Great Seal of Matilda with the Latin inscription MATHILDIS DEI GRACIA ROMANORUM REGINA ("Matilda by the grace of God Queen of the Romans" - i.e. Empress). Empress Matilda (c.1102-1167), also known as the Empress Maude, one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. The original description for this engraved version on page xl of the Illustrated Edition of A Short History of the English People is as follows:

GREAT SEAL OF THE EMPRESS MATILDA 194 This is the only seal which Matilda is known to have used; its legend, "Mathildis Romanorum Regina," shows that it was made for her in Germany before her first husband's crowning at Rome, A.D. 1111.