Solid 3.5 simply for the well-research and informative writing. At times it drags and if you are not accustomed to a book full of names and dates being thrown at the reader then it may be a little bit of a rough read.
I like that she attempted to place each woman into context particularly when there is very little historical record available to add details and facts about the life of the woman.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

Not a winner, in my opinion. I found it very confusing, so many names thrown about without any context. It felt more like a genealogy book at times, and then at times more like a dry history book that mainly focused on outlining "big events". For these types of biographies - especially for the women, where so little is known - I think context, experience and emotions are much more important than genealogy. And this book had zero.

Scotland is a land of beauty and a culture all its own, but when it comes to the history of the Scottish monarchy only one word will suffice, messy. The tales of the Scottish monarchy are full of tragedies, violence, and bloody ends. As so often with many other monarchies we tend to focus on the men who wore the crown and those around them, but what about the tales of the queens who stood beside their husbands? The stories of the medieval queens of Scotland have often been overlooked for their more famous husbands, until now. Sharon Bennett Connolly has compiled the stories of these queens in her latest book, “Scotland’s Medieval Queens: From Saint Margaret to Margaret of Denmark.”

I want to thank Pen and Sword Books and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this book. I am a big fan of Sharon Bennett Connolly and her books, so when I heard that she was writing a book about Scottish medieval queens, I knew I wanted to read it. I know very little about Scottish history, other than the Stewarts because of a different book, so I was excited to learn more.

As Connolly states in her introduction, her inspiration for this book was from the Shakespearean play Macbeth, specifically the character of Lady Macbeth. A historical figure who has been much maligned in history, Lady Macbeth’s actual name was Gruoch, and her story and Macbeth’s make a fabulous introduction to her book. We stay in the 11th century with the first queen featured heavily in this text, and that is the only saint, Saint Margaret, the wife of Malcolm III and the one who reformed the Scottish Church.

We get to explore the daughters-in-law of Saint Margaret, Ethelreda of Northumbria, Sybilla of Normandy, and Matilda of Senlis who played more quiet roles than the saintly woman whose shoes they were trying to fill. It should be noted that there were some women like Ada de Warenne who never sat on a throne or wore a crown but were the mother of a future King of Scotland, Malcolm IV the Maiden. Since Malcolm never married or had kids, the throne passed to his brother William the Lion, who was not a huge fan of the English and helped establish the Auld Alliance, with his wife Queen Ermengarde by his side. Although the Scottish did not have the best relationships with the English, it did not mean that they didn’t try to establish peace through marriage with English princesses like Joan of England and Margaret of England. Along the way, a princess of Scotland named Margaret of Scotland married Erik II of Norway, and their daughter Margaret Maid of Norway would become the first Queen Regent of Scotland, albeit for a short period.

After the death of Margaret Maid of Norway, there was to no one’s surprise, a fight for the throne that culminated with John Balliol becoming King of Scotland. The throne would pass to Robert the Bruce, with a feature from a certain rebel named William Wallace. Things were not easy for the Bruce women such as Elizabeth de Burgh and Marjorie Bruce. We also had women like Joan of the Tower and Margaret Drummond who tried to help David Bruce of Scotland rule with different results. Finally, we reach the origins of the House of Stewart with women like Euphemia Ross, Annabella Drummond, Joan Beaufort, Mary of Guelders, and finally Margaret of Denmark. Each woman added something different to the story of Scotland and had to deal with war, executions, childbirth, religious matters, and political intrigue in their unique ways to better Scotland.

I have to applaud Connolly for the amount of history she was able to cover in a single book as she covered four centuries worth of Scottish royal history and made it relatively easy to follow along. I learned so much about Scotland’s royal history and the remarkable women who were queens of Scotland. If you want a fantastic introduction to the turbulent world of medieval Scotland and the women who helped shape the monarchy, I strongly recommend you read, “Scotland’s Medieval Queens: From Saint Margaret to Margaret of Denmark” by Sharon Bennett Connolly.

This was a fantastic book about Scotland's Queens, I really didn't know a lot about the Queens and learned a lot in this book. Sharon Bennett Connolly wrote this perfectly and was glad I was able to read this.

A delightful and thoroughly researched book on the early Queens of Scotland. As not much is known on many of them (which unfortunately was not uncommon during those times), the author does a painstakingly good job of trying to piece their lives together by analyzing their husbands. A must read for any monarchy history fan. Always a bonus from me when it contains pictures! Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

As usual, history is told from a male dominated perspective. Without a doubt there are many women who have influenced the shape of events over millennia, but their story is rarely recorded. I have to confess I know very little about medieval queens, particularly the Scottish monarchs. Sharon Bennett Connolly has assembled a diverse cast and made an excellent job of recounting their role. Behind the scenes, usually, these women were playing a key part in political and court intrigues whispering sense and reason into the ear of their husbands ( and others) and without doubt helped to keep Scotland a strong, fearsome and independent country.

This book is so well written; it deals with the complexities of clan wars, struggle for power, isolation and foreign allegiances in a way that’s easy for the non academic reader to follow with interest. It’s like an adventure story in places and I had a strong sense of the heart of these women. The research appears meticulous. There’s an extensive bibliography with reference to primary and secondary sources. A great resource for further reading. A comprehensive index and best of all, at the end of the book there are numerous plates depicting some portraits and places associated with individuals. I’ve really enjoyed this title.

Scotland has a fascinating history. While it was still a male dominated world, there were a few women that managed to leave their mark in history.

There were some medieval queens that managed to do more than some of their predecessors. With the ever-changing attitudes and political landscapes, these women were often a tie that could help bind a treaty. They were mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters.

This was a pretty good read. For many of the early queens, there is not a lot of new information or really any information, so much of that was a refresher, but for the later queens we have much more.

Dive into this book and get a look at not only these grand ladies, but the men and political realities that they were dealing with each day. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is full of facts, interesting tidbits, and more. Of course, this is history, so some may find it to be a harder read than others, but I could not read this fast enough.

Spend a day in the Scottish wilds and read about these medieval queens.

A nice introduction to the history of these medieval queens that I’m sure one could use as a start of point for writing about one of the women; a reference book. Easy to follow and like always, I love that family trees/linages are included to reference back to when reading. Makes it a bit easier to keep track of your different Margarets, for example.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Jan. 31, 2025
Sharon Bennett Connolly’s newest historical collection, “Scotland’s Medieval Queens: From St. Margaret to Margaret of Denmark” is an exhaustive examination of the women behind the Crown throughout Scotland’s history. Starting as early as the 11th century, with the real-life Lady MacBeth, Connolly discusses the roles the royal women played behind the scenes.
“Queens” is inundated with family histories and timelines, made even more complicated by the numerous Kings (there’s always a I, II and III, if not IV of every royal male name) from both England and Scotland, so it is definitely not a book for those with a minor passing curiousity. As was the way, most of the Royals that we have any record of at all were males, and often they had multiple wives (or wives and mistresses), so be prepared to take ample notes and pay close attention if you want to retain any of the “who’s married to who and when” parts of history.
Obviously, there is very little documentation the farther back you go, so Connolly’s earliest queens (from the 11th century) are most just regurgitation of the information on record. As history passes and more documents and data are recorded, we get a bit more detail although it still won’t give you everything you’re looking for (due to lack of information, not any omission by Connolly).
There were some fascinating family sagas within the pages, and some seriously disturbing facts (the youngest Queen was seven years old and married to the ten-year-old King), and it was these little details that kept me interested. I didn’t particularly care for how many James’ slept with how many Margarets’ or how many Edwards or Williams were in power, or who their ancestors were, but the intricate details of how rulers were chosen and how early relationships were forged was fascinating (there were so many marriages that were “disbanded” by the Church because the bride and groom were too closely related). Speaking of the Church, you can’t talk about any time in Scotland’s history without discussing the relevance and the influence of the Church, and Connolly pays homage to the respect and honour the citizens of that era paid to the church and its important members.
“Scottish Queens” is intense, in depth, fact heavy and intricate, but it is a must read for anyone who is a hardcore history nut, or who loves ancestry and genetic connections, especially among the Royal Families of Scotland (and England). This book was hard to get through in parts, definitely more informational and educational than entertaining, but it was worth the read.

Scotland's Medieval Queens is such a good book If you love Scotland's history. Such a good pick! I rated this book 5 stars because it's THAT good. So beautifully written too.