Henry I was no sooner king in August 1100 than he set himself to win the attachment of his English subjects by marrying with Matilda, the child of 'Margaret, the good queen, King Eadweard's cousin, and one of the right kingly kin of England'. The Confessor's prophecy of the regrafting of the green tree was fulfilled through her marriage and her children.
- Dictionary of National Biography.

Additional Information on
Matilda of Scotland (1080-1118)

Daughter of the Scottish King Malcolm, Edytha (Matilda) was brought up peaceably in Scotland until her father and elder brother were killed by the English. The throne was taken by her father's illegitimate brother and she escaped to a nunnery in Rumsey in England, in due course joining the order (of Nuns). But in 1099 her brother succeeded to the Scottish throne and she was chosen by Prince Henry, soon to be Henry I, to be his bride in order to legitimise his claim to the throne as she was descended through her mother from the Anglo-Saxon kings. His plan was opposed by the Normans in England and by her aunt, the abbess of her nunnery, who said it would be sacrilege to move her from the nunnery. However she won everyone over with her golden hair, blue eyes and good looks and secured the day by claiming she had been forced to become a nun.

William Rufus had died (or was murdered) in that same year, 1100, and Henry had rapidly seized the throne, marrying her in November. Remarkably she changed her name to Matilda and soon produced four children, two sons and two daughters, two of whom died young. Though her husband had no less than 35 illegitimate children, he did not treat her too badly, even building a castle for her at Windsor where she led a quiet religious existence with her eldest son William. She was much loved by her Anglo-Saxon subjects as she tried, in her quiet way, to alleviate their hardships. In return the people christened her 'Good Queen Mold'. She died in 1118 at the age of 41 and was buried in Westminster Abbey beside Edward the Confessor, her ancestor.

Their eldest son, William, was to die tragically in 'The White Ship' in 1120 returning from Normandy which his father had annexed years earlier. Henry attempted on his deathbed in 1135 to get the barons to accept Matilda (their daughter and wife of the Holy Roman Emperor) as queen, but without success.

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