Matilda Forbedun

**Lady Matilda Forbedun, Princess of England** (19 November 1317 - 1 December 1372) was the only child and heir to King Edmund I of England. After her father's death, she battled her cousin King Stephen of England for almost forty years, but was never able to become queen. Though vilified in her own time by stephenist chroniclers, history has since come to view her as a tragic figure, betrayed and robbed of her birthright.

For years she was the matriarch of **House Forbedun**, though the public dubbed her "The Horned Queen".

## Biography

### Childhood

Matilda was born as the only child of King Edmund I. Since King Edmund and Queen Alianora had an unhappy marriage, they lived separately. For the majority of her childhood, Matilda lived with her mother and cousins in Ulstead. Her mother taught her Latin and French and reading. Controversially, Matilda was taught about multiple religions and alchemy, leading to accusations of witchcraft.

In 1325, Queen Alianora was accused of witchcraft by her husband. After a short trial, she was imprisoned for life in an enclosed tower. She died less than a year later. In 1333, King Edmund made plans to marry off his daughter to her maternal cousin, King Hubert of Ulstead. However, Hubert was in love with Matilda's lady-in-waiting Thyra and Matilda with the criminal Lord Forbedun, who had been imprisoned for treason (and released) twice in ten years. Matilda and Lord Forbedun eloped, leaving King Hubert free to marry Lady Thyra.

### Lady Forbedun

After her fast marriage, Matilda moved to her husband's castle in the mountains by Cardemon. The castle's conditions were less than ideal, and the region poor. Matilda received no funds from her father. After a year, on her seventeenth birthday, Matilda gave birth to a son she named David. King Edmund never visited or saw his grandchild and sent Lord Forbedun on several war missions on the continent. He died in battle in 1337, leaving nineteen-year-old Matilda as regent of the region during the minority of her son.

### Quest for the throne

In 1334, King Edmund I died from sweating sickness and Matilda pronounced herself queen. Within days, however, her cousin King Stephen had claimed the throne instead. To strengthen his claim to the throne, Stephen sought out the hand of Leah, fourteen years his junior. They were both great-grandchildren of King Edward II, and it would urge Prince Jacob to support Stephen and join the rebellion. In 1339, the pair wed. In 1342, Stephen pronounced himself King of England, and Leah Queen even though they were still battling Matilda's forces. Matilda's supporters mainly supported her because of her direct descendance from King Edmund I, and her having a living, healthy son.

Matilda was able to conspire with her second cousin Lady Rachel, younger daughter of Prince Jacob, and thus sister to Queen Leah. In 1354, Queen Leah gave birth to her thirteenth child. Matilda showed up unannounced at the christening and swore that the child would not survive into adulthood. Furthermore, she announced the engagement of Lady Rachel and her son David.

### Later years

David and Lady Rachel had three children, including a daughter they named Matilda. The Forbedun faction grew weaker over the years. Matilda had counted on support from her Ulstead relatives, but her cousin Hubert chose Stephen's party and betrothed his son Prince Philip to Stephen's daughter Princess Aurora. The engagement was made official in 1370, when Aurora returned to court after having been kept in a convent to protect her from Matilda's wrath. Still, the two waited to marry until Matilda died two years later. King Philip celebrated the death of his enemy of thirty eight years (1334-1372) but died himself less than three years later.

Matilda's son David and his wife Rachel never continued to fight. When Philip and Aurora became King and Queen and united England and Ulstead, they swore allegiance to them. Their grandson Ian, Lord Forbedun, married Princess Diana of England, King Philip and Queen Aurora's youngest daughter.