Matilda of Anjou

Matilda of Anjou, also known as Mahaut ( – 1154) was married in 1119 to William Adelin, son and heir apparent of Henry I of England. She became the second abbess of the powerful medieval abbey of Fontevrault.

Life Matilda was the daughter of Count Fulk V of Anjou and Countess Ermengarde of Maine. In February 1113, Fulk V and Henry I met near Alençon where they entered into a treaty of peace which was secured by the betrothal of Henry's son William Adelin and Fulk's daughter Matilda. The young couple were married in June 1119, when Matilda was around eight years old.

On the evening of 25 November 1120, returning from Normandy to England, William Adelin chose to sail aboard the White Ship and subsequently drowned when that ship sank in the English Channel just outside Barfleur harbour. Matilda had avoided the disaster, as passage for her had been arranged aboard another ship, presumably the one that her father-in-law was traveling on. William's death left her a widow at less than ten years of age. Thus ended the treaty between England and Anjou.

On his return from Jerusalem, , Fulk V demanded the return of Matilda's dowry, comprising castles and towns in Maine, to which Henry flatly refused. After months of fruitless quarreling, Fulk considered warring with Henry once more. Finally, Fulk countered Henry by marrying his other and older daughter, Sibylla, to William Clito, the son of Robert Curthose, Henry's nephew and rival for Normandy. Fulk dowered the couple with the lordship of Maine. However, Henry I prevailed upon the pope to annul this marriage on grounds of consanguinity in 1124.

Meanwhile, after her husband's death, Matilda remained at Henry's court and was treated as one of the king's daughters. Henry maintained that she could remain as long as she wished, and intended to marry her to one of his great nobles, "heaping on her wealth and honours which would have raised her above all her family." Matilda also laid the foundation for the eventual expansion of the Fontevrault Order into England. She died in 1154.