Queen of the Conqueror: The Life of Matilda, Wife of William I

Copyright © 2011 by Tracy Borman

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of
The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

BANTAM BOOKS and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain as
Matilda: Queen of the Conqueror
by Jonathan Cape, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group Limited, London, in 2011.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Borman, Tracy.
Queen of the Conqueror : the life of Matilda, wife of William I / Tracy Borman.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-553-90825-1
1. Matilda, Queen, consort of William I, King of England, d. 1083. 2. Great Britain—History—William I, 1066–1087—Biography. 3. William I, King of England, 1027 or 8–1087—Marriage. 4. Queens—Great Britain—Biography. I. Title.
DA199.M39B67    2012
942.02’1092—dc23
[B]
2011029689

www.bantamdell.com

Jacket design: Belina Huey
Jacket photograph: Richard Jenkins

v3.1

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

L
IST OF
I
LLUSTRATIONS

G
ENEALOGICAL
T
ABLES

M
APS

I
NTRODUCTION

1 “O
F
K
INGLY
L
INE”

2 W
ILLIAM THE
B
ASTARD

3 T
HE
R
OUGH
W
OOING

4 B
IRTH OF A
D
YNASTY

5 D
UCHESS OF
N
ORMANDY

6 E
ARL
H
AROLD

7 C
ONQUEST

8 “A F
ATAL
D
ISASTER”

9 Q
UEEN OF
E
NGLAND

10 “T
HE
E
NGLISH
T
UMULTS”

11 “M
UTUAL AND
L
ASTING
H
OSTILITY”

12 “M
ATILDA
, W
EALTHY AND
P
OWERFUL”

13 A “W
HOLLY
W
RETCHED
M
OTHER”

14 “A F
AITHLESS
W
IFE”

15 “M
URMURS OF
L
OUD AND
H
EARTFELT
G
RIEF”

16 “T
HE
S
TORMS OF
T
ROUBLES”

Epilogue
“M
OTHER OF
K
INGS”

Illustration Insert

Dedication

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

N
OTES

B
IBLIOGRAPHY

Other Books by This Author

About the Author

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  
1.1
A nineteenth-century sketch of Matilda (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

  
1.2
An engraving of a fresco showing William and Matilda (Bibliothèque nationale de France)

  
1.3
Engraving from frontispiece to Agnes Strickland’s Queens of England series (illustration by G. P. Harding, Esq., produced expressly for Strickland,
Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest
, vol. 1 © Cambridge University Press)

  
1.4
Abbey of La Trinité (© Olivier Petit)

  
1.5
Abbey of St.-Etienne

  
1.6
The castle at Falaise (Getty Images)

  
1.7
The remains of Bonneville-sur-Touques castle (courtesy of
www.bzho.com
)

  
1.8
Illustration showing the descendants of William and Matilda (British Library Board)

  
1.9
Harold Godwinson swears an oath recognizing William’s claim to the English throne (Musée de la Tapisserie, Bayeux, France/with special authorization of the city of Bayeux/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library)

1.10
The Mora
(Musée de la Tapisserie, Bayeux, France/with special authorization of the city of Bayeux/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library)

1.11
Matilda and her ladies working on the Bayeux Tapestry (Musée Baron Gérard)

1.12
Matilda watching her husband set sail for England in 1066 (© Mary Evans Picture Library)

1.13
The White Tower (Getty Images)

1.14
William and Matilda granting a charter (illustration from Hutchinson’s
Story of the British Nation
, c. 1920 [color litho] by Lucas, John Seymour [1849–1923]. Private Collection/The Stapleton Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library)

1.15
A charter bearing Matilda’s signum (reproduced with permission from Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Ref. No. CCA-DCc-ChAnt/A/2)

1.16
Statue of Matilda, Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris (© Marie-Lan Nguyen)

1.17
Matilda’s tomb

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

INTRODUCTION

A
round the year 1049, William, Duke of Normandy and future conqueror of England, rode furiously to the palace of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, in Bruges. Upon reaching it, he encountered the object of his rage as she was leaving the palace chapel: Matilda, the count’s only daughter. This headstrong girl had dared to refuse his offer of marriage, haughtily declaring that she would not lower herself so far as to accept a mere bastard. Without hesitation, the young duke dragged her to the ground by her hair and beat her mercilessly, rolling her in the mud and ruining her rich gown. Then, without another word, he mounted his horse and rode back to Normandy at full speed. Shaken and humiliated, Matilda was helped to her feet by her terrified ladies and carried home to bed. A few days later, she shocked her family, the court, and most of Europe by declaring that she would marry none but William. Thus began one of the most turbulent marriages in history.