Matilda of Scotland: A Study in Medieval Queenship

by Lois L. Huneycutt

Matilda of Scotland was the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland and his Anglo-Saxon queen Margaret. Matilda's marriage to Henry I of England in 1100 brought Henry, son of William the Conqueror, a direct and politically desirable link to Matilda's ancestor Alfred the Great.

Matilda was educated in the exclusive convents of Romsey and Wilton, a grounding which enabled her to further the literate court culture of the twelfth century, and under her control was a substantial demesne that allowed her to exercise both lay and ecclesiastical patronage. In the matter of ruling, she was an active partner in administering Henry's cross-channel realm, served as a member of his curia regis, and on occasion acted with what amounted to vice-regal authority in England while Henry was in Normandy.

Chroniclers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries often refer to her as Mathilda bona regina, or Matildis beatae memoriae, and for a time she was popularly regarded as a saint. Huneycutt's study shows how Matilda achieved such acclaim, both because the political structures of her day allowed her the opportunity to do so and because she herself was skilled at manipulating those structures. This study will be valuable to those interested in not only English political history, but also to historians of women, the medieval church, and medieval culture.

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, Scotland, British Literature, Medieval History

207 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 2003

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for Honours History thesis on the Empress Matilda (Queen Matilda's daughter).

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is very little that's been written on Princess Edith of the Scots, later Queen Matilda of England. She was very important to King Henry I, named as a witness in a number of charters and as his representative when he had to go to Normandy to deal with his brother's uprising. Was the marriage legal or not, the clergy kept flip-flopping on that and when their son died in the White Ship disaster some of the clergy decided they were cursed because Matilda's oath to be a nun had been broken in her marriage to King Henry I She was extremely well educated for a woman of her time, probably better educated than some of the nobles at court.. If I'd been supervised by Matilda's Mother Superior aunt, I'd choose marriage too. There is a bit about Matilda's mother, Margaret, Queen of Scots, and tells of her chronic afflictions and how she tolerated them in such a saintly manner. Of course, when you read of her extreme fasting it may be thought that some of the afflictions may be a by product of it. Having her husband, Malcolm III, King of Scots and their eldest son, Prince Edgar, killed in battle was the final straw. Margaret was Matilda's example of queenship, whether feeding the poor, granting charters, or as Henry I's representative in his absence. The feud between her daughter, the Empress Matilda and her cousin Stephen for the English throne left the English with more important things to think about, like survival, then the memory of Good Queen Matilda.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the subtitle states this is "A Study in Medieval Queenship" not a biography. The book is structured thematically so there is little narrative of Matilda's adult life. The idea of "queenship" explored in the book is pretty much limited to Matilda's public life and her role as a sort of bureaucratic mate to Henry I. Admittedly sources would be limited but there is virtually no discussion of her family life as a wife and mother, which must also have been very important elements of her "queenship". Henry I continued to father illegitimate children throughout their marriage but there is no mention of this. So this is a pretty dry discussion and accordingly it's taken me many months to get through it even though the main text of the book is only 150 pages.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been my constant companion for almost a year as I have been doing my final project for my degree about Matilda. Huneycutt's biography is so comprehensive and well written; I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it was invaluable for my work. Without this book I would not have been able to complete my project.