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THE GOOD QUEEN: MATILDA OF SCOTLAND, WIFE OF HENRY I
Daughter of a Scottish king and an Anglo-Saxon princess, Edith is sent to her Aunt Cristina, the Abbess of Romsey for her education. Cristina is harsh and unkind and tries to force Edith to wear a nun's veil, first as a disguise and then permanently, but Edith is enraged and tramples it on the ground. She begs her parents to move her from Romsey to the grand Abbey of Wilton and for a while Edith's life is calm and fulfilling--but then the suitors begin to come. Most fearsome of all is the King, William Rufus, with his fierce mismatched eyes, florid face...and evil reputation. More intriguing, though, is his younger brother Henry, and when Rufus dies in the New Forest, struck by an arrow on the hunt, Edith of Scotland's world is about to change.
A new life...a new name...a destiny as England's Good Queen, uniting both Saxon and Norman.
Number 11 in the MEDIEVAL BABES SERIES about lesser-known medieval Queen and noblewomen.
A new life...a new name...a destiny as England's Good Queen, uniting both Saxon and Norman.
Number 11 in the MEDIEVAL BABES SERIES about lesser-known medieval Queen and noblewomen.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 8, 2023
166 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
J.P. Reedman
102 books165 followersBorn in Canada, J.P. Reedman has been a UK resident for over 30 years. She has been writing since the age of 5, and preferred genres are fantasy and historical (or a mixture of both.) Interests are British history and prehistory, especially the neolithic and bronze ages, archaeology, anthropology and features of the countryside. She is author of the STONEHENGE SAGA a novel that places the legends of King Arthur back into the bronze age, and a number of works about King Richard III, including the epic, I RICHARD PLANTAGENET, which, with both parts combined, is over 250,000 words long and written from Richard's first person perspective. She is also the author of the bestselling medieval novel, MY FAIR LADY, about the little known Queen, Eleanor of Provence which is first in an ongoing series about lesser-known medieval noblewoman. 13 SO FAR!
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 20, 2024
The Good Queen
By J P Reedman
Reviewed October 16, 2023
Full disclosure. I read this book while it was a work in progress and helped MS Reedman by proofreading for her.
The Good Queen is the story of Edith, who took the regnal name Matilda. She was the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and his wife, Margaret, who was later beatified because of her many good works.
While still young, Edith is sent to England along with her younger sister, Mary, to be educated at Romsey Abbey under the guardianship of her mother’s sister, Abbess Cristina. Expecting someone kind and gentle like her mother, Edith is dismayed to find instead a harsh and hurtful woman, the complete opposite of Margaret. She even demands that Edith wear a nun’s veil, even though Edith is adamant that she has no intention of becoming a nun. This business of wearing a veil, supposedly to dissuade unwanted suitors, will later cause some bumps in the road.
As she grows up, Edith finds herself being sought by a number of Norman suitors. She is, after all, the daughter of a king, and winning her hand would be a great prize. Most, however, do not interest her at all, and more than once, she is forced to resort to subterfuge (such as the above-mentioned veil wearing) to get out of accepting an offer.
One young man catches her eye, though, and she his. This is Henry, called Beauclerc, the younger brother of the rapscallion king, William Rufus. Invited to William Rufus’s court, Edith and Henry have a chance to get to know each other better, and Edith is impressed with this young prince. When King William Rufus dies under mysterious circumstances (supposedly a hunting accident, but was it something else, perhaps murder?), Henry marries Edith, and to honor her husband and his Norman blood, she takes as her regnal name Matilda, his mother’s name.
From here, we witness, through Edith’s (or Matilda’s) eyes, many events, although sometimes it’s second hand as she isn’t a queen who does such things as accompany her husband on campaign. She gives her husband the children he needs to ensure the continuation of his dynasty, although those who know their history will recognize that when Henry I is gone, there won’t be a smooth transition of power. But that’s all in the future, and not part of this story. Edith also recognizes that her husband is an inveterate womanizer who has fathered numerous bastards and has to accept her husband’s shortcomings and learn to live with this as well.
This is the latest installment in the author’s Medieval Babes series, telling the stories of lesser known women, and I found it a well put together biography. For the reader who knows little of Henry I and his wife, Matilda/Edith, but wants to know more, this book is a great introduction.
By J P Reedman
Reviewed October 16, 2023
Full disclosure. I read this book while it was a work in progress and helped MS Reedman by proofreading for her.
The Good Queen is the story of Edith, who took the regnal name Matilda. She was the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and his wife, Margaret, who was later beatified because of her many good works.
While still young, Edith is sent to England along with her younger sister, Mary, to be educated at Romsey Abbey under the guardianship of her mother’s sister, Abbess Cristina. Expecting someone kind and gentle like her mother, Edith is dismayed to find instead a harsh and hurtful woman, the complete opposite of Margaret. She even demands that Edith wear a nun’s veil, even though Edith is adamant that she has no intention of becoming a nun. This business of wearing a veil, supposedly to dissuade unwanted suitors, will later cause some bumps in the road.
As she grows up, Edith finds herself being sought by a number of Norman suitors. She is, after all, the daughter of a king, and winning her hand would be a great prize. Most, however, do not interest her at all, and more than once, she is forced to resort to subterfuge (such as the above-mentioned veil wearing) to get out of accepting an offer.
One young man catches her eye, though, and she his. This is Henry, called Beauclerc, the younger brother of the rapscallion king, William Rufus. Invited to William Rufus’s court, Edith and Henry have a chance to get to know each other better, and Edith is impressed with this young prince. When King William Rufus dies under mysterious circumstances (supposedly a hunting accident, but was it something else, perhaps murder?), Henry marries Edith, and to honor her husband and his Norman blood, she takes as her regnal name Matilda, his mother’s name.
From here, we witness, through Edith’s (or Matilda’s) eyes, many events, although sometimes it’s second hand as she isn’t a queen who does such things as accompany her husband on campaign. She gives her husband the children he needs to ensure the continuation of his dynasty, although those who know their history will recognize that when Henry I is gone, there won’t be a smooth transition of power. But that’s all in the future, and not part of this story. Edith also recognizes that her husband is an inveterate womanizer who has fathered numerous bastards and has to accept her husband’s shortcomings and learn to live with this as well.
This is the latest installment in the author’s Medieval Babes series, telling the stories of lesser known women, and I found it a well put together biography. For the reader who knows little of Henry I and his wife, Matilda/Edith, but wants to know more, this book is a great introduction.
February 3, 2024
This is a novel about Edith of Scotland who upon her marriage to Henry I of England took the name of Matilda.. It is one in the author’s series, Medieval Babes: Tales of Little- Known Ladies.
It is also the second novel in succession I have read about Edith, the other being Jeremy Potter’s Death in the Forest. Reedman takes a far more traditional approach than Potter, telling a straightforward chronological account of Edith’s life from age six until her daughter leaves England to marry the Holy Roman Emperor. The book describes many of the historical events during this period, and having read much of the author’s work, I trust that the recital is reliable. This is a far different approach than that taken in Death in the Forest where the author exercises a good deal of dramatic license to have Edith alive at the time of the death of Richard, William the Conqueror’s second son. He died in 1170, some ten years before Edith’s birth. Potter used this device to link Richard’s death, allegedly the result of a hunting accident with his brother, William Rufus’s death, thirty years later also in a hunting accident. Henry I has been implicated in the latter’s not-so-accidental death, and both Potter and Reedman adopt that theory. By doing so, Potter creates a mystery and a little adventure for Edith. He also focuses on Edith’s relationships and attitudes to all of the Conqueror’s sons. She is proud of her royal Saxon blood and hates the Normans, agreeing to marry Henry when she is convinced that only by doing so can she do some good for the Saxon people. She gives up her Saxon name with the greatest reluctance. In contrast, Reedman’s Edith is a bit bland. She has no qualms about adopting the Norman name Matilda in place of her Saxon name, and never questions any of Henry’s actions—even though she must have suspected that he arranged for William Rufus’s murder. She’s full on Team Henry. Who knows? That may be the more accurate picture of Edith.
I ended up giving both books the same number rating (3.5), but which one did I enjoy more? Probably Potter’s—not only because of the mystery and adventure but the vivid characterizations, principally of Edith but also of others, including that of William Rufus.
It is also the second novel in succession I have read about Edith, the other being Jeremy Potter’s Death in the Forest. Reedman takes a far more traditional approach than Potter, telling a straightforward chronological account of Edith’s life from age six until her daughter leaves England to marry the Holy Roman Emperor. The book describes many of the historical events during this period, and having read much of the author’s work, I trust that the recital is reliable. This is a far different approach than that taken in Death in the Forest where the author exercises a good deal of dramatic license to have Edith alive at the time of the death of Richard, William the Conqueror’s second son. He died in 1170, some ten years before Edith’s birth. Potter used this device to link Richard’s death, allegedly the result of a hunting accident with his brother, William Rufus’s death, thirty years later also in a hunting accident. Henry I has been implicated in the latter’s not-so-accidental death, and both Potter and Reedman adopt that theory. By doing so, Potter creates a mystery and a little adventure for Edith. He also focuses on Edith’s relationships and attitudes to all of the Conqueror’s sons. She is proud of her royal Saxon blood and hates the Normans, agreeing to marry Henry when she is convinced that only by doing so can she do some good for the Saxon people. She gives up her Saxon name with the greatest reluctance. In contrast, Reedman’s Edith is a bit bland. She has no qualms about adopting the Norman name Matilda in place of her Saxon name, and never questions any of Henry’s actions—even though she must have suspected that he arranged for William Rufus’s murder. She’s full on Team Henry. Who knows? That may be the more accurate picture of Edith.
I ended up giving both books the same number rating (3.5), but which one did I enjoy more? Probably Potter’s—not only because of the mystery and adventure but the vivid characterizations, principally of Edith but also of others, including that of William Rufus.
October 13, 2023
Always Enjoyable
I always look forward to another book in this series and this didn't disappoint. The author has a way of writing the subjects story, where not much is always known, and creates a believable and compelling tale. Matilda was an incredibly interesting woman and one I definitely would have liked to have known.
I always look forward to another book in this series and this didn't disappoint. The author has a way of writing the subjects story, where not much is always known, and creates a believable and compelling tale. Matilda was an incredibly interesting woman and one I definitely would have liked to have known.
June 19, 2024
Interesting and Informative
I have read about the Empress Maude before, but this was my first introduction to Queen Matilda. I enjoyed learning about her in this well written account. I think that the author did a good job of bringing to life a Medieval woman about whom there is little historical record. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in an account of a strong woman of the time.
I have read about the Empress Maude before, but this was my first introduction to Queen Matilda. I enjoyed learning about her in this well written account. I think that the author did a good job of bringing to life a Medieval woman about whom there is little historical record. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in an account of a strong woman of the time.
December 13, 2024
Most of my reviews start out with "I love historical fiction", and thus, this one will too. I had never heard of Matilda of Scotland until I read this very interesting book. This was very well written with creativity and imagination threaded throughout with history. I also never spill the beans on the content of a book either, therefore I will say that this is an excellent and detailed read. I highly recommend!
September 11, 2023
Excellent read about a good Queen
Very good book. Well written and researched about the Queen of King Henry I of England. Highly recommend. Fascinating read
Very good book. Well written and researched about the Queen of King Henry I of England. Highly recommend. Fascinating read
February 7, 2024
Very interesting historical read
Enjoyed reading this . if you enjoy history and also be joy reading books in the first person, then you will enjoy this book.
Enjoyed reading this . if you enjoy history and also be joy reading books in the first person, then you will enjoy this book.
April 11, 2025
Really liked this book. It was a smooth read and you can tell a lot of thought and research went into it.
February 11, 2024
I finished it but regret my purchase from Amazon Kindle. The cover was beautiful - if only I had enjoyed the pages of the book more...
May 4, 2024
The book delivered on its promise of providing a tale about a little known queen. It was easy to read and the I came away with a sense of the disarray and endemic violence of the times. But I have to admit I did not have a sense of forward movement, of a character arc, that Mathilda was changing as she went through her life. She was a good young girl who faced many obstacles because she was daughter of the Scots king, and she became a good queen despite King Henry being less than a good man.
I enjoyed finding out about Queen Mathilda and the times, but I was neither moved nor inspired by her story.
I enjoyed finding out about Queen Mathilda and the times, but I was neither moved nor inspired by her story.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews