Matilda's early life: Empress of Germany
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe Matilda's early life and her role in the Holy Roman Empire.
Key learning points
- Matilda married the Holy Roman Emperor when she was only 12 years old.
- Matilda spent much of her early life in Germany.
- Matilda took an active role in the government of the Holy Roman Empire.
- Matilda's husband died and she was married again to Geoffrey Plantagenet.
- Matilda expected to inherit her father's throne.
Keywords
Empress - an empress is the wife of an emperor, the ruler of an empire
Empire - an empire is a group of countries or provinces ruled from the centre by one person or group of people
Common misconception
It has always been illegal for children to get married.
Throughout history, royal children were regularly betrothed at a young age in order to secure alliances between nations. Marriage followed later when the children had grown up, although they regularly still married younger than we do today.
Teacher tip
Show students Matilda's family tree so they can see her connections to famous monarchs and the strength of her claims to the thrones of England and Normandy.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The Normans successfully invaded England in the year .
Q2.Starting with the most important, place these medieval social groups into a hierarchy.
Q3.In exchange for land, nobles had to promise obedience and swear an oath of to their king.
Q4.When a king died without a clear heir, it could create a crisis.
Q5.The Normans typically made their eldest their successor.
Q6.Following William the Conqueror's coronation, for several hundred years kings of England typically controlled land in both England and _______.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Matilda was the daughter of __________.
Q2.At the age of , Matilda was betrothed to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V.
Q3.The people of the Holy Roman Empire referred to Matilda as 'the __________ Matilda'.
Q4.When some of Henry V's subjects rebelled, Matilda stayed in to manage his land there.
Q5.What did Matilda do with her lands in the Holy Roman Empire when she returned to her father in England?
Q6.What oath did Henry I have his barons swear upon Matilda's return?
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: Matilda's early life: Empress of Germany, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: Matilda's early life: Empress of Germany, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the Medieval women: what can we learn from Matilda about women in medieval England? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.