Book Review: "Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior" by Catherine Hanley

As you know, I am reading books about each king and queen of England from Edward the Confessor all the way up to Queen Elizabeth II. At the moment, I have read extensively on Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinson, William the Conqueror, William Rufus (William II), Henry I and Stephen of Blois. Each with a strange claim, strange reign and even stranger idea of law and order, each with their own wants and needs to be met and each determined to make England a better country - according to what their own meaning of 'better' was. Edward the Confessor was a saintly king who had the end of his reign tainted by war, Harold Godwinson was a soldier and war hero, William the Conqueror wanted to unite the nation by, er- conquering it, William II wanted peace but prepared for war, Henry I was aptly nicknamed the 'father of his people' with a reign tainted by a massive tragedy that changed the course of history and Stephen of Blois was a king inconsistent in his reign, distant in his claim but needed the kingship more than the kingship needed him.

Now we move on to the next monarch: Empress Matilda, Queen of the English - the daughter of Henry I. This book is called Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior.

I started off really enjoying learning about Empress Matilda's background and her marriage at such a young age, I enjoyed learning about her time in the Holy Roman Empire, learning about politics and being an active leader instead of just a shoehorned sidekick of power she could not yield. She was growing as a woman educated in arts, politics and the court - she never took a backseat and as Henry I of England's daughter, she knew where she stood. She wouldn't be told where she would be standing and I think that was one of the reasons that she took over England in the midst of the reign of Stephen of Blois and then once again.

When the book went on, there seemed to be a huge concentration on Matilda as some sort of feminist icon. Though I could enjoy the sentinment, we have to also remember that this woman was first the Empress of the Holy Roman Empire before she was the Queen of the English and to say she was a feminist icon because of how she ruled the English was a hard heart is somewhat misplaced. This is mainly because Holy Roman Empire rule was often based in absolute power and that is never really a good thing to celebrate. Whilst I do appreciate the sentiment towards her being the first woman to rule in her own right, I do think the idea may be slightly misinterpreted. But this does not say anything about my views towards the author or their integrity - I have otherwise thoroughly enjoyed this book.

As I went on once again, the book became more and more enjoyable as we got to see inside the way in which Matilda really became one of the icons of war in England. She went from being an educated child, to a Holy Roman Empress, to the Queen of the English, to an icon of war - and that is exactly what it said it would do in the title. I was not disappointed and the book dove into exactly what moves Matilda made in order to get there. She set up her own family for greatness, including her son who would go on to become Henry II, putting him in a position of great power.

All in all, I have to take one mark away for the misplaced sentiment that, if someone could correct me on the absolute power aspect of the Holy Roman Empire being brought over in her character to her role as the Queen of the English, then I would happily revise the article. But from my knowledge of how the empire was ruled and how especially, she and her husband ruled the empire, there is something there that I cannot agree with on the base of feminism as absolute power has been known to corrupt...absolutely. However, I have really enjoyed learning more in-depth about the first Queen of the English to rule in her own right.