This might be a bit iffy, but hear me out:

We all know of the White Ship disaster and the turmoil that followed Henry I's death. As well as the triumph of Henry (II) FitzEmpress.

I came across something interesting, namely that Edgar (II) Aetheling, son of Edward the Exile and grandson of Edmund II Ironside, was reportedly still living at the grand old age of 110 according to the Northumberland Pipe Rolls of 1158 and 1167. The general way this is explained is similar to Tom Parr's 169 years of age, that it was simply someone (a son or grandson) with the same name.

Enter the realm of fiction: in Scott's Ivanhoe the title character is in love with Rowena, although Rowena's warder intends to marry her to another Anglo-Saxon noble in order to strengthen her claim to the blood line of (I think) Athelstane (I think there's a part about them throwing the Normans out, too). The marriage doesn't happen, though.

And this got me wondering. Say Edgar has a son, named Edgar Aetheling II around 1070s/1080s, and either this son, or a grandson (Edgar Aetheling III) born around contemporaneously with Empress Matilda, marries her instead of her getting hitched to Geoffrey of Anjou. It's a stretch, I'll admit, but if there was a homegrown royal candidate, like Edgar, could/would Henry I agree to the marriage? What would the repercussions be of the match?

PS: I realize it might take some butterfly herding (although, maybe not as much as might be thought, especially if Edgar Aetheling did have a son and/or grandson with the same name that he was still thought to be kicking around England halfway through the 12th century.
 
Henry might agree to a homegrown candidate if he had lots of money like Geoffrey. Another reason Matilda and Geoffrey were married was because he needed to secure his Norman territories. If the Anvegins somehow stopped being rivals to the Normans, then Henry might look to an English Earl or perhaps a Norman count. If Henry feels the need to please the Anvegins, Matilda and Geoffrey WILL marry.

Matilda will no doubt complain about Edgar because her first marriage was to an Emperor and she doesn't want to be a mere countess, but it's not her decision anyways.

There would probably an Anarchy anyways as Stephen can claim to be a Norman noble who is not a woman. Empress Matilda and William Clitho were the only heirs with legitimacy by lineage to the Normans by their traditions anyways, Stephen's biggest claim was being a male relative. Edgar might be a bit more tolerable than Geoffrey as a King-consort, but Stephen would likely usurp the throne anyways.
 
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Henry might agree to a homegrown candidate if he had lots of money like Geoffrey. Another reason Matilda and Geoffrey were married was because he needed to secure his Norman territories. If the Anvegins somehow stopped being rivals to the Normans, then Henry might look to an English Earl or perhaps a Norman count. If Henry feels the need to please the Anvegins, Matilda and Geoffrey WILL marry.

Matilda will no doubt complain about Edgar because her first marriage was to an Emperor and she doesn't want to be a mere countess, but it's not her decision anyways.

There would probably an Anarchy anyways as Stephen can claim to be a Norman noble who is not a woman. Empress Matilda and William Clitho were the only heirs with legitimacy by lineage to the Normans by their traditions anyways, Stephen's biggest claim was being a male relative. Edgar might be a bit more tolerable than Geoffrey as a King-consort, but Stephen would likely usurp the throne anyways. Say, if I have a Anarchy WI or maybe even a timeline a few months from now, would you be willing to help me with it?

I guess I was just reading Ivanhoe and the WI popped into my head, before I really had considered it.
 
Wasn't Edgar living in relatively modest circumstances towards the end of his life? Both because he supposedly gave up his English property for an ill-fated adventure in Norman Sicily, and because he was on the wrong side of the Norman's inheritance disputes (he backed Curthose in 1087 and 1106).

He wasn't an earl or anything, and thus he and any descendants he may have had are hardly fit to marry a princess and assume the throne.

Would the Norman nobility even be okay with the idea of an Anglo-Saxon King?

All in all, it doesn't really build up support for Matilda much at all, and it's hard to see Henry going for it. If it does happen, there's no reason Stephen won't still make his play for usurpation.

Maybe if he sides with Henry in 1106 (and does something flashy), and is rewarded with significant estates then his descendants might just be prominent enough to possibly be considered for Matilda (especially if you butterfly the possibility or strategic necessity for an Angevin match). But even then, there's still probably better candidates.
 
Something that is missing here is that Henry I himself married into the old House of Wessex, so Matilda, her children, and by extension the current Queen were all already descended from the old Anglo-Saxon kings.
 
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