Queens of the Conquest

A captivating, sweeping saga of England’s medieval queens, from the New York Times bestselling author hailed as “the finest historian of English monarchical succession writing” ( The Boston Globe ) “Polished [and] fascinating . . . It was a man’s world but, as Weir convincingly shows, the five queens wielded real power in front of as well as behind the throne.”— Sunday Express 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, in the first volume of an exciting series, 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, this epic book brings to life five women: Matilda of Flanders , wife of the first Norman king, William the Conqueror; Matilda of Scotland , revered as “the common mother of all England”; Adeliza of Louvain , the young beauty whom the aging Henry I married to get an heir; Matilda of Boulogne , who fought a war on behalf of her husband, King Stephen, against this book’s fifth queen, Empress Maud , England’s first female ruler, whose son King Henry II would 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 crafts an all-encompassing portrait of English medieval queenship and a captivating chapter of English history. Don’t miss any of Alison Weir’s fascinating England’s Medieval Queens series: QUEENS OF THE CONQUEST • QUEENS OF THE CRUSADES • QUEENS OF THE AGE OF CHIVALRY • QUEENS AT WAR