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Queens of the Conquest (England's Medieval Queens Book One)

 

Summary (from the publisher): In the first volume of an exciting new series, bestselling author Alison Weir brings the dramatic reigns of England's medieval queens to life.

The lives of England's medieval queens were packed with incident--love, intrigue, betrayal, adultery, and warfare--but their stories have been largely obscured by centuries of myth and omission. Now esteemed biographer Alison Weir provides a fresh perspective and restores these women to their rightful place in history.

Spanning the years from the Norman conquest in 1066 to the dawn of a new era in 1154, when Henry II succeeded to the throne and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the first Plantagenet queen, was crowned, this epic book brings to vivid life five women, including: Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, the first Norman king; Matilda of Scotland, revered as "the common mother of all England"; and Empress Maud, England's first female ruler, whose son King Henry II would go on to found the Plantagenet dynasty. More than those who came before or after them, these Norman consorts were recognized as equal sharers in sovereignty. Without the support of their wives, the Norman kings could not have ruled their disparate dominions as effectively.

Drawing from the most reliable contemporary sources, Weir skillfully strips away centuries of romantic lore to share a balanced and authentic take on the importance of these female monarchs. What emerges is a seamless royal saga, an all-encompassing portrait of English medieval queenship, and a sweeping panorama of British history.

Review: The queen of writing historical biographies takes on the lives of medieval queens in this first of four planned volumes. Spanning from the Norman conquest in 1066 to the crowning of Henry II in 1154, this biography details the lives of five queens and most sharply focuses on the following three: Matilda of Flanders, the wife of William the Conqueror, the first Norman king; Matilda of Scotland; and Empress Maud, England's first female ruler and mother of King Henry II. Drawing on a variety of sources and following the women chronologically, this is a fascinating portrait of English queens. 

I find Weir's biographies eminently readable and found this to be especially engaging, because it focused on queens that are rarely detailed in other biographies. Writing a joint account rather than individual biographies works very well in this case for several reasons. First, because of the great distance in time in which these women lived, there is a less comprehensive amount of detail to include, meaning they would have likely been rather short individual biographies. Second, there is significant overlap and significant intertwining of storylines between these women so including their lives all together worked quite well. 

The first sections of the book that covered the life of Matilda of Flanders were my favorite. The lore about her marriage to William the Conqueror, where she turns him down because he's a bastard, he comes and attacks her on the road, which apparently led to her having a change of heart was fascinating. Of course who knows for sure what truly happened but Weir does note that they appear to have had a loving and devoted marriage and, unusually for the time, William was faithful to her throughout their marriage. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this joint biography and insight into a period of English rule that I had previously read little about. I look forward to reading the next three volumes in this series. 

Stars: 4

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