Early Life and Royal Lineage
Matilda was born into a royal family that had deep connections to both the English and Scottish crowns. Her father, Malcolm III, was a Scottish king who had taken the throne after the death of King Macbeth, made famous in Shakespeare's play. Her mother, Saint Margaret, was a Saxon princess and the granddaughter of King Edmund Ironside, who had a direct claim to the English throne. Matilda's upbringing was thus deeply rooted in both Anglo-Saxon and Scottish royal traditions, and her life was to be a bridge between these two powerful cultures.
Her early life was marked by both privilege and tragedy. When Matilda was still young, her father was killed in battle by the English forces led by William Rufus, the son of William the Conqueror. This event led to her being raised under the protection of her mother and her brothers, in the Scottish court. As a young girl, Matilda was well-educated, fluent in Latin, and known for her devout Christian faith, which would later influence her reign as queen. shutdown123