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savage_book_review 's review for:
Queens of the Conquest: England’s Medieval Queens
by Alison Weir
challenging
informative
slow-paced
I've had this book since it first came out in 2017; it's by one of my favourite historians, it's about female history and Queens of England. So it should be right up my street. Except I've tried reading it almost once a year since I bought it, and only now have I got through it in full.
The author is extremely thorough in her research, and generally speaking provides a very good narrative history of the period in question, particularly given the sparse primary source material that survives from nearly 1,000 years ago. But therein lies the main issue. If material generally is hard to come by, sources about those early Queens are even rarer. A few letters, a few charters, and that's about it. So, much of the book is simply regurgitating large passages from these documents, or inferring the Queens' whereabouts from the dates and places they were signed, and although the author does try to bring them to life, it's very difficult to get a grasp on them in any detail.
The other major source material is the records of the churches, abbeys, monasteries and nunneries they founded. But again, apart from demonstrating their piety (which you would fully expect during this period), and perhaps giving an insight into their preferred Holy figures or orders, again it feels more like these are just being pointed out to show proof that these women did exist, rather than using them to actually flesh them out. TBH, religious history isn't really my area, and while I appreciate that it's a huge part of the lives of 11th and 12th century people, the many Notre-Dames, Bishops, Archbishops and other ecclesiastical offices leave me a bit lost.
Likewise, we have the same problem as is found throughout history; it's like only half a dozen names were in use! In this case, all bar one of the Queens mentioned are called Matilda. And while the author does a great job at making sure they're clearly identified, when you're losing interest and running on pure determination to finish, it can still be rather confusing.
Now, none of this is the author's fault. History was written by men, usually of the church, meaning they only mentioned a woman if she was almost a saint, or notorious or scandalous in some way. Otherwise, we're all tarred with the 'original sin' brush, considered the chattels of fathers and husbands and can only end up as a wife and mother or a nun. Therefore, even when writing female history, we're looking through the lens of men. In this case, although the Queens are kept in focus, the narrative is still heavily skewed towards what the men were up to. And clearly no-one had any imagination when it came to naming their kids...
The author has done a good job with what she had, but I just found it so, so hard to get through without losing interest. I mean this in the nicest possible way, but if you're suffering from insomnia this may be worth a try.
The author is extremely thorough in her research, and generally speaking provides a very good narrative history of the period in question, particularly given the sparse primary source material that survives from nearly 1,000 years ago. But therein lies the main issue. If material generally is hard to come by, sources about those early Queens are even rarer. A few letters, a few charters, and that's about it. So, much of the book is simply regurgitating large passages from these documents, or inferring the Queens' whereabouts from the dates and places they were signed, and although the author does try to bring them to life, it's very difficult to get a grasp on them in any detail.
The other major source material is the records of the churches, abbeys, monasteries and nunneries they founded. But again, apart from demonstrating their piety (which you would fully expect during this period), and perhaps giving an insight into their preferred Holy figures or orders, again it feels more like these are just being pointed out to show proof that these women did exist, rather than using them to actually flesh them out. TBH, religious history isn't really my area, and while I appreciate that it's a huge part of the lives of 11th and 12th century people, the many Notre-Dames, Bishops, Archbishops and other ecclesiastical offices leave me a bit lost.
Likewise, we have the same problem as is found throughout history; it's like only half a dozen names were in use! In this case, all bar one of the Queens mentioned are called Matilda. And while the author does a great job at making sure they're clearly identified, when you're losing interest and running on pure determination to finish, it can still be rather confusing.
Now, none of this is the author's fault. History was written by men, usually of the church, meaning they only mentioned a woman if she was almost a saint, or notorious or scandalous in some way. Otherwise, we're all tarred with the 'original sin' brush, considered the chattels of fathers and husbands and can only end up as a wife and mother or a nun. Therefore, even when writing female history, we're looking through the lens of men. In this case, although the Queens are kept in focus, the narrative is still heavily skewed towards what the men were up to. And clearly no-one had any imagination when it came to naming their kids...
The author has done a good job with what she had, but I just found it so, so hard to get through without losing interest. I mean this in the nicest possible way, but if you're suffering from insomnia this may be worth a try.