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Queens of the Conquest: England's Medieval Queens Book One, by Alison Weir
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Review
“Best-selling author [Alison] Weir pens another readable, well-researched English history, the first in a proposed four-volume series on England’s medieval queens. . . . Weir’s research skills and storytelling ability combine beautifully to tell a fascinating story supported by excellent historical research. Fans of her fiction and nonfiction will enjoy this latest work.”—Library Journal (starred review) “Another sound feminist resurrection by a seasoned historian . . . Though Norman queens were largely unknowable, leave it to this prolific historical biographer to bring them to life. . . . As usual, Weir is meticulous in her research.”—Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Alison Weir The Lost Tudor Princess “This is a substantial, detailed biography of a fascinating woman who lived her extraordinary life to the full, taking desperate chances for love and for ambition. It will appeal to anyone with an interest in the powerful women of the Tudor period.”—Philippa Gregory, The Washington Post “Weir balances historical data with emotional speculation to illuminate the ferocious dynastic ambitions and will to power that earned her subject a place in the spotlight.”—The New York Times Book Review Elizabeth of York “Weir tells Elizabeth’s story well. . . . She is a meticulous scholar. . . . Most important, Weir sincerely admires her subject, doing honor to an almost forgotten queen.”—The New York Times Book Review “In Weir’s skillful hands, Elizabeth of York returns to us, full-bodied and three-dimensional. This is a must-read for Tudor fans!”—Historical Novels Review Mary Boleyn “This nuanced, smart, and assertive biography reclaims the life of a Tudor matriarch.”—Publishers Weekly “Weir has achieved the enviable skill of blending the necessary forensic and analytical tasks of academia with the passionate engagement that avocational history lovers crave.”—Bookreporter
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About the Author
Alison Weir is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous historical biographies, including The Lost Tudor Princess, Elizabeth of York, Mary Boleyn, The Lady in the Tower, Mistress of the Monarchy, Henry VIII, Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Life of Elizabeth I, and The Six Wives of Henry VIII, and the novels Anne Boleyn, A King’s Obsession; Katherine of Aragon, The True Queen; The Marriage Game; A Dangerous Inheritance; Captive Queen; The Lady Elizabeth; and Innocent Traitor. She lives in Surrey, England, with her husband.
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Product details
Series: England's Medieval Queens (Book 1)
Paperback: 608 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (September 4, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1101966688
ISBN-13: 978-1101966686
Product Dimensions:
5.5 x 1.3 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.3 out of 5 stars
62 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#102,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Weir has written a substantive, detailed, and highly documented of five queens. Citing primary and secondary sources, she has tried to give more depth to what little we really know about these women. We don't know what they looked like, what their personalities were like ( although we can guess in a couple of cases) or what they really thought about their husbands and their duties. We see that despite being daughters of kings or dukes, and then wives and mothers of kings, their lives were circumscribed and narrow. They had two destinies: marry whomever their fathers chose or be cloistered in a nunnery. Even then, they didn't have much of a choice as to which was preferable. They could be betrothed by the age of two and married by the age of twelve, or they could be dedicated to God at the age of two as an oblate. As queens, they had position, wealth, and some authority....if their husbands so chose to give them authority, but no real freedom. Their major task was to produce sons. The five queens were intelligent and capable, and served their husbands well in most cases. The strongest were undoubtedly Matilda of Flanders, Matilda of Boulogne, and Empress Maud, although her situation was different. Matilda of Scotland, the first wife of Henry I, was also competent but seemed to prefer working toward sainthood. (It was denied her primarily because she was Maud's mother.) Adelisa, his second and much younger wife, was never given much authority. The women spent a great deal of their time giving charters and grants to churches and even building churches. One expected behavior of queens was to be pious, charitable, and generous. They all lived up to this. To me the most interesting chapters had to do with Matilda, the wife of Stephen, and Maud, the daughter of Henry I who fought with Stephen for the crown. The two women were first cousins through their grandparents, Malcolm of Scotland and his Anglo-Saxon queen Matilda. (Matilda was a very, very popular name). They were intelligent, ambitious, and fierce opponents. Matilda was the better politician and her struggles and actions were approved as womanly since she did all for her husband, the inept Stephen. Maud, on the other hand, was fighting to be queen regnant, and most of the powers of church and state disapproved. She could also be fierce, demanding and tactless, much to the detriment of her cause; the most defining example of her arrogance was her treatment of the leaders of London. She was very much in the mold of her two grandfathers, William and Malcolm, and her father, but, alas, since she was a woman, her unfeminine actions were frowned upon. Weir seems to think that she was too emotional because of gynecological problems or early menopause. However, she had reason to feel embittered. Married off so young to an Emperor and then as a widow married off to Geoffrey of Anjou, a mere count, who was eleven years her junior. Her father had his barons swear fealty to her and recognize her as his heir but when he died, they flocked to the utterly incompetent Stephen. Who wouldn't be bitter! Readers should also keep in mind that primary sources, such as the Gesta Stephani, were pro-Stephen. Fortunately, for her and England, her son was Henry II, one of the greatest of English kings. The point is that either Matilda or Maud would have made a much better monarch than Stephen. In the end, Maud was the real winner. Matilda died before Stephen, knowing that he had not been a successful king and that their son Eustace would not succeed him. Maud, after nine years of civil war, returned to Normandy which her husband had conquered for their son.Maud spent the last years of her life in Rouen, governing Normandy with Henry and grooming him for his role as King of England. She was loved and respected there as she had been in Germany. She lived to see Henry married to Eleanor of Aquitaine and crowned King.Sadly, there is no real information about the relationship between these two formidable women but evidently there was no conflict between them. Just imagine the conversations they would have had.This book is not a quick read. It is detailed and requires close attention on the part of the reader but it is certainly a rewarding study. It contains such a wealth of information about these historical individuals, the way they lived, and the importance of the Church in their lives.
My only concern is that after she finishes this four-volume series, the incredibly gifted Alison Weir will run out of British Royals about whom to write. I have been a faithful fan since her first book, BRITAIN'S ROYAL FAMILIES in 1989, and while I have found some of her subjects more interesting than others, her superb style sails you right through. This first volume of her new work of the histories of British queens covers the first four women to sit on the British throne and ended with me wanting to know when Volume II will be released. As s writer, historian, sleuth and story teller, Alison Weir is in a class by herself! Kudos!
Not nearly as interesting or well written as her other books. Too many facts pasted together with too little narrative for me. I've read the individual story of each of these ladies, and they were much more interesting to read that way.
As I was reading this book, I was quite prepared to give it four or five stars. However, the last few narrative pages of this book (as opposed to the bibliography, index, et al.) were so infuriating and irresponsible that I contemplated giving it one star. I suppose I will compromise, especially as I have an advanced copy and there may be changes in the final edition for sale.This is the first of a planned four volume set dealing with the medieval queens of England. You might call this volume “the book of the Matildas,†as it covers:Matilda of Flanders, who was married to William the Conqueror.Matilda of Scotland, the first wife of Henry I.Adeliza of Louvain, the second wife of Henry I.Matilda of Boulougne, who was married to Stephen of Blois.Empress Matilda (Maud), the daughter of Henry I.It is a fascinating study and, until the ending, a very welcome compilation of what we actually do know about these women. Weir makes the point that the early queens actually had much more power than the later queens. In addition to the expected religious and charitable contributions, they served as regents and judges and witnessed many charters, but most acted in the conventional manner. Reading about the many charters and grants and such can be a bit dry, but certainly when we get to Matilda of Boulogne and the Empress Matilda, things really heat up. These were two amazing, strong and determined women, and their stories cover about half the book.I was especially interested in how Weir proposes, unlike most other historians, that the fact that the Empress was a female was not the major reason Stephen of Blois was able to seize the throne from her. Weir also does make the point that Stephen owed his eventual success in large part to his steadfast wife, Matilda of Boulogne. I couldn’t help but think that if those two Matildas had joined forces, they could have ruled the world. Instead, we have chroniclers (and Weir) admiring Matilda of Boulogne because she acted for her husband’s benefit whereas the Empress Matilda acted for her own benefit and so was reviled by many (apparently, including Weir).Weir ends her book by making some of the most sexist and narrow-minded comments imaginable. The kings covered in the book were violent and brutal. Consider one example. Here are the words of one medieval chronicler, quoted below from Wikipedia, which describes William I’s harrying of the north:“The King stopped at nothing to hunt his enemies. He cut down many people and destroyed homes and land. Nowhere else had he shown such cruelty. This made a real change. To his shame, William made no effort to control his fury, punishing the innocent with the guilty. He ordered that crops and herds, tools and food be burned to ashes. More than 100,000 people perished of starvation.â€He also beat his wife half to death on more than one occasion.His male descendants were just as bad. As Weir points out, several of the other men in the book had extremely bad tempers and committed horrendous, vicious acts (having someone’s eyes gouged out seems to have almost been a hobby, and if you are squeamish, there are several passages in the book you will want to skip), and they did stupid things. William Rufus was, quoting from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, "hated by almost all his people and abhorrent to God." Stephen of Blois was essentially weak and foolish and made bad decision after bad decision (and is remembered as a nice guy despite the fact that his usurping the throne caused intense suffering and countless lives all across England while “Christ and his saints sleptâ€). Few people wanted his son Eustace crowned king because of his vile personality (as stated by another chronicler, quoted from Wikipedia, “He was an evil man and did more harm than good wherever he went….†And this volume doesn’t cover it, but we all know about Henry II and the trouble his bad temper got him into.Weir accepts all this. After all, they are brutal men in a brutal age, so, apparently, they acted correctly. But then Weir inexplicably, illogically, irresponsibly and inexcusably chooses to vilify the Empress Matilda for having a temper!Yes, she ends her book with an incredible theory that the Empress, although she may have inherited a bad temper from her father and his forebears (really, is a temper genetic?), she sometimes acted badly (specifically, the incident in London where she didn't talk nice to the men who had fought against her) because she was female.She suggests that the Empress either was suffering from the ill effects of childbearing (with zero evidence) that left her with a hormone imbalance or that, at the age of 37, she was suffering from early menopause (again, zero evidence) and tells us that menopausal women can suffer extreme and intense mood swings resulting in rage, aggression, irritability and impatience--which may actually be true for a few women, but I have never encountered it. But, apparently, Weir really believes this foolishness.Now, why doesn’t she suggest that William the Conqueror (a vile, vicious and brutal man, if there ever was one, as you can see from the quote above) was suffering from a hormone imbalance and so was not fit to rule? Of course she doesn’t. It is entirely acceptable for him and his male descendants to be despicable creatures (which they were), but if a girl isn’t sugar and spice and everything nice, it must be because there is something wrong with her – and that, for circular reasoning, is she is a female and therefore has female hormones.I am still angry, and it’s been almost a week since I read that – that’s how long it took me to calm down enough to write this review.I might point out that most of what we know about the Empress and her temper (again, the main example being the incident in London) comes from her enemies. We never heard her side of the story, which I suspect would have been quite different. Consider what the people of London did to her. And then consider what William I or Henry I would have done in her place. It would have been a bloodbath.Does anyone really believe that if the Empress had smiled and been a proper, humble, good girl that the Londoners would have accepted her as ruler and everybody would have kissed and made up and sang songs and shared desserts and lived happily ever after? I don't think it mattered one bit what she did at the time.I should mention again that I have an advance reading copy of the book, and so it is possible that someone at the publishers will stop those last pages from being printed in the sale edition. However, what my eyes have seen cannot be unseen.I generally enjoy Ms. Weir's books (I own each and every one), and sometimes I disagree with her (which is okay), but never so strongly as in this case. I certainly intend to read the next volume in the series.
I loved this book. A very thorough exploration of medieval queens, including actual letters in the back.May have to read it twice because there are so many people its hard to keep them all straight.
Ms. Weir is up to her usual standards - perfection. I can't fathom the depth of research needed for this work, or how in the world she kept it all straight, and then managed to put it down in a manner that is both clear and captivating. She makes the distant past feel closer, makes the characters who lived then, a part of our lives today.So well done.
I'm a big fan of Alison Weir's nonfiction books, and this one did not disappoint. I learned so many new things about this fascinating period of history. And it was amazing to see the power and will of women during this time--unexpected! Highly recommended reading.
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