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Review
`Tracy Borman tells this story with a steady eye and a steady hand, tracing what can be known of Matilda's part in the events that were to change the course of English history.'
--Literary Review, Helen Castor
--Literary Review, Helen Castor
Book Description
The first English biography of the thrilling, tempestuous life of the 'first' Queen of England
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Tracy Borman deserves a lot of credit for hauling Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, out of the historical dark. While Eleanor of Aquitaine gets biography after biography and historical novel after historical novel all that most of knew of Matilda was her name - and possibly her reputation for being short, and falling for William after he thrashed her with his horsewhip.
What this book achieves is to put Matilda where she deserves - as a formidable woman and Queen in her own right - a proto Eleanor, if you will. The first recognised crowned Queen of England, a frequent regent for her husband, and one of the earliest English rulers to understand the value of the well managed PR exercise, she emerges as a redoutable figure indeed. The book is also, it must be said, a terrific read - one fairly zips through it with never a dull moment, and there is hardly an infelictous phrase in the whole work.
However where Borman necessarily struggles, and where I slightly have a boggle with her approach is the paucity of contemporaneous sources. For much of the regency and political areas there is sound ground - charters survive which show what power Matilda exercised. But of course none of us really buy the book for that do we? And on the broader front, the problem is that there are ample sources from considerably AFTER Matilda's death - and very very little indeed from the actual period. So when one gets to the fun bits - the horsewhip incident for example, the bottom line is that one can have no confidence at all tht this story is true based on the contemporaneous sources - but how can one miss it out of the biography? And so on for a number of scandalous and salacious incidents... My issue with Borman's approach here is not making sufficiently clear in the text which sources she is using, and the period from which they hail. For example the story of Matilda offering herself in marriage to Britric, being spurned and taking a terrible revenge in later years is not based on any contemporaneous source and Borman tacitly (if one reads the footnotes) accepts this; but the story is used as a lynchpin of her character analysis. For another incident a "nineteenth century source" is attributed. This source is the famous Strickland - and in the footnote Borman notes that Strickland's point appears to be utterly without foundation. Yet the story remains to form part of the character materials in the main text. Similarly the falling out with William over Robert Curthose (or in modern terms Shortarse) is given without any qualifications as to reliability - yet it is almost verbatim Orderic Vitalis, who wrote considerably after Matilda's death.
All of the above paragraph may with a degree of justice be termed destructive criticism, since I don't honestly know how Borman could give us the material completely straight without qualifying any conclusions out of existence - and possibly making the book read considerably less well. However the point remains: while this is certainly a good, welcome, book which reads beautifully, readers should make sure to follow through on the footnotes and dates of sources before believing any of the more highly coloured stories!
What this book achieves is to put Matilda where she deserves - as a formidable woman and Queen in her own right - a proto Eleanor, if you will. The first recognised crowned Queen of England, a frequent regent for her husband, and one of the earliest English rulers to understand the value of the well managed PR exercise, she emerges as a redoutable figure indeed. The book is also, it must be said, a terrific read - one fairly zips through it with never a dull moment, and there is hardly an infelictous phrase in the whole work.
However where Borman necessarily struggles, and where I slightly have a boggle with her approach is the paucity of contemporaneous sources. For much of the regency and political areas there is sound ground - charters survive which show what power Matilda exercised. But of course none of us really buy the book for that do we? And on the broader front, the problem is that there are ample sources from considerably AFTER Matilda's death - and very very little indeed from the actual period. So when one gets to the fun bits - the horsewhip incident for example, the bottom line is that one can have no confidence at all tht this story is true based on the contemporaneous sources - but how can one miss it out of the biography? And so on for a number of scandalous and salacious incidents... My issue with Borman's approach here is not making sufficiently clear in the text which sources she is using, and the period from which they hail. For example the story of Matilda offering herself in marriage to Britric, being spurned and taking a terrible revenge in later years is not based on any contemporaneous source and Borman tacitly (if one reads the footnotes) accepts this; but the story is used as a lynchpin of her character analysis. For another incident a "nineteenth century source" is attributed. This source is the famous Strickland - and in the footnote Borman notes that Strickland's point appears to be utterly without foundation. Yet the story remains to form part of the character materials in the main text. Similarly the falling out with William over Robert Curthose (or in modern terms Shortarse) is given without any qualifications as to reliability - yet it is almost verbatim Orderic Vitalis, who wrote considerably after Matilda's death.
All of the above paragraph may with a degree of justice be termed destructive criticism, since I don't honestly know how Borman could give us the material completely straight without qualifying any conclusions out of existence - and possibly making the book read considerably less well. However the point remains: while this is certainly a good, welcome, book which reads beautifully, readers should make sure to follow through on the footnotes and dates of sources before believing any of the more highly coloured stories!
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Matilda of Flanders was the wife of William the Conqueror and was as England first crowned queen consort. It is quite astonishing that this is the first proper biography.
It is notoriously hard to build up a proper picture of the early medieval personalities and the documents which survived to not paint an objective picture. I believe Tracy Borman gives us pretty good inside who this Mathilda of Flanders was and what role she played in history, not just as the mother of Williams's children and therefore mother of the dynasty, but as partner of William in ruling the duchy of Normandy and England. With her impeccable pedigree she lend acceptance of a powerful ruler who always had to fight his bastard birth. That her relationship was strong for most of the time proves the fact that he did not have mistresses. She might have been smal in height but she was had great personality, a woman born to rule and she fulfilled her role to perfection.
Tracy Borman brings her life and times back to life. Sometimes she fills the gasps with informed guesses. I am not a big fan of this, but properly you can not do without. All in all, Mrs Borman as done a great job, has sparked interest in her and has set the groundwork for further studies on Matilda. I enjoyed this biography very much.
It is notoriously hard to build up a proper picture of the early medieval personalities and the documents which survived to not paint an objective picture. I believe Tracy Borman gives us pretty good inside who this Mathilda of Flanders was and what role she played in history, not just as the mother of Williams's children and therefore mother of the dynasty, but as partner of William in ruling the duchy of Normandy and England. With her impeccable pedigree she lend acceptance of a powerful ruler who always had to fight his bastard birth. That her relationship was strong for most of the time proves the fact that he did not have mistresses. She might have been smal in height but she was had great personality, a woman born to rule and she fulfilled her role to perfection.
Tracy Borman brings her life and times back to life. Sometimes she fills the gasps with informed guesses. I am not a big fan of this, but properly you can not do without. All in all, Mrs Borman as done a great job, has sparked interest in her and has set the groundwork for further studies on Matilda. I enjoyed this biography very much.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I purchased this book after hearing an interview with the author on the BBC History magazine podcast. Medieval history has always been a period that has interested me and the author spoke with such passion and knowledge regarding her subject that I decided to give Queen Matilda's story a try. I was not disappointed!
The is a very readable account of a figure that has been very much sidelined in subjugation to her husband, William the Conqueror. The author does not bury you in a mire of inconsequential information in this charming account but rather gets straight to the point in drawing a very balanced portrait of a great English Queen.
This book is a must for any history lover and would make an ideal present for any young girl who wants to read about a strong and intelligent female whom carved a powerful niche for herself in a remorseless, male dominated society.
Top class history! If I could give it 10 stars I would!
The is a very readable account of a figure that has been very much sidelined in subjugation to her husband, William the Conqueror. The author does not bury you in a mire of inconsequential information in this charming account but rather gets straight to the point in drawing a very balanced portrait of a great English Queen.
This book is a must for any history lover and would make an ideal present for any young girl who wants to read about a strong and intelligent female whom carved a powerful niche for herself in a remorseless, male dominated society.
Top class history! If I could give it 10 stars I would!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Sorting Through the Myths, Rumors, and Facts of Matilda's Life
Although Matilda is by any account a compelling character, relatively little has been written about her. Much of what does exist is hearsay, biased reporting, or downright fiction. Read more
Published 16 days ago by takingadayoff
Engrossing
I really enjoyed this. The narrative flowed easily and the story was full of interest. I did get a bit tried of hearing evidence from the granting of charters, but appreciate that... Read more
Published 2 months ago by KAW
A very good book
A very good read about a little known subject Matilda wife and Queen of William the conqueror. The book is easy to read with enough facts to help you understand Matilda without... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. S. Howley
Love it!
Read this book cover to cover for an essay on Matilda's relationship with William. Would not have been able to get it done with this book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by jennieb90
matilda
anyone that loves history and a good read will love this book ,
highly recommended to fill in those days when nothings happening :)
highly recommended to fill in those days when nothings happening :)
Published 7 months ago by victoria
A Royal Extra-Ordinary-long ago.
This is the story of an unusual Queen,unusual that is for those days at the end of the eleventh century.. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Gipsy
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