Matilda of England Duchess of Saxony

Matilda of England was born in June 1156, likely in London, as the third child and eldest daughter of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was named after her paternal grandmother, Empress Matilda, and baptized shortly after birth by Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1160, Matilda and her mother joined her father in Normandy, where they stayed until 1163. During a papal schism, her father sought alliances with the Holy Roman Empire, leading to marriage negotiations for Matilda.

In 1168, Matilda married Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, in Minden Cathedral. Her husband, older than her, had divorced his first wife in 1162. Matilda managed her husband's estates during his absences and bore him several children, including Richenza, born in 1172. The couple held a court in Brunswick and initiated cultural projects, including the construction of Brunswick Cathedral.

In 1180, Henry the Lion was deposed and declared an outlaw after a conflict with Emperor Frederick I. Matilda and her family went into exile in Normandy, where she met the troubadour Bertran de Born. By 1185, they returned to Brunswick after her father secured the restitution of their lands. Matilda remained in Brunswick to defend her husband's interests when he went into exile again in 1189.

Matilda died in Brunswick in June or July 1189 at the age of 32 or 33 and was buried in Brunswick Cathedral. After her death, her husband Henry the Lion returned to Brunswick and died in 1195, wishing to be buried beside her.