers argued that Henry had renounced his former plans and had apologised for having forced the barons to swear an oath of allegiance to her. Road to war

When news began to spread of Henry I's death, <mask> and Geoffrey were in Anjou, supporting the rebels in their campaign against the royal army, which included a number of <mask>'s supporters such as Robert of Gloucester. Many of these barons had taken an oath to stay in Normandy until the late king was properly buried, which prevented them from returning to England. Nonetheless, Geoffrey and <mask> took the opportunity to march into southern Normandy and seize a number of key castles around Argentan that had formed <mask>'s disputed dowry.They then stopped, unable to advance further, pillaging the


title: Empress Matilda

texts: countryside and facing increased resistance from the Norman nobility and a rebellion in Anjou itself. <mask> was by now also pregnant with her third son, William; opinions vary among historians as to what extent this affected her military plans. Meanwhile, news of Henry's death had reached Stephen of Blois, conveniently placed in Boulogne, and he left for England, accompanied by his military household. Robert of Gloucester had garrisoned the ports of Dover and Canterbury and some accounts suggest that they refused Stephen access when he first arrived. Nonetheless Stephen reached the edge of London by 8 December and over the next week he began to seize power in England. The crowds in London proclaimed Stephen the new monarch, believing that he would grant the city new rights and privileges in return, and his brother, Henry of Blois, the bishop of Winchester, delivered the support of the Church to Stephen. Stephen had sworn to support <mask> in 1127, but Henry convincingly argued that the late King had been wrong to insist that his court take the oath, and suggested that the King had changed his mind on his deathbed.Stephen's coronation was held a week later at Westminster Abbey on 26 December. Following the news that Stephen was gathering support in England, the Norman nobility had gathered at Le Neubourg to discuss declaring his elder brother Theobald king. The Normans argued that the count, as the eldest grandson of William the Conqueror, had the most valid claim over the kingdom and the Duchy, and was certainly preferable to <mask>. Their discussions were interrupted by the sudden news from England that Stephen's coronation was to

masks: Matilda Matilda Matilda


title: Empress Matilda

texts: occur the next day. Theobald's support immediately ebbed away, as the barons were not prepared to support the division of England and Normandy by opposing Stephen. <mask> gave birth to her third son William on 22 July 1136 at Argentan, and she then operated out of the border region for the next three years, establishing her household knights on estates around the area. <mask> may have asked Ulger, the bishop of Angers, to garner support for her claim with Pope Innocent II in Rome, but if she did, Ulger was unsuccessful.Geoffrey invaded Normandy in early 1136 and, after a temporary truce, invaded again later the same year, raiding and burning estates rather than trying to hold the territory. Stephen returned to the Duchy in 1137, where he met with Louis VI and Theobald to agree to an informal alliance against Geoffrey and <mask>, to counter the growing Angevin power in the region. Stephen formed an army to retake <mask>'s Argentan castles, but frictions between his Flemish mercenary forces and the local Norman barons resulted in a battle between the two-halves of his army. The Norman forces then deserted the King, forcing Stephen to give up his campaign. Stephen agreed to another truce with Geoffrey, promising to pay him 2,000 marks a year in exchange for peace along the Norman borders. In England, Stephen's reign started off well, with lavish gatherings of the royal court that saw the King give out grants of land and favours to his supporters. Stephen received the support of Pope Innocent II, thanks in part to the testimony of Louis VI and Theobald.Troubles rapidly began to emerge. <mask>'s uncle, David I of Scotland, invaded the


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 north of England on the news of Henry's death, taking Carlisle, Newcastle and other key strongholds. Stephen rapidly marched north with an army and met David at Durham, where a temporary compromise was agreed. South Wales rose in rebellion, and by 1137 Stephen was forced to abandon attempts to suppress the revolt. Stephen put down two revolts in the south-west led by Baldwin de Redvers and Robert of Bampton; Baldwin was released after his capture and travelled to Normandy, where he became a vocal critic of the King. Revolt

<mask>'s half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, was one of the most powerful Anglo-Norman barons, controlling estates in Normandy as well as the Earldom of Gloucester. In 1138, he rebelled against Stephen, starting the descent into civil war in England.Robert renounced his fealty to the King and declared his support for <mask>, which triggered a major regional rebellion in Kent and across the south-west of England, although he himself remained in Normandy. <mask> had not been particularly active in asserting her claims to the throne since 1135 and in many ways it was Robert who took the initiative in declaring war in 1138. In France, Geoffrey took advantage of the situation by re-invading Normandy. David of Scotland also invaded the north of England once again, announcing that he was supporting the claim of <mask> to the throne, pushing south into Yorkshire. Stephen responded quickly to the revolts and invasions, paying most attention to England rather than to Normandy. His wife <mask> was sent to Kent with ships and resources from Boulogne, with the task of retaking the key port of Dover, under Robert's control. A


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 small number of Stephen's household knights were sent north to help the fight against the Scots, where David's forces were defeated later that year at the Battle of the Standard.Despite this victory, however, David still occupied most of the north. Stephen himself went west in an attempt to regain control of Gloucestershire, first striking north into the Welsh Marches, taking Hereford and Shrewsbury, before heading south to Bath. The town of Bristol itself proved too strong for him, and Stephen contented himself with raiding and pillaging the surrounding area. The rebels appear to have expected Robert to intervene with support, but he remained in Normandy throughout the year, trying to persuade the Empress <mask> to invade England herself. Dover finally surrendered to the Queen's forces later in the year. By 1139, an invasion of England by Robert and <mask> appeared imminent. Geoffrey and <mask> had secured much of Normandy and, together with Robert, spent the beginning of the year mobilising forces for a cross-Channel expedition.<mask> also appealed to the papacy at the start of the year; her representative, Bishop Ulger, put forward her legal claim to the English throne on the grounds of her hereditary right and the oaths sworn by the barons. Arnulf of Lisieux led Stephen's case, arguing that because <mask>'s mother had really been a nun, her claim to the throne was illegitimate. The Pope declined to reverse his earlier support for Stephen, but from <mask>'s perspective the case usefully established that Stephen's claim was disputed. Civil War

Initial moves

Empress <mask>'s invasion finally began at the end of the summer of 1139.


title: Empress Matilda

texts: Baldwin de Redvers crossed over from Normandy to Wareham in August in an initial attempt to capture a port to receive <mask>'s invading army, but Stephen's forces forced him to retreat into the south-west. The following month, the Empress was invited by her stepmother, Queen Adeliza, to land at Arundel instead, and on 30 September Robert of Gloucester and <mask> arrived in England with a force of 140 knights. <mask> stayed at Arundel Castle, while Robert marched north-west to Wallingford and Bristol, hoping to raise support for the rebellion and to link up with Miles of Gloucester, who took the opportunity to renounce his fealty to the King and declare for <mask>.Stephen responded by promptly moving south, besieging Arundel and trapping <mask> inside the castle. Stephen then agreed to a truce proposed by his brother, Henry of Blois; the full details of the agreement are not known, but the results were that <mask> and her household of knights were released from the siege and escorted to the south-west of England, where they were reunited with Robert of Gloucester. The reasons for <mask>'s release remain unclear. Stephen may have thought it was in his own best interests to release the Empress and concentrate instead on attacking Robert, seeing Robert, rather than <mask>, as his main opponent at this point in the conflict. Arundel Castle was also considered almost impregnable, and Stephen may have been worried that he risked tying down his army in the south whilst Robert roamed freely in the west. Another theory is that Stephen released <mask> out of a sense of chivalry; Stephen had a generous, courteous personality and women were not


title: Empress Matilda

texts: normally expected to be targeted in Anglo-Norman warfare. After staying for a period in Robert's stronghold of Bristol, <mask> established her court in nearby Gloucester, still safely in the south-west but far enough away for her to remain independent of her half-brother.Although there had been only a few new defections to her cause, <mask> still controlled a compact block of territory stretching out from Gloucester and Bristol south into Wiltshire, west into the Welsh Marches and east through the Thames Valley as far as Oxford and Wallingford, threatening London. Her influence extended down into Devon and Cornwall, and north through Herefordshire, but her authority in these areas remained limited. She faced a counterattack from Stephen, who started by attacking Wallingford Castle which controlled the Thames corridor; it was held by Brian Fitz Count and Stephen found it too well defended. Stephen continued into Wiltshire to attack Trowbridge, taking the castles of South Cerney and Malmesbury en route. In response, Miles marched east, attacking Stephen's rearguard forces at Wallingford and threatening an advance on London. Stephen was forced to give up his western campaign, returning east to stabilise the situation and protect his capital. At the start of 1140, Nigel, the Bishop of Ely, joined <mask>'s faction.Hoping to seize East Anglia, he established his base of operations in the Isle of Ely, then surrounded by protective fenland. Nigel faced a rapid response from Stephen, who made a surprise attack on the isle, forcing the Bishop to flee to Gloucester. Robert of Gloucester's men retook some of the territory that Stephen had taken


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 in his 1139 campaign. In an effort to negotiate a truce, Henry of Blois held a peace conference at Bath, at which <mask> was represented by Robert. The conference collapsed after Henry and the clergy insisted that they should set the terms of any peace deal, which Stephen's representatives found unacceptable. Battle of Lincoln

Matilda's fortunes changed dramatically for the better at the start of 1141. Ranulf of Chester, a powerful northern magnate, had fallen out with the King over the winter and Stephen had placed his castle in Lincoln under siege.In response, Robert of Gloucester and Ranulf advanced on Stephen's position with a larger force, resulting in the Battle of Lincoln on 2 February 1141. The King commanded the centre of his army, with Alan of Brittany on his right and William of Aumale on his left. Robert and Ranulf's forces had a superiority in cavalry and Stephen dismounted many of his own knights to form a solid infantry block. After an initial success in which William's forces destroyed the Angevins' Welsh infantry, the battle went well for <mask>'s forces. Robert and Ranulf's cavalry encircled Stephen's centre, and the King found himself surrounded by the Angevin army. After much fighting, Robert's soldiers finally overwhelmed Stephen and he was taken away from the field in custody. <mask> received Stephen in person at her court in Gloucester, before having him moved to Bristol Castle, traditionally used for holding high-status prisoners.<mask> now began to take the necessary steps to have herself crowned queen in his place, which would require the agreement of the Church and her coronation at Westminster. Stephen's

masks: Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda


title: Empress Matilda

texts: brother Henry summoned a council at Winchester before Easter in his capacity as papal legate to consider the clergy's view. <mask> had made a private deal with Henry that he would deliver the support of the Church in exchange for being granted control over Church affairs. Henry handed over the royal treasury to her, which proved to be rather depleted except for Stephen's crown, and he excommunicated many of her enemies who refused to switch sides. Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury was unwilling to declare <mask> queen so rapidly, however, and a delegation of clergy and nobles, headed by Theobald, travelled to Bristol to see Stephen, who agreed that, given the situation, he was prepared to release his subjects from their oath of fealty to him. The clergy gathered again in Winchester after Easter, on 7 April 1141, and the following day they declared that <mask> should be monarch in place of Stephen. She assume the title "Lady of England and Normandy" () as a precursor to her coronation.Although <mask>'s own followers attended the event, few other major nobles seem to have attended and the delegation from London procrastinated. Stephen's wife, Queen <mask>, wrote to complain and demand her husband's release. Nonetheless, <mask> then advanced to London to arrange her coronation in June, where her position became precarious. Despite securing the support of Geoffrey de Mandeville, who controlled the Tower of London, forces loyal to Stephen and Queen <mask> remained close to the city and the citizens were fearful about welcoming the Empress. On 24 June, shortly before the planned coronation, the city rose up against the Empress and Geoffrey


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 de Mandeville; <mask> and her followers fled just in time, making a chaotic retreat back to Oxford. Meanwhile, Geoffrey of Anjou invaded Normandy again and, in the absence of Waleran of Beaumont, who was still fighting in England, Geoffrey took all the Duchy south of the River Seine and east of the Risle. No help was forthcoming from Stephen's brother Theobald this time either, who appears to have been preoccupied with his own problems with France—the new French king, Louis VII, had rejected his father's regional alliance, improving relations with Anjou and taking a more bellicose line with Theobald, which would result in war the following year.Geoffrey's success in Normandy and Stephen's weakness in England began to influence the loyalty of many Anglo-Norman barons, who feared losing their lands in England to Robert and the Empress, and their possessions in Normandy to Geoffrey. Many started to leave Stephen's faction. His friend and advisor Waleran was one of those who decided to defect in mid-1141, crossing into Normandy to secure his ancestral possessions by allying himself with the Angevins, and bringing Worcestershire into the Empress's camp. Waleran's twin brother, Robert of Leicester, effectively withdrew from fighting in the conflict at the same time. Other supporters of the Empress were restored in their former strongholds, such as Bishop Nigel of Ely, and still others received new earldoms in the west of England. The royal control over the minting of coins broke down, leading to coins being struck by local barons and bishops across the country. Rout of Winchester and the Siege of Oxford

<mask>'s position was transformed by


title: Empress Matilda

texts: her defeat at the Rout of Winchester.Her alliance with Henry of Blois proved short-lived and they soon fell out over political patronage and ecclesiastical policy; the Bishop transferred his support back to Stephen's cause. In response, in July <mask> and Robert of Gloucester besieged Henry of Blois in his episcopal castle at Winchester, using the royal castle in the city as the base for their operations. Stephen's wife, Queen <mask>, had kept his cause alive in the south-east of England, and the Queen, backed by her lieutenant William of Ypres and reinforced with fresh troops from London, took the opportunity to advance on Winchester. Their forces encircled <mask>'s army. <mask> decided to escape from the city with Fitz Count and Reginald of Cornwall, while the rest of her army delayed the royal forces. In the subsequent battle the Empress's forces were defeated and Robert of Gloucester himself was taken prisoner during the retreat, although <mask> herself escaped, exhausted, to her fortress at Devizes. With both Stephen and Robert held prisoner, negotiations were held to try to come to agreement on a long-term peace settlement, but Queen <mask> was unwilling to offer any compromise to the Empress, and Robert refused to accept any offer to encourage him to change sides to Stephen.Instead, in November the two sides simply exchanged the two leaders, Stephen returning to his queen, and Robert to the Empress in Oxford. Henry held another church council, which reversed its previous decision and reaffirmed Stephen's legitimacy to rule, and a fresh coronation of Stephen and <mask> occurred at Christmas 1141. Stephen travelled north to raise


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 new forces and to successfully persuade Ranulf of Chester to change sides once again. Stephen then spent the summer attacking some of the new Angevin castles built the previous year, including Cirencester, Bampton and Wareham. During the summer of 1142 Robert returned to Normandy to assist Geoffrey with operations against some of Stephen's remaining followers there, before returning in the autumn. <mask> came under increased pressure from Stephen's forces and was surrounded at Oxford. Oxford was a secure town, protected by walls and the River Isis, but Stephen led a sudden attack across the river, leading the charge and swimming part of the way.Once on the other side, the King and his men stormed into the town, trapping <mask> in the castle. Oxford Castle was a powerful fortress and, rather than storming it, Stephen decided to settle down for a long siege. Just before Christmas, <mask> sneaked out of the castle with a handful of knights (probably via a postern gate), crossed the icy river and made her escape past the royal army on foot to Abingdon-on-Thames and then riding to safety at Wallingford, leaving the castle garrison to surrender the next day. <mask> and her companions reportedly wore white to camouflage themselves against the snow. Stalemate

In the aftermath of the retreat from Winchester, <mask> rebuilt her court at Devizes Castle, a former property of the Bishop of Salisbury that had been confiscated by Stephen. She established her household knights on the surrounding estates, supported by Flemish mercenaries, ruling through the network of local sheriffs and other officials. Many of those that had lost lands in the


title: Empress Matilda

texts: regions held by the King travelled west to take up patronage from <mask>.Backed by the pragmatic Robert of Gloucester, <mask> was content to engage in a drawn-out struggle, and the war soon entered a stalemate. At first, the balance of power appeared to move slightly in <mask>'s favour. Robert of Gloucester besieged Stephen in 1143 at Wilton Castle, an assembly point for royal forces in Herefordshire. Stephen attempted to break out and escape, resulting in the Battle of Wilton. Once again, the Angevin cavalry proved too strong, and for a moment it appeared that Stephen might be captured for a second time, before finally managing to escape. Later in the year Geoffrey de Mandeville, the Earl of Essex, rose up in rebellion against Stephen in East Anglia. Geoffrey based himself from the Isle of Ely and began a military campaign against Cambridge, with the intention of progressing south towards London.Ranulf of Chester revolted once again in the summer of 1144. Meanwhile, Geoffrey of Anjou finished securing his hold on southern Normandy, and in January 1144 he advanced into Rouen, the capital of the Duchy, concluding his campaign. Louis VII recognised him as Duke of Normandy shortly after. Despite these successes, <mask> was unable to consolidate her position. Miles of Gloucester, one of the most talented of her military commanders, had died while hunting over the previous Christmas. Geoffrey de Mandeville's rebellion against Stephen in the east ended with his death in September 1144 during an attack on Burwell Castle. As a result, Stephen made progress against <mask>'s forces in the west in 1145, recapturing Faringdon Castle in


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 Oxfordshire.<mask> authorised Reginald, the Earl of Cornwall, to attempt fresh peace negotiations, but neither side was prepared to compromise. Conclusion of the war

The character of the conflict in England gradually began to shift; by the late 1140s, the major fighting in the war was over, giving way to an intractable stalemate, with only the occasional outbreak of fresh fighting. Several of <mask>'s key supporters died: in 1147 Robert of Gloucester died peacefully, and Brian Fitz Count gradually withdrew from public life, probably eventually joining a monastery; by 1151 he was dead. Many of <mask>'s other followers joined the Second Crusade when it was announced in 1145, leaving the region for several years. Some of the Anglo-Norman barons made individual peace agreements with each other to secure their lands and war gains, and many were not keen to pursue any further conflict. <mask>'s eldest son Henry slowly began to assume a leading role in the conflict. He had remained in France when the Empress first left for England.He crossed over to England in 1142, before returning to Anjou in 1144. Geoffrey of Anjou expected Henry to become the King of England and began to involve him in the government of the family lands. In 1147, Henry intervened in England with a small mercenary army but the expedition failed, not least because Henry lacked the funds to pay his men. Henry asked his mother for money, but she refused, stating that she had none available. In the end Stephen himself ended up paying off Henry's mercenaries, allowing him to return home safely; his reasons for doing so remain unclear. <mask> decided to return to Normandy in


title: Empress Matilda

texts: 1148, partially due to her difficulties with the Church. The Empress had occupied the strategically essential Devizes Castle in 1142, maintaining her court there, but legally it still belonged to Josceline de Bohon, the bishop of Salisbury, and in late 1146 Pope Eugene III intervened to support his claims, threatening <mask> with excommunication if she did not return it.<mask> first played for time, then left for Normandy in early 1148, leaving the castle to Henry, who then procrastinated over its return for many years. <mask> re-established her court in Rouen, where she met with her sons and husband and probably made arrangements for her future life in Normandy, and for Henry's next expedition to England. <mask> chose to live in the priory of Notre Dame du Pré, situated just south of Rouen, where she lived in personal quarters attached to the priory and in a nearby palace built by Henry. <mask> increasingly devoted her efforts to the administration of Normandy, rather than the war in England. Geoffrey sent the bishop of Thérouanne to Rome in 1148 to campaign for Henry's right to the English throne, and opinion within the English Church gradually shifted in Henry's favour. <mask> and Geoffrey made peace with Louis VII, who in return supported Henry's rights to Normandy. Geoffrey died unexpectedly in 1151, and Henry claimed the family lands.Henry returned to England once again at the start of 1153 with a small army, winning the support of some of the major regional barons. Neither side's army was keen to fight, however, and the Church brokered a truce; a permanent peace followed, under which Henry recognised Stephen as king, but became


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 Stephen's adopted son and successor. Meanwhile, Normandy faced considerable disorder and the threat of baronial revolt, which <mask> was unable to totally suppress. Stephen died the next year, and Henry assumed the throne; his coronation used the grander of the two imperial crowns that <mask> had brought back from Germany in 1125. Once Henry had been crowned, the troubles facing <mask> in Normandy died away. Later life

<mask> spent the rest of her life in Normandy, often acting as Henry's representative and presiding over the government of the Duchy. Early on, <mask> and her son issued charters in England and Normandy in their joint names, dealing with the various land claims that had arisen during the wars.Particularly in the initial years of his reign, the King drew on her for advice on policy matters. <mask> was involved in attempts to mediate between Henry and his Chancellor Thomas Becket when the two men fell out in the 1160s. <mask> had originally cautioned against the appointment, but when the Prior of Mont St Jacques asked her for a private interview on Becket's behalf to seek her views, she provided a moderate perspective on the problem. <mask> explained that she disagreed with Henry's attempts to codify English customs, which Becket was opposed to, but also condemned poor administration in the English Church and Becket's own headstrong behaviour. <mask> helped to deal with several diplomatic crises. The first of these involved the Hand of St James, the relic which <mask> had brought back with her from Germany many years before. Frederick I, the Holy Roman Emperor, considered the hand to be part of the imperial regalia and


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 requested that Henry return it to Germany.<mask> and Henry were equally insistent that it should remain at Reading Abbey, where it had become a popular attraction for visiting pilgrims. Frederick was bought off with an alternative set of expensive gifts from England, including a huge, luxurious tent, probably chosen by <mask>, which Frederick used for court events in Italy. She was also approached by Louis VII of France, in 1164, and helped to defuse a growing diplomatic row over the handling of Crusading funds. In her old age <mask> paid increasing attention to Church affairs and her personal faith, although she remained involved in governing Normandy throughout her life. <mask> appears to have had particular fondness for her youngest son William. She opposed Henry's proposal in 1155 to invade Ireland and give the lands to William, however, possibly on the grounds that the project was impractical, and instead William received large grants of land in England. <mask> was more easy-going in her later life than in her youth, but the chronicler of Mont St Jacques, who met her during this period, still felt that she appeared to be "of the stock of tyrants".Death
<mask> died on 10 September 1167 in Rouen, and her remaining wealth was given to the Church. She was buried under the high altar at the abbey of Bec-Hellouin in a service led by Rotrou, the archbishop of Rouen. Her tomb's epitaph included the lines "Great by birth, greater by marriage, greatest in her offspring: here lies <mask>, the daughter, wife, and mother of Henry", which became a famous phrase among her contemporaries. This tomb was damaged in a fire in 1263 and later


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 restored in 1282, before finally being destroyed by an English army in 1421. In 1684 the Congregation of St Maur identified some of her remaining bones and reburied them at Bec-Hellouin in a new coffin. Her remains were lost again after the destruction of Bec-Hellouin's church by Napoleon, but were found once more in 1846 and this time reburied at Rouen Cathedral, where they remain. <mask> as ruler

Government, law and court

In the Holy Roman Empire, the young <mask>'s court included knights, chaplains and ladies-in-waiting, although, unlike some queens of the period, she did not have her own personal chancellor to run her household, instead using the imperial chancellor.When acting as regent in Italy, she found the local rulers were prepared to accept a female ruler. Her Italian administration included the Italian chancellor, backed by experienced administrators. She was not called upon to make any major decisions, instead dealing with smaller matters and acting as the symbolic representative of her absent husband, meeting with and helping to negotiate with magnates and clergy. The Anglo-Saxon queens of England had exercised considerable formal power, but this tradition had diminished under the Normans: at most their queens ruled temporarily as regents on their husbands' behalf when they were away travelling, rather than in their own right. On her return from Germany to Normandy and Anjou, <mask> styled herself as empress and the daughter of King Henry. As an , her status was elevated in medieval social and political thought above all men in England and France. On arrival in England, her charters' seal displayed the inscription


title: Empress Matilda

texts: .<mask>'s enthroned portrait on her circular seal distinguished her from elite English contemporaries, both women – whose seals were usually oval with standing portraits – and men, whose seals were usually equestrian portraits. The seal did not depict her on horseback, however, as a male ruler would have been. During the civil war for England, her status was uncertain; these unique distinctions were intended to overawe her subjects. <mask> also remained , a status that emphasised her claim to the crown was hereditary and derived from her male kin, being the only legitimate offspring of King Henry and Queen <mask>. It further advertised her mixed Anglo-Saxon and Norman descent and her claim as her royal father's sole heir in a century in which feudal tenancies were increasingly passed on by heredity and primogeniture. In contrast with her rival Stephen and his wife <mask> of Boulogne — styled respectively  and  — Empress <mask> employed the title . Several interpretations of the title (), are possible.Domina, is the feminine equivalent of the title dominus, the meaning of which ranged from head of a household to an imperial title and translated as "master" or "lord". Whereas the  carried the implication of a king's wife only, the  was used of a woman exercising temporal powers in her own right, as had Æthelflæd of Mercia. Notably, <mask>'s husband Geoffrey never adopted the equivalent dominus Anglorum. Initially between 1139 and 1141 <mask> referred to herself as acting as a feme sole, "a woman [acting] alone", highlighting her autonomy and independence from her spouse. Additionally, it was also conventional that newly elected kings


title: Empress Matilda

texts: use  until their coronation as , the interval being counted as an interregnum. Since she was never crowned at Westminster, during the rest of the war she appears to have used this title rather than that of the queen of England, although some contemporaries referred to her by the royal title. In spring and summer 1141, as <mask> was de facto queen regnant, some royal charters including titles of lands granted to Glastonbury Abbey and Reading Abbey described her as , while another mentions  and .While Marjorie Chibnall believed the Glastonbury and Reading Abbeys' instances of regina Anglorum are either errors for domina Anglorum or else inauthentic; David Crouch judged this unlikely to be a scribal error and pointed out that Stephen's supporters had used rex Anglorum before his formal coronation, that she was hailed as regina et domina at Winchester in March 1141, and that she "gloried in being called" the royal title. Nonetheless, the style , now rendered as "Lady of the English", remained more common in documents. The chronicler William of Malmsebury calls her domina only. <mask> presented herself as continuing the English tradition of centralised royal government, and attempted to maintain a government in England parallel to Stephen's, including a royal household and a chancellor. <mask> gathered revenues from the royal estates in the counties under her control, particularly in her core territories where the sheriffs were loyal to her cause. She appointed earls to rival those created by Stephen. She was unable to operate a system of royal law courts, however, and her administrative resources were extremely limited, although some of


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 her clerks went on to become bishops in Normandy.<mask> issued two types of coins in her name during her time in England, which were used in the west of England and Wales. The first were initially minted in Oxford during her stay there, and the design was then adopted by her mints at Bristol, Cardiff and Wareham after her victory at the Battle of Lincoln. A second design was minted at Bristol and Cardiff during the 1140s. On returning to Normandy for the last time in 1148, <mask> ceased to use the title Lady of the English, simply styling herself as empress again; she never adopted the title of Countess of Anjou. <mask>'s household became smaller, and often merged with Henry's own court when the two were co-located in Rouen. She continued to play a special role in the government of the area around Argentan, where she held feudal rights from the grants made at the time of her second marriage. Relations with the Church

It is unclear how strong <mask>'s personal piety was, although contemporaries praised her lifelong preference to be buried at the monastic site of Bec rather than the grander but more worldly Rouen, and believed her to have substantial, underlying religious beliefs.Like other members of the Anglo-Norman nobility, she bestowed considerable patronage on the Church. Early on in her life, she preferred the well-established Benedictine monastery of Cluny alongside some of the newer Augustinian orders, such as the Victorines and Premonstratensians. As part of this patronage, she re-founded the abbey of Notre-Dame-du-Vœu near Cherbourg. As time went by, <mask> directed more of her attention to the Cistercian order. This order


title: Empress Matilda

texts:
 was very fashionable in England and Normandy during the period, and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a figure of particular importance to <mask>. She had close links to the Cistercian Mortemer Abbey in Normandy, and drew on the house for a supply of monks when she supported the foundation of nearby La Valasse. She encouraged the Cistercians to build at Mortemer on a grand scale, with guest houses to accommodate a range of visitors of all ranks, and may have played a part in selecting the paintings for the monastic chapels.Legacy

Historiography

Contemporary chroniclers in England, France, Germany and Italy documented many aspects of <mask>'s life, although the only biography of her, apparently written by Arnulf of Lisieux, has been lost. The chroniclers took a range of perspectives on her. In Germany, the chroniclers praised <mask> extensively and her reputation as the "good <mask>" remained positive. During the years of the Anarchy, works such as the Gesta Stephani took a much more negative tone, praising Stephen and condemning <mask>. Once Henry II assumed the throne, the tone of the chroniclers towards <mask> became more positive. Legends spread in the years after <mask>'s death, including the suggestion that her first husband, Henry, had not died but had in fact secretly become a hermit – making <mask>'s second marriage illegitimate – and a tale that <mask> had an affair with Stephen, resulting in the conception of Henry II. Tudor scholars were interested in <mask>'s right of succession.According to 16th century standards, <mask> had a clear right to the English throne, and academics therefore struggled to explain why <mask> had

masks: Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda Matilda