She already had experience in power, having returned to England after her husband, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, died. Photo: Screengrab/Royal Oak FoundationĪfter his son died, leaving him with no legitimate options to take the throne, King Henry I recognised Matilda as heir.

An illustration of Matilda (second from left) at her wedding feast. Much of the talk covered Henry I’s daughter Matilda, who never actually had a coronation but whose bid for the English throne in the 1100s was ultimately successful. When writing the book, which spans from the 12th to 16th centuries, Castor said: “The question of women in power in history and in our culture seemed to me to be a subject that was both resonant and relevant.” She continued that she didn’t realise in 2021 just how relevant the stories would be in the UK, noting Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon’s rise to political power, along with other female world leaders such as Angela Merkel and Kamala Harris. arm of the National Trust, and followed the topic of her 2011 book She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth, which also had a corresponding documentary series. The lecture was given via Zoom on 23 March for the Royal Oak Foundation, the U.S. Pointing out “the precedent set by the Tudor queens in England was partial and pragmatic,” Castor explained how women learned that they “could rule, but would have to find a way around the deeply embedded cultural assumptions that power was male.” Women have always struggled with how the world sees them in positions of power, and historian and author Dr Helen Castor compared some of England’s early royal women to modern politicians in an online lecture this week.

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