House Of The Dragon's Queen Who Never Was Is Based On A Real Person

Empress Matilda was the daughter of Henry I, the king of England. In 1110, when Matilda was 8 years old, her father agreed to a marriage on her behalf to 24-year-old King Henry V of Germany in a politically motivated alliance (via the Historia).

After the king of England lost his son William to drowning in 1120, and Matilda lost her husband in 1125, Henry I named Matilda his heir to the English throne. Unfortunately, she could not become queen after her father died in 1135, as a civil war broke out — a war Matilda would end up fighting until her death in 1167.

Speaking at the "House of the Dragon" Comic-Con panel, author George R.R. Martin provided more background on Matilda's story. "He [Henry I] made all the lords of the kingdom swear their fealty to her. And then, some years later, he died, and most of the lords of the kingdom forgot about that oath," he said, per SlashFilm.

Martin continued, "They said oh, it doesn't apply, because here comes her cousin Stephen who crosses the Channel quickly and steals the treasury and gets himself crowned king, and you entered a period called The Anarchy, where Maud, or Matilda as she was known, and Stephen fought [for] a decade, two decades, whatever — it got horrible and bloody."