War over a 12th-century female ruler resonates today

The fantastical world of HBO’s “House of the Dragon” may seem like a figment of creator George R.R. Martin’s imagination.

But Martin has made no secret of his inspiration for the series: the Anarchy, which lasted from 1135 to 1154. A man and a woman vied with each other for the English throne for those two decades.

With the series finale airing on Sunday, University of Richmond history professor David Routt takes readers back to this chaotic period in English history when, in an unprecedented move, King Henry I decided that his daughter, Matilda, would succeed him.

War soon broke out. As Routt explains, back then “the queen was the conduit through which power was transferred by marriage and childbirth,” but only male heirs were expected to wield it.

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