William I

Matlida was William's one and only wife. When William had originally proposed to Matlida, she refused to marry him because he was an illegitimate child. Later, she changed her mind and traveled to Normandy where she and William were betrothed. It was originally frowned upon because Matlida and William are descendants of the same ancestor. William had a friend who was a monk and William asked him if he approved of their marriage. When he said no, William got angry and had him exiled. The Pope then placed Normandy under interdict because of everything. Eventually, Normandy was taken out of interdict. This happened when the new Pope, Nicolas II came to power. He did force William and Matlida to make four hospitals, one for each the sick, blind, and aged, in their main towns of Rouen, Bayeux, Caen, and Cherbourg. They each also had to build a monastery for their respective gender. These were built in the city of Caen and became very famous. Over the course of their marriage, Matlida bore four sons and four (possibly five) daughters.