Empress Matilda married a man.
Empress Matilda . 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 . She travelled with her husband into Italy in 1116 , was controversially crowned in St. Peter 's Basilica , and acted as the imperial regent in Italy . On Henry V 's death , Matilda was recalled to Normandy by her father , who arranged for her to marry Geoffrey of Anjou to form an alliance to protect his southern borders .