Stephen of England
Encyclopedia
Stephen often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror
. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne
by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy
, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda
. He was succeeded by Matilda's son, Henry II
, the first of the Angevin
kings.
Stephen was born in the County of Blois in middle France
; his father, Count Stephen-Henry
, died while Stephen was still young, and he was brought up by his mother, Adela
. Placed into the court of his uncle, Henry I
, Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands. Stephen married Matilda of Boulogne
, inheriting additional estates in Kent
and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I's son, William Adelin
, in the sinking of the White Ship
in 1120; William's death left the succession of the English throne open to challenge. When Henry I died in 1135, Stephen quickly crossed the English Channel
and with the help of his brother Henry of Blois
, a powerful ecclesiastic, took the throne, arguing that the preservation of order across the kingdom took priority over his earlier oaths to support the claim of Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda
.
The early years of Stephen's reign were largely successful, despite a series of attacks on his possessions in England and Normandy from David I of Scotland
, Welsh rebels and the Empress Matilda's husband, Geoffrey of Anjou. In 1138 the Empress's half-brother Robert of Gloucester
rebelled against Stephen, threatening civil war. Together with his close advisor, Waleron de Beaumont
, Stephen took firm steps to defend England, including arresting a powerful family of bishops. When the Empress and Robert invaded in 1139, however, Stephen was unable to rapidly crush the revolt, which took hold in the south-west of England. Captured at the battle of Lincoln
in 1141, Stephen was abandoned by many of his followers and lost control of Normandy
. Stephen was only freed after his wife and William of Ypres
, one of his military commanders, captured Robert at the rout of Winchester
, but the war dragged on for many years with neither side able to win an advantage.
Stephen became increasingly concerned with ensuring that his son, Eustace, would inherit his throne after him. The king attempted to convince the church to agree to crown Eustace to reinforce his claim: Pope Eugene III
refused and Stephen found himself in a sequence of increasingly bitter arguments with his senior clergy. In 1153 the Empress's son, Henry FitzEmpress
, invaded England and built an alliance of powerful regional barons to support his claim for the throne. The two armies met at Wallingford
but neither side's barons were keen to fight another pitched battle. Stephen began to examine a negotiated peace, a process hastened by the sudden death of Eustace. Stephen and Henry agreed the Treaty of Winchester later in the year, in which Stephen recognised Henry as his heir in exchange for peace, passing over William, Stephen's second son. Stephen died the following year. Modern historians have extensively debated the extent to which Stephen's personality, external events or the weaknesses in the Norman state contributed to this prolonged period of civil war.
in France, either in 1092 or 1096. His father was Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois and Chartres, an important French nobleman; Stephen's father played only a brief part in his early life, being an active crusader
. During the First Crusade
Stephen-Henry had acquired an unfortunate reputation for cowardice, and he returned to the Levant again in 1101 to rebuild his reputation where he was killed at the battle of Ramlah
. Stephen's mother, Adela
of England, was the daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders
, famous amongst her contemporaries for her piety, wealth and political talent. She had a strong matriarchal influence on Stephen during his early years.
France in the 12th century was a loose collection of counties and smaller polities, under the minimal control of the king of France. The king's power was linked to his control of the rich province of Île-de-France
, just to the east of Stephen's home county of Blois. In the west lay the three counties of Maine
, Anjou
and Touraine
, and to the north of Blois was the Duchy of Normandy
, from which Duke William had conquered England in 1066. William's children were still fighting over the collective Anglo-Norman inheritance. The rulers across this region spoke a similar language, albeit with regional dialects, followed the same religion and were closely interrelated; they were also highly competitive and frequently in conflict with one another for valuable territory and the castles that controlled them.
Stephen had at least four brothers and one sister, along with two probable half-sisters. Stephen's eldest brother was William
, who under normal circumstances would have inherited the title of count. William was probably intellectually disabled, and Adela instead had the title passed over him to her second son, Theobald, who went on to later acquire the county of Champagne
as well as Blois and Chartres. Stephen's remaining older brother, Odo, died young, probably in his early teens. Stephen's younger brother, Henry of Blois
, was probably born four years after Stephen. The brothers formed a close-knit family group, and Adela encouraged Stephen to take up the role of a feudal knight, whilst steering Henry towards a career in the church, possibly so that their personal career interests would not overlap. Unusually, Stephen was raised in his mother's household rather than being sent to a close relative; he was taught Latin
and horseback riding, and was educated in recent history and Biblical stories
by his tutor, William the Norman.
, his uncle and King of England. Henry seized power in England following the death of his elder brother William Rufus. In 1106 he invaded and captured the Duchy of Normandy, controlled by his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, defeating Robert's army at the battle of Tinchebray
. Henry then found himself in conflict with Louis VI
of France, who took the opportunity to declare Robert's son William Clito
the Duke of Normandy. Henry responded by forming a net of alliances with the western counties of France against Louis, resulting in a regional conflict that would last throughout Stephen's early life. Adela and Theobald allied themselves with Henry, and Stephen's mother decided to place him in Henry's court. Henry fought his next military campaign in Normandy from 1111 onwards, where rebels led by Robert of Bellême
were opposing his rule. Stephen was probably with Henry during the military campaign of 1112, when he was knighted by the king, and was definitely present at court during the king's visit to the Abbey of Saint-Evroul in 1113. Stephen probably first visited England in either 1113 or 1115, almost certainly as part of Henry's court.
Henry became a powerful patron to Stephen; Henry probably chose to support him because Stephen was part of his extended family and a regional ally, yet not sufficiently wealthy or powerful in his own right to represent a threat to either the king or his heir, William Adelin
. As a third surviving son, even of an influential regional family, Stephen still needed the support of a powerful patron such as the king to progress in life. With Henry's support, Stephen rapidly began to accumulate lands and possessions. Following the battle of Tinchebray in 1106, Henry confiscated the County of Mortain from William, the Count of Mortain, and the Honour of Eye, a large lordship previously owned by Robert Malet
. In 1113, Stephen was granted both the title and the honour, although without the lands previously held by William in England. The gift of the Honour of Lancaster
also followed after it was confiscated by Henry from Roger the Poitevin
. Stephen was also given lands in Alençon
in southern Normandy by Henry, but the local Normans rebelled, seeking assistance from Fulk, the Count of Anjou. Stephen and his older brother Theobald were comprehensively beaten in the subsequent campaign, which culminated in the battle of Alençon, and the territories were not recovered.
Finally, the king arranged for Stephen to marry Matilda
in 1125, the daughter and only heiress of the Count of Boulogne
, who owned both the important continental port of Boulogne and vast estates in the north-west and south-east of England. In 1127, William Clito, a potential claimant to the English throne, seemed likely to become the Count of Flanders
; Stephen was sent by the king on a mission to prevent this, and in the aftermath of his successful election, William Clito attacked Stephen's lands in neighbouring Boulogne in retaliation. Eventually a truce was declared, and William Clito died the following year.
In 1120, the English political landscape changed dramatically. Three hundred passengers embarked on the White Ship
to travel from Barfleur
in Normandy to England, including the heir to the throne, William Adelin, and many other senior nobles. Stephen had intended to sail on the same ship but changed his mind at the last moment and got off to await another vessel, either out of concern for overcrowding on board the ship, or because he was suffering from diarrhoea. The ship foundered en route, and all but two of the passengers died, including William Adelin.
With Adelin dead, the inheritance to the English throne was thrown into doubt. Rules of succession in western Europe at the time were uncertain; in some parts of France, male primogeniture
, in which the eldest child would inherit a title, was becoming more popular. It was also traditional for the King of France to crown his successor whilst he himself was still alive, making the intended line of succession relatively clear, but this was not the case in England. In other parts of Europe, including Normandy and England, the tradition was for lands to be divided up, with the eldest son taking patrimonial lands—usually considered to be the most valuable—and younger sons being given smaller, or more recently acquired, partitions or estates. The problem was further complicated by the sequence of unstable Anglo-Norman successions over the previous sixty years—William the Conqueror had gained England by force, William Rufus and Robert Curthose had fought a war between them to establish their inheritance, and Henry had only acquired control of Normandy by force. There had been no peaceful, uncontested successions.
With William Adelin dead, Henry had only one other legitimate child, Matilda
, but as a woman she was at a substantial political disadvantage. Despite Henry taking a second wife, Queen Adeliza
, it became increasingly unlikely that Henry would have another legitimate son and instead he looked to Matilda as his intended heir. Matilda had been married to Henry V
, the Holy Roman Emperor, which gave her the title of Empress, but her husband died in 1125 and she was remarried in 1128 to Geoffrey, the Count of Anjou, whose lands bordered the Duchy of Normandy. Geoffrey was unpopular with the Anglo-Norman elite: as an Angevin ruler, he was a traditional enemy of the Normans. At the same time, tensions continued to grow as a result of Henry's domestic policies, in particular the high level of revenue he was raising to pay for his various wars. Conflict was curtailed, however, by the power of the king's personality and reputation.
Henry attempted to build up a base of political support for Matilda in both England and Normandy, demanding that his court take oath
s first in 1127, and then again in 1128 and 1131, to recognise Matilda as his immediate successor and recognise her descendants as the rightful ruler after her. Stephen was amongst those who took this oath in 1127. Nonetheless, relations between Henry, Matilda and Geoffrey became increasingly strained towards the end of the king's life. Matilda and Geoffrey suspected that they lacked genuine support in England, and proposed to Henry in 1135 that the king should hand over the royal castles in Normandy to Matilda whilst he was still alive and insist on the Norman nobility swearing immediate allegiance to her, thereby giving the couple a much more powerful position after Henry's death. Henry angrily declined to do so, probably out of a concern that Geoffrey would try to seize power in Normandy somewhat earlier than intended. A fresh rebellion broke out in southern Normandy, and Geoffrey and Matilda intervened militarily on behalf of the rebels. In the middle of this confrontation, Henry unexpectedly fell ill and died near Lyon
s.
confessor appointed to him by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who implemented a penitential regime
for him, and Stephen encouraged the new order of Cistercians to form abbeys on his estates, winning him additional allies within the church. Rumours of his father's cowardice during the First Crusade, however, continued to circulate, and a desire to avoid the same reputation may have influenced some of Stephen's rasher military actions. His wife, Matilda, played a major role in running their vast English estates, which contributed to the couple being the second-richest lay household in the country after the king. The landless Flemish nobleman William of Ypres
had joined Stephen's household in 1133, alongside Faramus of Boulogne, a Flemish relative and friend of Matilda's.
Meanwhile, Stephen's younger brother Henry of Blois had also risen to power under Henry I. Henry of Blois had become a Cluniac
monk and followed Stephen to England, where the king made him Abbot of Glastonbury
, the richest abbey in England. The king then appointed him Bishop of Winchester
, one of the richest bishoprics, allowing him to retain Glastonbury as well. The combined revenues of the two positions made Henry of Winchester the second-richest man in England after the king. Henry of Winchester was keen to reverse what he perceived as encroachment by the Norman kings on the rights of the church. The Norman kings had traditionally exercised a great deal of power and autonomy over the church within their territories. From the 1040s onwards, however, successive popes had put forward a reforming message that emphasised the importance of the church being "governed more coherently and more hierarchically from the centre" and established "its own sphere of authority and jurisdiction, separate from and independent of that of the lay ruler", in the words of historian Richard Huscroft.
When news began to spread of Henry I's death, many of the potential claimants to the throne were not well placed to respond. Geoffrey and Matilda were in Anjou, rather awkwardly supporting the rebels in their campaign against the royal army, which included a number of Matilda's supporters such as Robert of Gloucester. Many of these barons had taken an oath to stay in Normandy until the late king was properly buried, which prevented them from returning to England. Stephen's elder brother Theobald was further south still, in Blois. Stephen, however, was in Bolougne, and when news reached him of Henry's death he left for England, accompanied by his military household. Robert of Gloucester had garrisoned the ports of Dover and Canterbury and some accounts suggest that they refused Stephen access when he first arrived. Nonetheless Stephen probably reached his own estate on the edge of London by 8 December and over the next week he began to seize power in England.
The crowds in London traditionally claimed a right to elect the king of England, and they proclaimed Stephen the new monarch, believing that he would grant the city new rights and privileges in return. Henry of Blois delivered the support of the church to Stephen: Stephen was able to advance to Winchester
, where Roger
, who was both the Bishop of Salisbury
and the Lord Chancellor
, instructed the royal treasury to be handed over to Stephen. On 15 December, Henry delivered an agreement under which Stephen would grant extensive freedoms and liberties to the church, in exchange for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Papal Legate supporting his succession to the throne. There was the slight problem of the religious oath that Stephen had taken to support the Empress Matilda, but Henry convincingly argued that the late king had been wrong to insist that his court take the oath. Furthermore, the late king had only insisted on that oath to protect the stability of the kingdom, and in light of the chaos that might now ensue, Stephen would be justified in ignoring it. Henry was also able to persuade Hugh Bigod
, the late king's royal steward, to swear that the king had changed his mind about the succession on his deathbed, nominating Stephen instead. Stephen's coronation was held a week later at Westminster Abbey
on 26 December.
Meanwhile, the Norman nobility gathered at Le Neubourg
to discuss declaring Theobald king, probably following the news that Stephen was gathering support in England. The Normans argued that the count, as the eldest grandson of William the Conqueror, had the most valid claim over the kingdom and the duchy, and was certainly preferable to Matilda. Theobald met with the Norman barons and Robert of Gloucester at Lisieux
on 21 December but their discussions were interrupted by the sudden news from England that Stephen's coronation was to occur the next day. Theobald then agreed to the Normans' proposal that he be made king, only to find that his former support immediately ebbed away: the barons were not prepared to support the division of England and Normandy by opposing Stephen. Stephen subsequently financially compensated Theobald, who in return remained in Blois and supported his brother's succession.
in 1066, followed by the Norman expansion into south Wales
over the coming years. Both the kingdom and duchy were dominated by a small number of major barons who owned lands on both sides of the English Channel
, with the lesser barons beneath them usually having more localised holdings. The extent to which lands and positions should be passed down through hereditary right or by the gift of the king was still uncertain, and tensions around this issue had grown during the reign of Henry I
. Certainly lands in Normandy, passed by hereditary right, were usually considered more important to major barons than those in England, where their possession was less certain. Henry had increased the authority and capabilities of the central royal administration, often bringing in "new men" to fulfil key positions rather than using the established nobility. In the process he had been able to maximise revenues and contain expenditures, resulting in a healthy surplus and a famously large treasury, but also increasing political tensions.
Stephen had to intervene in the north of England immediately after his coronation. David I of Scotland
invaded the north on the news of Henry's death, taking Carlisle, Newcastle
and other key strongholds. Northern England was a disputed territory at this time, with the Scottish kings laying a traditional claim to Cumberland
, and David also claiming Northumbria
by virtue of his marriage to the daughter of the former Anglo-Saxon earl Waltheof. Stephen rapidly marched north with an army and met David at Durham
. An agreement was made under which David would return most of the territory he had taken, with the exception of Carlisle. In return, Stephen confirmed David's son Prince Henry's possessions in England, including the Earldom of Huntingdon
.
Returning south, Stephen held his first royal court at Easter 1136. A wide range of nobles gathered at Westminster for the event, including many of the Anglo-Norman barons and most of the higher officials of the church. Stephen issued a new royal charter, confirming the promises he had made to the church, promising to reverse Henry's policies on the royal forest
s and to reform any abuses of the royal legal system. Stephen portrayed himself as the natural successor to Henry I's policies, and reconfirmed the existing seven earldoms in the kingdom on their existing holders. The Easter court was a lavish event, and a large amount of money was spent on the event itself, clothes and gifts. Stephen gave out grants of land and favours to those present, and endowed numerous church foundations with land and privileges. Stephen's accession to the throne still needed to be ratified by the Pope, however, and Henry of Blois appears to have been responsible for ensuring that testimonials of support were sent both from Stephen's elder brother Theobald and from the French king Louis VI, to whom Stephen represented a useful balance to Angevin power in the north of France. Pope Innocent II
confirmed Stephen as king by letter later that year, and Stephen's advisers circulated copies widely around England to demonstrate Stephen's legitimacy.
Troubles continued across Stephen's kingdom. After the Welsh victory at the battle of Llwchwr
in January 1136 and the successful ambush of Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare in April, south Wales rose in rebellion, starting in east Glamorgan
and rapidly spreading across the rest of south Wales during 1137. Owain Gwynedd
and Gruffydd ap Rhys
successfully captured considerable territories, including Carmarthen Castle. Stephen responded by sending Richard's brother Baldwin and the Marcher Lord Robert Fitz Harold of Ewyas into Wales to pacify the region. Neither mission was particularly successful and by the end of 1137 the king appears to have abandoned attempts to put down the rebellion. Historian David Crouch
suggests that Stephen effectively "bowed out of Wales" around this time to concentrate on his other problems. Meanwhile, Stephen had put down two revolts in the south-west led by Baldwin de Redvers and Robert of Bampton; Baldwin was released after his capture and travelled to Normandy, where he became an increasingly vocal critic of the king.
The security of Normandy was also a concern. Geoffrey of Anjou invaded in early 1136 and, after a temporary truce, invaded later the same year, raiding and burning estates rather than trying to hold the territory. Events in England meant that Stephen was unable to travel to Normandy himself, so Waleran de Beaumont
, appointed by Stephen as the lieutenant of Normandy, and Theobald led the efforts to defend the duchy. Stephen himself only returned to the duchy in 1137, where he met with Louis VI and Theobald to agree to an informal regional alliance, probably brokered by Henry, to counter the growing Angevin power in the region. As part of this deal, Louis recognised Stephen's son Eustace as Duke of Normandy in exchange for Eustace giving fealty to the French king. Stephen was less successful, however, in regaining the Argentan province along the Normandy and Anjou border, which Geoffrey had taken at the end of 1135. Stephen formed an army to retake it, but the frictions between his Flemish mercenary forces led by William of Ypres and the local Norman barons resulted in a battle between the two halves of his army. The Norman forces then deserted the king, forcing Stephen to give up his campaign. Stephen agreed to another truce with Geoffrey, promising to pay him 2,000 marks
a year in exchange for peace along the Norman borders.
Stephen's relationship with the church became gradually more complex. The royal charter of 1136 had promised to review the ownership of all the lands that had been taken by the crown from the church since 1087, but these estates were now typically owned by nobles. Henry of Blois's claims, in his role as Abbot of Glastonbury, to extensive lands in Devon resulted in considerable local unrest. In 1136, Archbishop of Canterbury William de Corbeil
died. Stephen responded by seizing his personal wealth, which caused some discontent amongst the senior clergy. Stephen's brother Henry wanted to succeed to the post, but Stephen instead supported Theobald of Bec
, who was eventually appointed, while the papacy named Henry papal legate
, possibly as consolation for not receiving Canterbury.
Stephen's first few years as king can be interpreted in different ways. Seen positively, Stephen stabilised the northern border with Scotland, contained Geoffrey's attacks on Normandy, was at peace with Louis VI, enjoyed good relations with the church and had the broad support of his barons. There were significant underlying problems, nonetheless. The north of England was now controlled by David and Prince Henry, Stephen had abandoned Wales, the fighting in Normandy had considerably destabilised the duchy, and an increasing number of barons felt that Stephen had given them neither the lands nor the titles they felt they deserved or were owed. Stephen was also rapidly running out of money: Henry's considerable treasury had been emptied by 1138 due to the costs of running Stephen's more lavish court, and the need to raise and maintain his mercenary armies fighting in England and Normandy.
rebelled against the king, starting the descent into civil war in England. An illegitimate son of Henry I and the half-brother of the Empress Matilda, Robert was one of the most powerful Anglo-Norman barons, controlling estates in Normandy as well as the Earldom of Gloucester
. He was known for his qualities as a statesman, his military experience and leadership ability. Robert had tried to convince Theobald to take the throne in 1135; he did not attend Stephen's first court in 1136 and it took several summonses to convince him to attend court at Oxford
later that year. In 1138, Robert renounced his fealty to Stephen and declared his support for Matilda, triggering a major regional rebellion in Kent
and across the south-west of England, although Robert himself remained in Normandy. In France, Geoffrey of Anjou took advantage of the situation by re-invading Normandy. David of Scotland also invaded the north of England once again, announcing that he was supporting the claim of his niece the Empress Matilda to the throne, pushing south into Yorkshire
.
Anglo-Norman warfare during the reign of Stephen was characterised by attrition
al military campaigns, in which commanders tried to seize key enemy castles in order to allow them to take control of their adversaries' territory and ultimately win a slow, strategic victory. The armies of the period centred on bodies of mounted, armoured knight
s, supported by infantry
and crossbow
men. These forces were either feudal levies, drawn up by local nobles for a limited period of service during a campaign or, increasingly, mercenaries, who were expensive but more flexible and often more skilled. These armies, however, were ill-suited to besieging castles, whether the older motte-and-bailey
designs or the newer, stone-built keep
s. Existing siege engines were significantly less powerful than the later trebuchet
designs, giving defenders a substantial advantage over attackers. As a result, slow sieges to starve defenders out, or mining operations to undermine walls, tended to be preferred by commanders over direct assaults. Occasionally pitched battles were fought between armies but these were considered highly risky endeavours and were usually avoided by prudent commanders. The cost of warfare had risen considerably in the first part of the 12th century, and adequate supplies of ready cash were increasingly proving important in the success of campaigns.
Stephen's personal qualities as a military leader focused on his skill in personal combat, his capabilities in siege warfare and a remarkable ability to move military forces quickly over relatively long distances. In response to the revolts and invasions, Stephen rapidly undertook several military campaigns, focusing primarily on England rather than Normandy. His wife Matilda was sent to Kent with ships and resources from Boulogne, with the task of retaking the key port of Dover
, under Robert's control. A small number of Stephen's household knights were sent north to help the fight against the Scots, where David's forces were defeated later that year at the battle of the Standard
in August by the forces of Thurstan
, the Archbishop of York
. Despite this victory, however, David still occupied most of the north. Stephen himself went west in an attempt to regain control of Gloucestershire
, first striking north into the Welsh Marches
, taking Hereford
and Shrewsbury
, before heading south to Bath. The town of Bristol
itself proved too strong for him, and Stephen contented himself with raiding and pillaging the surrounding area. The rebels appear to have expected Robert to intervene with support that year, but he remained in Normandy throughout, trying to persuade the Empress Matilda to invade England herself. Dover finally surrendered to the queen's forces later in the year.
Stephen's military campaign in England had progressed well, and historian David Crouch describes it as "a military achievement of the first rank". The king took the opportunity of his military advantage to forge a peace agreement with Scotland. Stephen's wife Matilda was sent to negotiate another agreement between Stephen and David, called the treaty of Durham
; Northumbria and Cumbria would effectively be granted to David and his son Prince Henry, in exchange for their fealty and future peace along the border. Unfortunately, the powerful Ranulf, Earl of Chester
, considered himself to hold the traditional rights to Carlisle and Cumberland and was extremely displeased to see them being given to the Scots. Nonetheless, Stephen could now focus his attention on the anticipated invasion of England by Robert and Matilda's forces.
, the twin brother of Robert of Leicester
. The Beaumont twins and their younger brother and cousins received the majority of these new earldoms. From 1138 onwards, Stephen gave them the earldoms of Worcester
, Leicester, Hereford
, Warwick and Pembroke
, which—especially when combined with the possessions of Stephen's new ally, Prince Henry, in Cumberland and Northumbria—created a wide block of territory to act as a buffer zone
between the troubled south-west, Chester
and the rest of the kingdom. With their new lands, the power of the Beamounts grew to the point where David Crouch suggests that it became "dangerous to be anything other than a friend of Waleran" at Stephen's court.
Stephen took steps to remove a group of bishops he regarded as a threat to his rule. The royal administration under Henry I had been headed by Roger
, the Bishop of Salisbury
, supported by Roger's nephews, Alexander
and Nigel, the Bishops of Lincoln
and Ely
respectively, and Roger's son, Roger le Poer
, who was the Lord Chancellor
. These bishops were powerful landowners as well as ecclesiastical rulers, and they had begun to build new castles and increase the size of their military forces, leading Stephen to suspect that they were about to defect to the Empress Matilda. Roger and his family were also enemies of Waleran, who disliked their control of the royal administration. In June 1139, Stephen held his court in Oxford, where a fight between Alan of Britanny and Roger's men broke out, an incident probably deliberately created by Stephen. Stephen responded by demanding that Roger and the other bishops surrender all of their castles in England. This threat was backed up by the arrest of the bishops, with the exception of Nigel who had taken refuge in Devizes Castle
; the bishop only surrendered after Stephen besieged the castle and threatened to execute Roger le Poer. The remaining castles were then surrendered to the king.
Stephen's brother, Henry of Blois, was alarmed by this, both as a matter of principle, since Stephen had previously agreed in 1135 to respect the freedoms of the church, and more pragmatically because he himself had recently built six castles and had no desire to be treated in the same way. As the papal legate, he summoned the king to appear before an ecclesiastical council to answer for the arrests and seizure of property. Henry asserted the Church’s right to investigate and judge all charges against members of the clergy. Stephen sent Aubrey de Vere
as his spokesman to the council, who argued that Roger of Salisbury had been arrested not as a bishop, but rather in his role as a baron who had been preparing to change his support to the Empress Matilda. The king was supported by Hugh
, Archbishop of Rouen
, who challenged the bishops to show how canon law
entitled them to build or hold castles. Aubrey threatened that Stephen would complain to the pope that he was being harassed by the English church, and the council let the matter rest following an unsuccessful appeal to Rome. The incident successfully removed any military threat from the bishops, but it may have damaged Stephen's relationship with the senior clergy, and in particular with his brother Henry.
crossed over from Normandy to Wareham
in August in an initial attempt to capture a port to receive the Empress Matilda's invading army, but Stephen's forces forced him to retreat into the south-west. The following month, however, the Empress was invited by the Dowager Queen Adeliza to land at Arundel
instead, and on 30 September Robert of Gloucester and the Empress arrived in England with 140 knights. The Empress stayed at Arundel Castle
, whilst Robert marched north-west to Wallingford
and Bristol, hoping to raise support for the rebellion and to link up with Miles of Gloucester, a capable military leader who took the opportunity to renounce his fealty to the king. Stephen promptly moved south, besieging Arundel and trapping Matilda inside the castle.
Stephen then agreed to a truce proposed by his brother, Henry of Blois; the full details of the truce are not known, but the results were that Stephen first released Matilda from the siege and then allowed her and her household of knights to be escorted to the south-west, where they were reunited with Robert of Gloucester. The reasoning behind Stephen's decision to release his rival remains unclear. Contemporary chroniclers suggested that Henry argued that it would be in Stephen's own best interests to release the Empress and concentrate instead on attacking Robert, and Stephen may have seen Robert, not the Empress, as his main opponent at this point in the conflict. Stephen also faced a military dilemma at Arundel—the castle was considered almost impregnable, and he may have been worried that he was tying down his army in the south whilst Robert roamed freely in the west. Another theory is that Stephen released Matilda out of a sense of chivalry
; Stephen was certainly known for having a generous, courteous personality and women were not normally expected to be targeted in Anglo-Norman warfare.
Having released the Empress, Stephen focused on pacifying the south-west of England. Although there had been few new defections to the Empress, his enemies now controlled a compact block of territory stretching out from Gloucester and Bristol south-west into Devon and Cornwall, west into the Welsh Marches and east as far as Oxford and Wallingford, threatening London. Stephen started by attacking Wallingford Castle
, held by the Empress's childhood friend Brien FitzCount
, only to find it too well defended. Stephen left behind some forces to blockade the castle and continued west into Wiltshire to attack Trowbridge, taking the castles of South Cerney and Malmesbury
en route. Meanwhile, Miles of Gloucester marched east, attacking Stephen's rearguard forces at Wallingford and threatening an advance on London. Stephen was forced to give up his western campaign, returning east to stabilise the situation and protect his capital.
At the start of 1140, Nigel, the Bishop of Ely, whose castles Stephen had confiscated the previous year, rebelled against Stephen as well. Nigel hoped to seize East Anglia
and established his base of operations in the Isle of Ely
, then surrounded by protective fenland
. Stephen responded quickly, taking an army into the fens and using boats lashed together to form a causeway that allowed him to make a surprise attack on the isle. Nigel escaped to Gloucester, but his men and castle were captured, and order was temporarily restored in the east. Robert of Gloucester's men retook some of the territory that Stephen had taken in his 1139 campaign. In an effort to negotiate a truce, Henry of Blois held a peace conference at Bath, to which Stephen sent his wife. The conference collapsed over the insistence by Henry and the clergy that they should set the terms of any peace deal, which Stephen found unacceptable.
Ranulf of Chester remained upset over Stephen's gift of the north of England to Prince Henry. Ranulf devised a plan for dealing with the problem by ambushing Henry whilst the prince was travelling back from Stephen's court to Scotland after Christmas. Stephen responded to rumours of this plan by escorting Henry himself north, but this gesture proved the final straw for Ranulf. Ranulf had previously claimed that he had the rights to Lincoln Castle
, held by Stephen, and under the guise of a social visit, Ranulf seized the fortification in a surprise attack. Stephen marched north to Lincoln and agreed to a truce with Ranulf, probably to keep him from joining the Empress's faction, under which Ranulf would be allowed to keep the castle. Stephen returned to London but received news that Ranulf, his brother and their family were relaxing in Lincoln Castle with a minimal guard force, a ripe target for a surprise attack of his own. Abandoning the deal he had just made, Stephen gathered his army again and sped north, but not quite fast enough—Ranulf escaped Lincoln and declared his support for the Empress, and Stephen was forced to place the castle under siege.
on 2 February 1141. The king commanded the centre of his army, with Alan of Brittany on his right and William of Aumale
on his left. Robert and Ranulf's forces had superiority in cavalry and Stephen dismounted many of his own knights to form a solid infantry block; he joined them himself, fighting on foot in the battle. Stephen was not a gifted public speaker, and delegated the pre-battle speech to Baldwin of Clare
, who delivered a rousing declaration. After an initial success in which William's forces destroyed the Angevins' Welsh infantry, the battle went badly for Stephen. Robert and Ranulf's cavalry encircled Stephen's centre, and the king found himself surrounded by the enemy army. Many of Stephen's supporters, including Waleron de Beaumont and William of Ypres, fled from the field at this point but Stephen fought on, defending himself first with his sword and then, when that broke, with a borrowed battle axe. Finally, he was overwhelmed by Robert's men and taken away from the field in custody.
Robert took Stephen back to Gloucester, where the king met with the Empress Matilda, and was then moved to Bristol Castle
, traditionally used for holding high-status prisoners. He was initially left confined in relatively good conditions, but his security was later tightened and he was kept in chains. The Empress now began to take the necessary steps to have herself crowned queen in his place, which would require the agreement of the church and her coronation at Westminster
. Stephen's brother Henry summoned a council at Winchester
before Easter in his capacity as papal legate to consider the clergy's view. He had made a private deal with the Empress Matilda that he would deliver the support of the church, if she agreed to give him control over church business in England. Henry handed over the royal treasury, rather depleted except for Stephen's crown, to the Empress, and excommunicated many of Stephen's supporters who refused to switch sides. Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury was unwilling to declare Matilda queen so rapidly, however, and a delegation of clergy and nobles, headed by Theobald, travelled to see Stephen in Bristol and consult about their moral dilemma: should they abandon their oaths of fealty to the king? Stephen agreed that, given the situation, he was prepared to release his subjects from their oath of fealty to him, and the clergy gathered again in Winchester after Easter to declare the Empress "Lady of England and Normandy" as a precursor to her coronation. When Matilda advanced to London in an effort to stage her coronation in June, though, she faced an uprising by the local citizens in support of Stephen that forced her to flee to Oxford, uncrowned.
Once news of Stephen's capture reached him, Geoffrey of Anjou invaded Normandy again and, in the absence of Waleran of Beaumont, who was still fighting in England, Geoffrey took all the duchy south of the river Seine and east of the river Risle
. No help was forthcoming from Stephen's brother Theobald this time either, who appears to have been preoccupied with his own problems with France—the new French king, Louis VII
, had rejected his father's regional alliance, improving relations with Anjou and taking a more bellicose line with Theobald, which would result in war the following year. Geoffrey's success in Normandy and Stephen's weakness in England began to influence the loyalty of many Anglo-Norman barons, who feared losing their lands in England to Robert and the Empress, and their possessions in Normandy to Geoffrey. Many started to leave Stephen's faction. His friend and advisor Waleron was one of those who decided to defect in mid-1141, crossing into Normandy to secure his ancestral possessions by allying himself with the Angevins, and bringing Worcestershire into the Empress's camp. Waleron's twin brother, Robert of Leicester, effectively withdrew from fighting in the conflict at the same time. Other supporters of the Empress were restored in their former strongholds, such as Bishop Nigel of Ely, and others still received new earldoms in the west of England. The royal control over the minting
of coins broke down, leading to coins being struck by local barons and bishops across the country.
Stephen's wife Matilda played a critical part in keeping the king's cause alive during his captivity. Queen Matilda gathered Stephen's remaining lieutenants around her and the royal family in the south-east, advancing into London when the population rejected the Empress. Stephen's long-standing commander William of Ypres remained with the queen in London; William Martel, the royal steward, commanded operations from Sherborne
in Dorset, and Faramus of Boulogne ran the royal household. The queen appears to have generated genuine sympathy and support from Stephen's more loyal followers. Henry's alliance with the Empress proved short-lived, as they soon fell out over political patronage and ecclesiastical policy; the bishop met Stephen's wife Queen Matilda at Guildford
and transferred his support to her.
The king's eventual release resulted from the Angevin defeat at the rout of Winchester
. Robert of Gloucester and the Empress besieged Henry in the city of Winchester in July. Queen Matilda and William of Ypres then encircled the Angevin forces with their own army, reinforced with fresh troops from London. In the subsequent battle the Empress's forces were defeated and Robert of Gloucester himself was taken prisoner. Further negotiations attempted to deliver a general peace agreement but Queen Matilda was unwilling to offer any compromise to the Empress, and Robert refused to accept any offer to encourage him to change sides to Stephen. Instead, in November the two sides simply exchanged Robert and the king, and Stephen began re-establishing his authority. Henry held another church council, which this time reaffirmed Stephen's legitimacy to rule, and a fresh coronation of Stephen and Matilda occurred at Christmas 1141.
At the beginning of 1142 Stephen fell ill, and by Easter rumours had begun to circulate that he had died. Possibly this illness was the result of his imprisonment the previous year, but he finally recovered and travelled north to raise new forces and to successfully convince Ranulf of Chester to change sides once again. Stephen then spent the summer attacking some of the new Angevin castles built the previous year, including Cirencester
, Bampton
and Wareham
. In September, he spotted an opportunity to seize the Empress Matilda herself in Oxford
. Oxford was a secure town, protected by walls and the river Isis, but Stephen led a sudden attack across the river, leading the charge and swimming part of the way. Once on the other side, the king and his men stormed into the town, trapping the Empress in the castle. Oxford Castle
, however, was a powerful fortress and, rather than storming it, Stephen had to settle down for a long siege, albeit secure in the knowledge that Matilda was now surrounded. Just before Christmas, the Empress sneaked out of the castle, crossed the icy river on foot and made her escape to Wallingford. The garrison surrendered shortly afterwards, but Stephen had lost an opportunity to capture his principal opponent.
, an assembly point for royal forces in Herefordshire
. Stephen attempted to break out and escape, resulting in the battle of Wilton
. Once again, the Angevin cavalry proved too strong, and for a moment it appeared that Stephen might be captured for a second time. On this occasion, however, William Martel
, Stephen's steward, made a fierce rear guard effort, allowing Stephen to escape from the battlefield. Stephen valued William's loyalty sufficiently to agree to exchange Sherborne Castle
for his safe release—this was one of the few instances where Stephen was prepared to give up a castle to ransom one his men.
In late 1143, Stephen faced a new threat in the east, when Geoffrey de Mandeville
, the Earl of Essex
, rose up in rebellion against the king in East Anglia. Stephen had disliked the baron for several years, and provoked the conflict by summoning Geoffrey to court, where the king arrested him. Stephen threatened to execute Geoffrey unless the baron handed over his various castles, including the Tower of London
, Saffron Walden and Pleshey, all important fortifications because they were in, or close to, London. Geoffrey gave in, but once free he headed north-east into the Fens to the Isle of Ely
, from where he began a military campaign against Cambridge
, with the intention of progressing south towards London. With all of his other problems and with Hugh Bigod
still in open revolt in Norfolk
, Stephen lacked the resources to track Geoffrey down in the Fens and made do with building a screen of castles between Ely and London, including Burwell Castle
.
For a period, the situation continued to worsen. Ranulf of Chester revolted once again in the summer of 1144, splitting up Stephen's Honour of Lancaster
between himself and Prince Henry. In the west, Robert of Gloucester and his followers continued to raid the surrounding royalist territories, and Wallingford Castle remained a secure Angevin stronghold, too close to London for comfort. Meanwhile, Geoffrey of Anjou finished securing his hold on southern Normandy and in January 1144 he advanced into Rouen
, the capital of the duchy, concluding his campaign. Louis VII recognised him as Duke of Normandy shortly after. By this point in the war, Stephen was depending increasingly on his immediate royal household, such as William of Ypres and others, and lacked the support of the major barons who might have been able to provide him with significant additional forces; after the events of 1141, Stephen made little use of his network of earls.
After 1143 the war ground on, but progressing slightly better for Stephen. Miles of Gloucester, one of the most talented Angevin commanders, had died whilst hunting over the previous Christmas, relieving some of the pressure in the west. Geoffrey de Mandeville's rebellion continued until September 1144, when he died during an attack on Burwell. The war in the west progressed better in 1145, with the king recapturing Faringdon Castle
in Oxfordshire
. In the north, Stephen came to a fresh agreement with Ranulf of Chester, but then in 1146 repeated the ruse he had played on Geoffrey de Mandeville in 1143, first inviting Ranulf to court, before arresting him and threatening to execute him unless he handed over a number of castles, including Lincoln
and Coventry
. As with Geoffrey, the moment Ranulf was released he immediately rebelled, but the situation was a stalemate: Stephen had few forces in the north with which to prosecute a fresh campaign, whilst Ranulf lacked the castles to support an attack on Stephen. By this point, however, Stephen's practice of inviting barons to court and arresting them had brought him into some disrepute and increasing distrust.
". The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
recorded how "there was nothing but disturbance and wickedness and robbery". Certainly in many parts of the country, such as Wiltshire
, Berkshire
, the Thames Valley
and East Anglia
, the fighting and raiding had caused serious devastation. Numerous "adulterine", or unauthorised, castles had been built as bases for local lords—the chronicler Robert of Torigny complained that as many as 1,115 such castles had been built during the conflict, although this was probably an exaggeration as elsewhere he suggested an alternative figure of 126. The previously centralised royal coinage system was fragmented, with Stephen, the Empress and local lords all minting their own coins. The royal forest law had collapsed in large parts of the country. Some parts of the country, though, were barely touched by the conflict—for example, Stephen's lands in the south-east and the Angevin heartlands around Gloucester and Bristol were largely unaffected, and David I ruled his territories in the north of England effectively. The king's overall income from his estates, however, declined seriously during the conflict, particularly after 1141, and royal control over the mint
ing of new coins remained limited outside of the south-east and East Anglia. With Stephen often based in the south-east, increasingly Westminster
, rather than the older site of Winchester
, was used as the centre of royal government.
The character of the conflict in England gradually began to shift; as historian Frank Barlow suggests, by the late 1140s "the civil war was over", barring the occasional outbreak of fighting. In 1147 Robert of Gloucester died peacefully, and the next year the Empress Matilda left south-west England for Normandy, both of which contributed to reducing the tempo of the war. The Second Crusade
was announced, and many Angevin supporters, including Waleran of Beaumont, joined it, leaving the region for several years. Many of the barons were making individual peace agreements with each other to secure their lands and war gains. Geoffrey and Matilda's son, the future King Henry II, mounted a small mercenary invasion of England in 1147 but the expedition failed, not least because Henry lacked the funds to pay his men. Surprisingly, Stephen himself ended up paying their costs, allowing Henry to return home safely; his reasons for doing so are unclear. One potential explanation is his general courtesy to a member of his extended family; another is that he was starting to consider how to end the war peacefully, and saw this as a way of building a relationship with Henry.
The young Henry FitzEmpress returned to England again in 1149, this time planning to form a northern alliance with Ranulf of Chester. The Angevin plan involved Ranulf agreeing to give up his claim to Carlisle, held by the Scots, in return for being given the rights to the whole of the Honour of Lancaster; Ranulf would give homage to both David and Henry Fitzempress, with Henry having seniority. Following this peace agreement, Henry and Ranulf agreed to attack York
, probably with help from the Scots. Stephen marched rapidly north to York and the planned attack disintegrated, leaving Henry to return to Normandy, where he was declared Duke by his father.
Although still young, Henry was increasingly gaining a reputation as an energetic and capable leader. His prestige and power increased further when he unexpectedly married Eleanor of Aquitaine
in 1152; Eleanor was the attractive Duchess of Aquitaine
and the recently divorced wife of Louis VII of France
, and the marriage made Henry the future ruler of a huge swathe of territory across France.
In the final years of the war, Stephen began to focus on the issue of his family and the succession. Stephen's eldest son was Eustace and the king wanted to confirm him as his successor, although chroniclers recorded that Eustace was infamous for levying heavy taxes and extorting money from those on his lands. Stephen's second son, William, was married to the extremely wealthy heiress Isabel de Warenne
. In 1148, Stephen built the Cluniac
Faversham Abbey
as a resting place for his family. Both Stephen's wife, Queen Matilda, and his older brother Theobald died in 1152.
of York died. An argument then broke out between a group of reformers based in York and backed by Bernard of Clairvaux
, the head of the Cistercian order, who preferred William of Rievaulx as the new archbishop, and Stephen and his brother Henry of Blois, who preferred various Blois family relatives. The row between Henry and Bernard grew increasingly personal, and Henry used his authority as legate to appoint his nephew William of York to the post in 1144 only to find that, when Pope Innocent II died in 1145, Bernard was able to get the appointment rejected by Rome. Bernard then convinced Pope Eugene III to overturn Henry's decision altogether in 1147, deposing William, and appointing Henry Murdac
as archbishop instead.
Stephen was furious over what he saw as potentially precedent-setting papal interference in his royal authority, and initially refused to allow Murdac into England. When Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury, went to consult with the Pope on the matter against Stephen's wishes, the king refused to allow him back into England either, and seized his estates. Stephen also cut his links to the Cistercian order, and turned instead to the Cluniacs, of which Henry was a member.
Nonetheless, the pressure on Stephen to get Eustace confirmed as his legitimate heir continued to grow. The king gave Eustace the County of Boulogne in 1147, but it remained unclear whether Eustace would inherit England. Stephen's preferred option was to have Eustace crowned while he himself was still alive, as was the custom in France, but this was not the normal practice in England, and Celestine II
, during his brief tenure as pope between 1143 and 1144, had banned any change to this practice. Since the only person who could crown Eustace was Archbishop Theobald, who refused to do so without agreement from the current pope, Eugene III, the matter reached an impasse. At the end of 1148, Stephen and Theobald came to a temporary compromise that allowed Theobald to return to England. Theobald was appointed a papal legate in 1151, adding to his authority. Stephen then made a fresh attempt to have Eustace crowned at Easter 1152, gathering his nobles to swear fealty to Eustace, and then insisting that Theobald and his bishops anoint him king. When Theobald refused yet again, Stephen and Eustace imprisoned both him and the bishops and refused to release them unless they agreed to crown Eustace. Theobald escaped again into temporary exile in Flanders
, pursued to the coast by Stephen's knights, marking a low point in Stephen's relationship with the church.
was besieged by Henry's forces and the king responded by marching west with an army to relieve it. Stephen unsuccessfully attempted to force Henry's smaller army to fight a decisive battle along the river Avon. In the face of the increasingly wintry weather, Stephen agreed to a temporary truce and returned to London, leaving Henry to travel north through the Midlands where the powerful Robert de Beaumont
, Earl of Leicester, announced his support for the Angevin cause. Despite only modest military successes, Henry and his allies now controlled the south-west, the Midlands and much of the north of England.
Over the summer, Stephen intensified the long-running siege of Wallingford Castle
in a final attempt to take this major Angevin stronghold. The fall of Wallingford appeared imminent and Henry marched south in an attempt to relieve the siege, arriving with a small army and placing Stephen's besieging forces under siege themselves. Upon news of this, Stephen gathered up a large force and marched from Oxford, and the two sides confronted each other across the River Thames
at Wallingford in July. By this point in the war, the barons on both sides seem to have been eager to avoid an open battle. As a result, instead of a battle ensuing, members of the church brokered a truce
, to the annoyance of both Stephen and Henry.
In the aftermath of Wallingford, Stephen and Henry spoke together privately about a potential end to the war; Stephen's son Eustace, however, was furious about the peaceful outcome at Wallingford. He left his father and returned home to Cambridge to gather more funds for a fresh campaign, where he fell ill and died the next month. Eustace's death removed an obvious claimant to the throne and was politically convenient for those seeking a permanent peace in England. It is possible, however, that Stephen had already begun to consider passing over Eustace's claim; historian Edmund King observes that Eustace's claim to the throne was not mentioned in the discussions at Wallingford, for example, and this may have added to Stephen's son's anger.
Fighting continued after Wallingford, but in a rather half-hearted fashion. Stephen lost the towns of Oxford
and Stamford
to Henry while the king was diverted fighting Hugh Bigod in the east of England, but Nottingham Castle
survived an Angevin attempt to capture it. Meanwhile, Stephen's brother Henry of Blois and Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury were for once unified in an effort to broker a permanent peace between the two sides, putting pressure on Stephen to accept a deal. Stephen and Henry FitzEmpress's armies met again at Winchester, where the two leaders would ratify the terms of a permanent peace in November. Stephen announced the Treaty of Winchester in Winchester Cathedral: he recognised Henry FitzEmpress as his adopted son and successor, in return for Henry doing homage
to him; Stephen promised to listen to Henry's advice, but retained all his royal powers; Stephen's remaining son, William, would do homage to Henry and renounce his claim to the throne, in exchange for promises of the security of his lands; key royal castles would be held on Henry's behalf by guarantors whilst Stephen would have access to Henry's castles; and the numerous foreign mercenaries would be demobilised and sent home. Stephen and Henry sealed the treaty with a kiss of peace in the cathedral.
Certainly many problems remained to be resolved, including re-establishing royal authority over the provinces and resolving the complex issue of which barons should control the contested lands and estates after the long civil war. Stephen burst into activity in early 1154, travelling around the kingdom extensively. He began issuing royal writ
s for the south-west of England once again and travelled to York
where he held a major court in an attempt to impress upon the northern barons that royal authority was being reasserted. After a busy summer in 1154, however, Stephen travelled to Dover
to meet the Count of Flanders
; some historians believe that the king was already ill and preparing to settle his family affairs. Stephen fell ill with a stomach disorder
and died on 25 October at the local priory
, being buried at Faversham Abbey with his wife Matilda and son Eustace.
by Henry, and prospered under the new regime, with the occasional point of tension with Henry. Stephen's daughter Marie I of Boulogne also survived her father; she had been placed in a convent by Stephen, but after his death left and married. Stephen's middle son, Baldwin, and second daughter, Matilda, had died before 1147 and were buried at Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate. Stephen probably had three illegitimate sons, Gervase, Ralph and Americ, by his mistress Damette; Gervase became Abbot of Westminster in 1138, but after his father's death Gervase was removed by Henry in 1157 and died shortly afterwards.
's Historia Novella, or "New History". In Normandy, Orderic Vitalis
wrote his Ecclesiastical History, covering Stephen's reign until 1141, and Robert of Torigni
wrote a later history of the rest of the period. Henry of Huntingdon
, who lived in the east of England, produced the Historia Anglorum that provides a regional account of the reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
was past its prime by the time of Stephen, but is remembered for its striking account of conditions during "the Anarchy". Most of the chronicles carry some bias for or against Stephen, Robert of Gloucester or other key figures in the conflict. Those writing for the church after the events of Stephen's later reign, such as John of Salisbury
for example, paint the king as a tyrant due to his argument with the Archbishop of Canterbury; by contrast, clerics in Durham regarded Stephen as a saviour, due to his contribution to the defeat of the Scots at the battle of the Standard
. Later chronicles written during the reign of Henry II were generally more negative: Walter Map
, for example, described Stephen as "a fine knight, but in other respects almost a fool." A number of charter
s were issued during Stephen's reign, often giving details of current events or daily routine, and these have become widely used as sources by modern historians.
Historians in the "Whiggish
" tradition that emerged during the Victorian period traced a progressive and universalist
course of political and economic development in England over the medieval period. William Stubbs
focused on these constitutional aspects of Stephen's reign in his 1874 volume the Constitutional History of England, beginning an enduring interest in Stephen and his reign. Stubbs' analysis, focusing on the disorder of the period, influenced his student John Round
to coin the term "the Anarchy" to describe the period, a label that, whilst sometimes critiqued, continues to be used today. The late-Victorian scholar Frederic William Maitland
also introduced the possibility that Stephen's reign marked a turning point in English legal history—the so-called "tenurial crisis".
Stephen remains a popular subject for historical study: David Crouch suggests that after King John
he is "arguably the most written-about medieval king of England". Modern historians vary in their assessments of Stephen as a king. Historian R. H. Davis
's influential biography paints a picture of a weak king: a capable military leader in the field, full of activity and pleasant, but "beneath the surface ... mistrustful and sly", with poor strategic judgement that ultimately undermined his reign. Stephen's lack of sound policy judgement and his mishandling of international affairs, leading to the loss of Normandy and his consequent inability to win the civil war in England, is also highlighted by another of his biographers, David Crouch. Historian and biographer Edmund King, whilst painting a slightly more positive picture than Davis, also concludes that Stephen, while a stoic, pious and genial leader, was also rarely, if ever, his own man, usually relying upon stronger characters such as his brother or wife. Historian Keith Stringer provides a more positive portrayal of Stephen, arguing that his ultimate failure as king was the result of external pressures on the Norman state, rather than the result of personal failings.
and its environs. Peters paints Stephen as a tolerant man and a reasonable ruler, despite his execution of the Shrewsbury defenders after the taking of the city in 1138. In contrast, Stephen is depicted in both Ken Follett
's historical novel The Pillars of the Earth
and TV mini-series
as a conniving villain. Although Follett begins his book with Austin Poole
's account of the sinking of the White Ship to set the historical scene for the subsequent events, in many other ways Follett uses Stephen's reign as a location for a story about essentially modern personalities and issues, a feature reproduced in the epic costume TV adaptation.
in 1125. They had the following issue:
King Stephen's illegitimate children by a certain Damette were:
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne
Count of Boulogne
The county of Boulogne was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of a part of the present-day French département of the Pas-de-Calais , in parts of which there is still a Dutch-speaking minority....
by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
. He was succeeded by Matilda's son, Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, the first of the Angevin
House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...
kings.
Stephen was born in the County of Blois in middle France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
; his father, Count Stephen-Henry
Stephen II, Count of Blois
Stephen II Henry , Count of Blois and Count of Chartres, was the son of Theobald III, count of Blois, and Garsinde du Maine. He married Adela of Normandy, a daughter of William the Conqueror around 1080 in Chartres...
, died while Stephen was still young, and he was brought up by his mother, Adela
Adela of Normandy
Adela of Normandy also known as Adela of Blois and Adela of England was, by marriage, Countess of Blois, Chartres, and Meaux. She was a daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders...
. Placed into the court of his uncle, Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands. Stephen married Matilda of Boulogne
Matilda of Boulogne
Matilda I was suo jure Countess of Boulogne. She was also queen consort of England as the wife of King Stephen.-Biography:...
, inheriting additional estates in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I's son, William Adelin
William Adelin
William , surnamed Adelin , was the son of Henry I of England by his wife Matilda of Scotland, and was thus heir-apparent to the throne. His early death without issue caused a succession crisis.William was born in Winchester...
, in the sinking of the White Ship
White Ship
The White Ship was a vessel that sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur, on 25 November 1120. Only one of those aboard survived. Those who drowned included William Adelin, the only surviving legitimate son and heir of King Henry I of England...
in 1120; William's death left the succession of the English throne open to challenge. When Henry I died in 1135, Stephen quickly crossed the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and with the help of his brother Henry of Blois
Henry of Blois
Henry of Blois , often known as Henry of Winchester, was Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey from 1126, and Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to his death.-Early life and education:...
, a powerful ecclesiastic, took the throne, arguing that the preservation of order across the kingdom took priority over his earlier oaths to support the claim of Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
.
The early years of Stephen's reign were largely successful, despite a series of attacks on his possessions in England and Normandy from David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
, Welsh rebels and the Empress Matilda's husband, Geoffrey of Anjou. In 1138 the Empress's half-brother Robert of Gloucester
Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was called "Rufus" and occasionally "de Caen", he is also known as Robert "the Consul"...
rebelled against Stephen, threatening civil war. Together with his close advisor, Waleron de Beaumont
Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester
Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, 1st Earl of Worcester , was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester...
, Stephen took firm steps to defend England, including arresting a powerful family of bishops. When the Empress and Robert invaded in 1139, however, Stephen was unable to rapidly crush the revolt, which took hold in the south-west of England. Captured at the battle of Lincoln
Battle of Lincoln (1141)
The Battle of Lincoln or First Battle of Lincoln occurred on 2 February 1141. In it Stephen of England was captured, imprisoned and effectively deposed while Empress Matilda ruled for a short time.-Account:...
in 1141, Stephen was abandoned by many of his followers and lost control of Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. Stephen was only freed after his wife and William of Ypres
William of Ypres
William of Ypres , styled count of Flanders, was King Stephen of England's chief lieutenant during the English civil wars of 1139–54...
, one of his military commanders, captured Robert at the rout of Winchester
Rout of Winchester
In the Rout of Winchester on September 14, 1141 the army of Stephen of England, led by his queen Matilda of Boulogne and William of Ypres, defeated the army of Empress Matilda's Angevin faction, commanded by Earl Robert of Gloucester...
, but the war dragged on for many years with neither side able to win an advantage.
Stephen became increasingly concerned with ensuring that his son, Eustace, would inherit his throne after him. The king attempted to convince the church to agree to crown Eustace to reinforce his claim: Pope Eugene III
Pope Eugene III
Pope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...
refused and Stephen found himself in a sequence of increasingly bitter arguments with his senior clergy. In 1153 the Empress's son, Henry FitzEmpress
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, invaded England and built an alliance of powerful regional barons to support his claim for the throne. The two armies met at Wallingford
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire , adjacent to the River Thames...
but neither side's barons were keen to fight another pitched battle. Stephen began to examine a negotiated peace, a process hastened by the sudden death of Eustace. Stephen and Henry agreed the Treaty of Winchester later in the year, in which Stephen recognised Henry as his heir in exchange for peace, passing over William, Stephen's second son. Stephen died the following year. Modern historians have extensively debated the extent to which Stephen's personality, external events or the weaknesses in the Norman state contributed to this prolonged period of civil war.
Childhood
Stephen was born in BloisBlois
Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.-History:...
in France, either in 1092 or 1096. His father was Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois and Chartres, an important French nobleman; Stephen's father played only a brief part in his early life, being an active crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
. During the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
Stephen-Henry had acquired an unfortunate reputation for cowardice, and he returned to the Levant again in 1101 to rebuild his reputation where he was killed at the battle of Ramlah
Battle of Ramla (1102)
The second Battle of Ramla took place on 17 May 1102 between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Fatimids of Egypt.-Background:...
. Stephen's mother, Adela
Adela of Normandy
Adela of Normandy also known as Adela of Blois and Adela of England was, by marriage, Countess of Blois, Chartres, and Meaux. She was a daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders...
of England, was the daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders
Matilda of Flanders
Matilda of Flanders was the wife of William the Conqueror and, as such, Queen consort of the Kingdom of England. She bore William nine/ten children, including two kings, William II and Henry I.-Marriage:...
, famous amongst her contemporaries for her piety, wealth and political talent. She had a strong matriarchal influence on Stephen during his early years.
France in the 12th century was a loose collection of counties and smaller polities, under the minimal control of the king of France. The king's power was linked to his control of the rich province of Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
, just to the east of Stephen's home county of Blois. In the west lay the three counties of Maine
Maine (province)
Le Maine is one of the traditional provinces of France . It corresponds to the old county of Maine, with its center, the city of Le Mans.-Location:...
, Anjou
Anjou
Anjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
and Touraine
Touraine
The Touraine is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher and Indre.-Geography:...
, and to the north of Blois was the Duchy of Normandy
Duchy of Normandy
The Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...
, from which Duke William had conquered England in 1066. William's children were still fighting over the collective Anglo-Norman inheritance. The rulers across this region spoke a similar language, albeit with regional dialects, followed the same religion and were closely interrelated; they were also highly competitive and frequently in conflict with one another for valuable territory and the castles that controlled them.
Stephen had at least four brothers and one sister, along with two probable half-sisters. Stephen's eldest brother was William
William, Count of Sully
William, Count of Sully, also known as William the Simple was Count of Blois and Count of Chartres from 1102 to 1107, and jure uxoris Count of Sully. William was the eldest son of Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy, daughter of William the Conqueror...
, who under normal circumstances would have inherited the title of count. William was probably intellectually disabled, and Adela instead had the title passed over him to her second son, Theobald, who went on to later acquire the county of Champagne
Count of Champagne
The Counts of Champagne ruled the region of Champagne from 950 to 1316. Champagne evolved from the county of Troyes in the late eleventh century and Hugh I was the first to officially use the title "Count of Champagne". When Louis became King of France in 1314, upon the death of his father Philip...
as well as Blois and Chartres. Stephen's remaining older brother, Odo, died young, probably in his early teens. Stephen's younger brother, Henry of Blois
Henry of Blois
Henry of Blois , often known as Henry of Winchester, was Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey from 1126, and Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to his death.-Early life and education:...
, was probably born four years after Stephen. The brothers formed a close-knit family group, and Adela encouraged Stephen to take up the role of a feudal knight, whilst steering Henry towards a career in the church, possibly so that their personal career interests would not overlap. Unusually, Stephen was raised in his mother's household rather than being sent to a close relative; he was taught Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and horseback riding, and was educated in recent history and Biblical stories
Bible story
Bible stories, Judeo-Christian parables retelling some portions of the Bible, have been used in family religious worship, spiritual instruction and literature in Christian and Jewish societies....
by his tutor, William the Norman.
Relationship with Henry I
Stephen's early life was heavily influenced by his relationship with Henry IHenry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, his uncle and King of England. Henry seized power in England following the death of his elder brother William Rufus. In 1106 he invaded and captured the Duchy of Normandy, controlled by his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, defeating Robert's army at the battle of Tinchebray
Battle of Tinchebray
The Battle of Tinchebray was fought 28 September 1106, in the town of Tinchebray , Normandy, between an invading force led by Henry I of England, and his older brother Robert Curthose, the Duke of Normandy...
. Henry then found himself in conflict with Louis VI
Louis VI of France
Louis VI , called the Fat , was King of France from 1108 until his death . Chronicles called him "roi de Saint-Denis".-Reign:...
of France, who took the opportunity to declare Robert's son William Clito
William Clito
William Clito was the son of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy, by his marriage with Sibylla of Conversano...
the Duke of Normandy. Henry responded by forming a net of alliances with the western counties of France against Louis, resulting in a regional conflict that would last throughout Stephen's early life. Adela and Theobald allied themselves with Henry, and Stephen's mother decided to place him in Henry's court. Henry fought his next military campaign in Normandy from 1111 onwards, where rebels led by Robert of Bellême
Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury
Robert de Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury , also spelled Belleme or Belesme, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, and one of the most prominent figures in the competition for the succession to England and Normandy between the sons of William the Conqueror...
were opposing his rule. Stephen was probably with Henry during the military campaign of 1112, when he was knighted by the king, and was definitely present at court during the king's visit to the Abbey of Saint-Evroul in 1113. Stephen probably first visited England in either 1113 or 1115, almost certainly as part of Henry's court.
Henry became a powerful patron to Stephen; Henry probably chose to support him because Stephen was part of his extended family and a regional ally, yet not sufficiently wealthy or powerful in his own right to represent a threat to either the king or his heir, William Adelin
William Adelin
William , surnamed Adelin , was the son of Henry I of England by his wife Matilda of Scotland, and was thus heir-apparent to the throne. His early death without issue caused a succession crisis.William was born in Winchester...
. As a third surviving son, even of an influential regional family, Stephen still needed the support of a powerful patron such as the king to progress in life. With Henry's support, Stephen rapidly began to accumulate lands and possessions. Following the battle of Tinchebray in 1106, Henry confiscated the County of Mortain from William, the Count of Mortain, and the Honour of Eye, a large lordship previously owned by Robert Malet
Robert Malet
Robert Malet was an English/ Norman baron and a close advisor of Henry I.-Biography:Malet was the son of William Malet, and inherited his father's great honour of Eye in 1071. This made him one of the dozen or so greatest landholders in England...
. In 1113, Stephen was granted both the title and the honour, although without the lands previously held by William in England. The gift of the Honour of Lancaster
Honour of Lancaster
The Honour of Lancaster was a medieval English honour located primarily in the north-west of England, between 1066 to the 15th century.-Details:...
also followed after it was confiscated by Henry from Roger the Poitevin
Roger the Poitevin
Roger the Poitevin was born in Normandy in the mid-1060s and died before 1140 . He was an Anglo-Norman aristocrat, who possessed large holdings in both England and through his marriage in France....
. Stephen was also given lands in Alençon
Alençon
Alençon is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon .-History:...
in southern Normandy by Henry, but the local Normans rebelled, seeking assistance from Fulk, the Count of Anjou. Stephen and his older brother Theobald were comprehensively beaten in the subsequent campaign, which culminated in the battle of Alençon, and the territories were not recovered.
Finally, the king arranged for Stephen to marry Matilda
Matilda of Boulogne
Matilda I was suo jure Countess of Boulogne. She was also queen consort of England as the wife of King Stephen.-Biography:...
in 1125, the daughter and only heiress of the Count of Boulogne
Count of Boulogne
The county of Boulogne was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of a part of the present-day French département of the Pas-de-Calais , in parts of which there is still a Dutch-speaking minority....
, who owned both the important continental port of Boulogne and vast estates in the north-west and south-east of England. In 1127, William Clito, a potential claimant to the English throne, seemed likely to become the Count of Flanders
Count of Flanders
The Count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders from the 9th century until the abolition of the position by the French revolutionaries in 1790....
; Stephen was sent by the king on a mission to prevent this, and in the aftermath of his successful election, William Clito attacked Stephen's lands in neighbouring Boulogne in retaliation. Eventually a truce was declared, and William Clito died the following year.
The White Ship and succession
White Ship
The White Ship was a vessel that sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur, on 25 November 1120. Only one of those aboard survived. Those who drowned included William Adelin, the only surviving legitimate son and heir of King Henry I of England...
to travel from Barfleur
Barfleur
Barfleur is a commune in the Manche department in the Basse-Normandie region in north-western France.-Middle Ages:In the Middle Ages Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England....
in Normandy to England, including the heir to the throne, William Adelin, and many other senior nobles. Stephen had intended to sail on the same ship but changed his mind at the last moment and got off to await another vessel, either out of concern for overcrowding on board the ship, or because he was suffering from diarrhoea. The ship foundered en route, and all but two of the passengers died, including William Adelin.
With Adelin dead, the inheritance to the English throne was thrown into doubt. Rules of succession in western Europe at the time were uncertain; in some parts of France, male primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
, in which the eldest child would inherit a title, was becoming more popular. It was also traditional for the King of France to crown his successor whilst he himself was still alive, making the intended line of succession relatively clear, but this was not the case in England. In other parts of Europe, including Normandy and England, the tradition was for lands to be divided up, with the eldest son taking patrimonial lands—usually considered to be the most valuable—and younger sons being given smaller, or more recently acquired, partitions or estates. The problem was further complicated by the sequence of unstable Anglo-Norman successions over the previous sixty years—William the Conqueror had gained England by force, William Rufus and Robert Curthose had fought a war between them to establish their inheritance, and Henry had only acquired control of Normandy by force. There had been no peaceful, uncontested successions.
With William Adelin dead, Henry had only one other legitimate child, Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
, but as a woman she was at a substantial political disadvantage. Despite Henry taking a second wife, Queen Adeliza
Adeliza of Louvain
Adeliza of Louvain, sometimes known in England as Adelicia of Louvain, also called Adela and Aleidis; was queen consort of the Kingdom of England from 1121 to 1135, the second wife of Henry I...
, it became increasingly unlikely that Henry would have another legitimate son and instead he looked to Matilda as his intended heir. Matilda had been married to Henry V
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
, the Holy Roman Emperor, which gave her the title of Empress, but her husband died in 1125 and she was remarried in 1128 to Geoffrey, the Count of Anjou, whose lands bordered the Duchy of Normandy. Geoffrey was unpopular with the Anglo-Norman elite: as an Angevin ruler, he was a traditional enemy of the Normans. At the same time, tensions continued to grow as a result of Henry's domestic policies, in particular the high level of revenue he was raising to pay for his various wars. Conflict was curtailed, however, by the power of the king's personality and reputation.
Henry attempted to build up a base of political support for Matilda in both England and Normandy, demanding that his court take oath
Oath
An oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
s first in 1127, and then again in 1128 and 1131, to recognise Matilda as his immediate successor and recognise her descendants as the rightful ruler after her. Stephen was amongst those who took this oath in 1127. Nonetheless, relations between Henry, Matilda and Geoffrey became increasingly strained towards the end of the king's life. Matilda and Geoffrey suspected that they lacked genuine support in England, and proposed to Henry in 1135 that the king should hand over the royal castles in Normandy to Matilda whilst he was still alive and insist on the Norman nobility swearing immediate allegiance to her, thereby giving the couple a much more powerful position after Henry's death. Henry angrily declined to do so, probably out of a concern that Geoffrey would try to seize power in Normandy somewhat earlier than intended. A fresh rebellion broke out in southern Normandy, and Geoffrey and Matilda intervened militarily on behalf of the rebels. In the middle of this confrontation, Henry unexpectedly fell ill and died near Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
s.
Succession (1135)
Stephen was a well established figure in Anglo-Norman society by 1135. He was extremely wealthy, well-mannered and liked by his peers; he was also considered a man capable of firm action. Chroniclers recorded that despite his wealth and power he was a modest and easy-going leader, happy to sit with his men and servants, casually laughing and eating with them. He was very pious, both in terms of his observance of religious rituals and his personal generosity to the church. Stephen also had a personal AugustineAugustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
confessor appointed to him by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who implemented a penitential regime
Penance
Penance is repentance of sins as well as the proper name of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Anglican Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession. It also plays a part in non-sacramental confession among Lutherans and other Protestants...
for him, and Stephen encouraged the new order of Cistercians to form abbeys on his estates, winning him additional allies within the church. Rumours of his father's cowardice during the First Crusade, however, continued to circulate, and a desire to avoid the same reputation may have influenced some of Stephen's rasher military actions. His wife, Matilda, played a major role in running their vast English estates, which contributed to the couple being the second-richest lay household in the country after the king. The landless Flemish nobleman William of Ypres
William of Ypres
William of Ypres , styled count of Flanders, was King Stephen of England's chief lieutenant during the English civil wars of 1139–54...
had joined Stephen's household in 1133, alongside Faramus of Boulogne, a Flemish relative and friend of Matilda's.
Meanwhile, Stephen's younger brother Henry of Blois had also risen to power under Henry I. Henry of Blois had become a Cluniac
Cluny Abbey
Cluny Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was built in the Romanesque style, with three churches built in succession from the 10th to the early 12th centuries....
monk and followed Stephen to England, where the king made him Abbot of Glastonbury
Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. The ruins are now a grade I listed building, and a Scheduled Ancient Monument and are open as a visitor attraction....
, the richest abbey in England. The king then appointed him Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
, one of the richest bishoprics, allowing him to retain Glastonbury as well. The combined revenues of the two positions made Henry of Winchester the second-richest man in England after the king. Henry of Winchester was keen to reverse what he perceived as encroachment by the Norman kings on the rights of the church. The Norman kings had traditionally exercised a great deal of power and autonomy over the church within their territories. From the 1040s onwards, however, successive popes had put forward a reforming message that emphasised the importance of the church being "governed more coherently and more hierarchically from the centre" and established "its own sphere of authority and jurisdiction, separate from and independent of that of the lay ruler", in the words of historian Richard Huscroft.
When news began to spread of Henry I's death, many of the potential claimants to the throne were not well placed to respond. Geoffrey and Matilda were in Anjou, rather awkwardly supporting the rebels in their campaign against the royal army, which included a number of Matilda's supporters such as Robert of Gloucester. Many of these barons had taken an oath to stay in Normandy until the late king was properly buried, which prevented them from returning to England. Stephen's elder brother Theobald was further south still, in Blois. Stephen, however, was in Bolougne, and when news reached him of Henry's death he left for England, accompanied by his military household. Robert of Gloucester had garrisoned the ports of Dover and Canterbury and some accounts suggest that they refused Stephen access when he first arrived. Nonetheless Stephen probably reached his own estate on the edge of London by 8 December and over the next week he began to seize power in England.
The crowds in London traditionally claimed a right to elect the king of England, and they proclaimed Stephen the new monarch, believing that he would grant the city new rights and privileges in return. Henry of Blois delivered the support of the church to Stephen: Stephen was able to advance to Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
, where Roger
Roger of Salisbury
Roger was a Norman medieval Bishop of Salisbury and the seventh Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England.-Life:...
, who was both the Bishop of Salisbury
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset...
and the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, instructed the royal treasury to be handed over to Stephen. On 15 December, Henry delivered an agreement under which Stephen would grant extensive freedoms and liberties to the church, in exchange for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Papal Legate supporting his succession to the throne. There was the slight problem of the religious oath that Stephen had taken to support the Empress Matilda, but Henry convincingly argued that the late king had been wrong to insist that his court take the oath. Furthermore, the late king had only insisted on that oath to protect the stability of the kingdom, and in light of the chaos that might now ensue, Stephen would be justified in ignoring it. Henry was also able to persuade Hugh Bigod
Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk was born in Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, England.He was the second son of Roger Bigod , Sheriff of Norfolk, who founded the Bigod name in England...
, the late king's royal steward, to swear that the king had changed his mind about the succession on his deathbed, nominating Stephen instead. Stephen's coronation was held a week later at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
on 26 December.
Meanwhile, the Norman nobility gathered at Le Neubourg
Le Neubourg
Le Neubourg is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
to discuss declaring Theobald king, probably following the news that Stephen was gathering support in England. The Normans argued that the count, as the eldest grandson of William the Conqueror, had the most valid claim over the kingdom and the duchy, and was certainly preferable to Matilda. Theobald met with the Norman barons and Robert of Gloucester at Lisieux
Lisieux
Lisieux is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland...
on 21 December but their discussions were interrupted by the sudden news from England that Stephen's coronation was to occur the next day. Theobald then agreed to the Normans' proposal that he be made king, only to find that his former support immediately ebbed away: the barons were not prepared to support the division of England and Normandy by opposing Stephen. Stephen subsequently financially compensated Theobald, who in return remained in Blois and supported his brother's succession.
Initial years (1136–37)
Stephen's new Anglo-Norman kingdom had been shaped by the Norman conquest of EnglandNorman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
in 1066, followed by the Norman expansion into south Wales
Norman invasion of Wales
The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror, who believed England to be his birthright...
over the coming years. Both the kingdom and duchy were dominated by a small number of major barons who owned lands on both sides of the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, with the lesser barons beneath them usually having more localised holdings. The extent to which lands and positions should be passed down through hereditary right or by the gift of the king was still uncertain, and tensions around this issue had grown during the reign of Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
. Certainly lands in Normandy, passed by hereditary right, were usually considered more important to major barons than those in England, where their possession was less certain. Henry had increased the authority and capabilities of the central royal administration, often bringing in "new men" to fulfil key positions rather than using the established nobility. In the process he had been able to maximise revenues and contain expenditures, resulting in a healthy surplus and a famously large treasury, but also increasing political tensions.
Stephen had to intervene in the north of England immediately after his coronation. David I of Scotland
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
invaded the north on the news of Henry's death, taking Carlisle, Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and other key strongholds. Northern England was a disputed territory at this time, with the Scottish kings laying a traditional claim to Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
, and David also claiming Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
by virtue of his marriage to the daughter of the former Anglo-Saxon earl Waltheof. Stephen rapidly marched north with an army and met David at Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
. An agreement was made under which David would return most of the territory he had taken, with the exception of Carlisle. In return, Stephen confirmed David's son Prince Henry's possessions in England, including the Earldom of Huntingdon
Earl of Huntingdon
Earl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The title is associated with the ruling house of Scotland, and latterly with the Hastings family.-Early history:...
.
Returning south, Stephen held his first royal court at Easter 1136. A wide range of nobles gathered at Westminster for the event, including many of the Anglo-Norman barons and most of the higher officials of the church. Stephen issued a new royal charter, confirming the promises he had made to the church, promising to reverse Henry's policies on the royal forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
s and to reform any abuses of the royal legal system. Stephen portrayed himself as the natural successor to Henry I's policies, and reconfirmed the existing seven earldoms in the kingdom on their existing holders. The Easter court was a lavish event, and a large amount of money was spent on the event itself, clothes and gifts. Stephen gave out grants of land and favours to those present, and endowed numerous church foundations with land and privileges. Stephen's accession to the throne still needed to be ratified by the Pope, however, and Henry of Blois appears to have been responsible for ensuring that testimonials of support were sent both from Stephen's elder brother Theobald and from the French king Louis VI, to whom Stephen represented a useful balance to Angevin power in the north of France. Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II , born Gregorio Papareschi, was pope from 1130 to 1143, and was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the antipope Clement III .-Early years:...
confirmed Stephen as king by letter later that year, and Stephen's advisers circulated copies widely around England to demonstrate Stephen's legitimacy.
Troubles continued across Stephen's kingdom. After the Welsh victory at the battle of Llwchwr
Battle of Llwchwr
The Battle of Llwchwr was a battle fought between Welsh and Norman forces between Loughor and Swansea on New Year's Day 1136.- Background :...
in January 1136 and the successful ambush of Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare in April, south Wales rose in rebellion, starting in east Glamorgan
Glamorgan
Glamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
and rapidly spreading across the rest of south Wales during 1137. Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd
Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd , in English also known as Owen the Great, was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170. He is occasionally referred to as "Owain I of Gwynedd"; and as "Owain I of Wales" on account of his claim to be King of Wales. He is considered to be the most successful of...
and Gruffydd ap Rhys
Gruffydd ap Rhys
Gruffydd ap Rhys was Prince of Deheubarth, in Wales. His sister was the Princess Nest ferch Rhys.-Early life:Following the death of Gruffydd's father Rhys ap Tewdwr in 1093, Deheubarth was taken over by the Normans, and Gruffydd spent much of his early years in exile in Ireland.In 1113 Gruffydd...
successfully captured considerable territories, including Carmarthen Castle. Stephen responded by sending Richard's brother Baldwin and the Marcher Lord Robert Fitz Harold of Ewyas into Wales to pacify the region. Neither mission was particularly successful and by the end of 1137 the king appears to have abandoned attempts to put down the rebellion. Historian David Crouch
David Crouch (historian)
David Crouch is an English historian, and Professor of Medieval History at the University of Hull. Crouch's main focus is on the social and political history of the period from 1000 to 1300, primarily in England...
suggests that Stephen effectively "bowed out of Wales" around this time to concentrate on his other problems. Meanwhile, Stephen had put down two revolts in the south-west led by Baldwin de Redvers and Robert of Bampton; Baldwin was released after his capture and travelled to Normandy, where he became an increasingly vocal critic of the king.
The security of Normandy was also a concern. Geoffrey of Anjou invaded in early 1136 and, after a temporary truce, invaded later the same year, raiding and burning estates rather than trying to hold the territory. Events in England meant that Stephen was unable to travel to Normandy himself, so Waleran de Beaumont
Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester
Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, 1st Earl of Worcester , was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester...
, appointed by Stephen as the lieutenant of Normandy, and Theobald led the efforts to defend the duchy. Stephen himself only returned to the duchy in 1137, where he met with Louis VI and Theobald to agree to an informal regional alliance, probably brokered by Henry, to counter the growing Angevin power in the region. As part of this deal, Louis recognised Stephen's son Eustace as Duke of Normandy in exchange for Eustace giving fealty to the French king. Stephen was less successful, however, in regaining the Argentan province along the Normandy and Anjou border, which Geoffrey had taken at the end of 1135. Stephen formed an army to retake it, but the frictions between his Flemish mercenary forces led by William of Ypres and the local Norman barons resulted in a battle between the two halves of his army. The Norman forces then deserted the king, forcing Stephen to give up his campaign. Stephen agreed to another truce with Geoffrey, promising to pay him 2,000 marks
Mark (money)
Mark was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout western Europe and often equivalent to 8 ounces. Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages Mark (from a merging of three Teutonic/Germanic languages words, Latinized in 9th century...
a year in exchange for peace along the Norman borders.
Stephen's relationship with the church became gradually more complex. The royal charter of 1136 had promised to review the ownership of all the lands that had been taken by the crown from the church since 1087, but these estates were now typically owned by nobles. Henry of Blois's claims, in his role as Abbot of Glastonbury, to extensive lands in Devon resulted in considerable local unrest. In 1136, Archbishop of Canterbury William de Corbeil
William de Corbeil
William de Corbeil or William of Corbeil was a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury. Very little is known of William's early life or his family, except that he was born at Corbeil in the outskirts of Paris and that he had two brothers...
died. Stephen responded by seizing his personal wealth, which caused some discontent amongst the senior clergy. Stephen's brother Henry wanted to succeed to the post, but Stephen instead supported Theobald of Bec
Theobald of Bec
Theobald was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. He was a Norman; his exact birth date is unknown. Some time in the late 11th or early 12th century Theobald became a monk at the Abbey of Bec, rising to the position of abbot in 1137. King Stephen of England chose him to be Archbishop of...
, who was eventually appointed, while the papacy named Henry papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
, possibly as consolation for not receiving Canterbury.
Stephen's first few years as king can be interpreted in different ways. Seen positively, Stephen stabilised the northern border with Scotland, contained Geoffrey's attacks on Normandy, was at peace with Louis VI, enjoyed good relations with the church and had the broad support of his barons. There were significant underlying problems, nonetheless. The north of England was now controlled by David and Prince Henry, Stephen had abandoned Wales, the fighting in Normandy had considerably destabilised the duchy, and an increasing number of barons felt that Stephen had given them neither the lands nor the titles they felt they deserved or were owed. Stephen was also rapidly running out of money: Henry's considerable treasury had been emptied by 1138 due to the costs of running Stephen's more lavish court, and the need to raise and maintain his mercenary armies fighting in England and Normandy.
Defending the kingdom (1138–39)
Stephen was attacked on several fronts during 1138. First, Robert of GloucesterRobert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was called "Rufus" and occasionally "de Caen", he is also known as Robert "the Consul"...
rebelled against the king, starting the descent into civil war in England. An illegitimate son of Henry I and the half-brother of the Empress Matilda, Robert was one of the most powerful Anglo-Norman barons, controlling estates in Normandy as well as the Earldom of Gloucester
Earl of Gloucester
The title of Earl of Gloucester was created several times in the Peerage of England. A fictional earl is also a character in William Shakespeare's play King Lear. See also Duke of Gloucester.-Earls of Gloucester, 1st Creation :...
. He was known for his qualities as a statesman, his military experience and leadership ability. Robert had tried to convince Theobald to take the throne in 1135; he did not attend Stephen's first court in 1136 and it took several summonses to convince him to attend court at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
later that year. In 1138, Robert renounced his fealty to Stephen and declared his support for Matilda, triggering a major regional rebellion in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and across the south-west of England, although Robert himself remained in Normandy. In France, Geoffrey of Anjou took advantage of the situation by re-invading Normandy. David of Scotland also invaded the north of England once again, announcing that he was supporting the claim of his niece the Empress Matilda to the throne, pushing south into Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
.
Anglo-Norman warfare during the reign of Stephen was characterised by attrition
Attrition warfare
Attrition warfare is a military strategy in which a belligerent side attempts to win a war by wearing down its enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and matériel....
al military campaigns, in which commanders tried to seize key enemy castles in order to allow them to take control of their adversaries' territory and ultimately win a slow, strategic victory. The armies of the period centred on bodies of mounted, armoured knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
s, supported by infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
and crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
men. These forces were either feudal levies, drawn up by local nobles for a limited period of service during a campaign or, increasingly, mercenaries, who were expensive but more flexible and often more skilled. These armies, however, were ill-suited to besieging castles, whether the older motte-and-bailey
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
designs or the newer, stone-built keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
s. Existing siege engines were significantly less powerful than the later trebuchet
Trebuchet
A trebuchet is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of...
designs, giving defenders a substantial advantage over attackers. As a result, slow sieges to starve defenders out, or mining operations to undermine walls, tended to be preferred by commanders over direct assaults. Occasionally pitched battles were fought between armies but these were considered highly risky endeavours and were usually avoided by prudent commanders. The cost of warfare had risen considerably in the first part of the 12th century, and adequate supplies of ready cash were increasingly proving important in the success of campaigns.
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
, under Robert's control. A small number of Stephen's household knights were sent north to help the fight against the Scots, where David's forces were defeated later that year at the battle of the Standard
Battle of the Standard
The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, in which English forces repelled a Scottish army, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire. The Scottish forces were led by King David I of Scotland...
in August by the forces of Thurstan
Thurstan
Thurstan or Turstin of Bayeux was a medieval Archbishop of York, the son of a priest. He served kings William II and Henry I of England before his election to the see of York in 1114. Once elected, his consecration was delayed for five years while he fought attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury...
, the Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
. Despite this victory, however, David still occupied most of the north. Stephen himself went west in an attempt to regain control of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, first striking north into the Welsh Marches
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
, taking Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
and Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
, before heading south to Bath. The town of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
itself proved too strong for him, and Stephen contented himself with raiding and pillaging the surrounding area. The rebels appear to have expected Robert to intervene with support that year, but he remained in Normandy throughout, trying to persuade the Empress Matilda to invade England herself. Dover finally surrendered to the queen's forces later in the year.
Stephen's military campaign in England had progressed well, and historian David Crouch describes it as "a military achievement of the first rank". The king took the opportunity of his military advantage to forge a peace agreement with Scotland. Stephen's wife Matilda was sent to negotiate another agreement between Stephen and David, called the treaty of Durham
Treaty of Durham (1139)
The second treaty of Durham was a peace treaty concluded between kings Stephen I of England and David I of Scotland, on 9 April 1139.On 22 August 1138, the Scottish army under the command of David I had been defeated at the Battle of the Standard...
; Northumbria and Cumbria would effectively be granted to David and his son Prince Henry, in exchange for their fealty and future peace along the border. Unfortunately, the powerful Ranulf, Earl of Chester
Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester
Ranulf le Meschin, Ranulf de Briquessart or Ranulf I [Ranulph, Ralph] was a late 11th- and early 12th-century Norman magnate based in northern and central England...
, considered himself to hold the traditional rights to Carlisle and Cumberland and was extremely displeased to see them being given to the Scots. Nonetheless, Stephen could now focus his attention on the anticipated invasion of England by Robert and Matilda's forces.
Road to civil war (1139)
Stephen prepared for the Angevin invasion by creating a number of additional earldoms. Only a handful of earldoms had existed under Henry I and these had been largely symbolic in nature. Stephen created many more, filling them with men he considered to be loyal, capable military commanders, and in the more vulnerable parts of the country assigning them new lands and additional executive powers. Stephen appears to have had several objectives in mind, including both ensuring the loyalty of his key supporters by granting them these honours, and improving his defences in key parts of the kingdom. Stephen was heavily influenced by his principal advisor, Waleran de BeaumontWaleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester
Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, 1st Earl of Worcester , was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester...
, the twin brother of Robert of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester was Justiciar of England 1155–1168.The surname "de Beaumont" is given him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert"...
. The Beaumont twins and their younger brother and cousins received the majority of these new earldoms. From 1138 onwards, Stephen gave them the earldoms of Worcester
Earl of Worcester
Earl of Worcester is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1138 in favour of the Norman noble Waleran de Beaumont. He was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, by Elizabeth of Vermandois, and the twin brother of Robert de...
, Leicester, Hereford
Earl of Hereford
The title of Earl of Hereford was created six times in the Peerage of England. See also Duke of Hereford, Viscount Hereford. Dates indicate the years the person held the title for.-Earls of Hereford, First Creation :*Swegen Godwinson...
, Warwick and Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke is a title created ten times, all in the Peerage of England. It was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, which is the site of Earldom's original seat Pembroke Castle...
, which—especially when combined with the possessions of Stephen's new ally, Prince Henry, in Cumberland and Northumbria—created a wide block of territory to act as a buffer zone
Buffer zone
A buffer zone is generally a zonal area that lies between two or more other areas , but depending on the type of buffer zone, the reason for it may be to segregate regions or to conjoin them....
between the troubled south-west, Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
and the rest of the kingdom. With their new lands, the power of the Beamounts grew to the point where David Crouch suggests that it became "dangerous to be anything other than a friend of Waleran" at Stephen's court.
Stephen took steps to remove a group of bishops he regarded as a threat to his rule. The royal administration under Henry I had been headed by Roger
Roger of Salisbury
Roger was a Norman medieval Bishop of Salisbury and the seventh Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England.-Life:...
, the Bishop of Salisbury
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset...
, supported by Roger's nephews, Alexander
Alexander of Lincoln
Alexander of Lincoln was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln, a member of an important administrative and ecclesiastical family. He was the nephew of Roger of Salisbury, a Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of England under King Henry I, and he was also related to Nigel, Bishop of Ely...
and Nigel, the Bishops of Lincoln
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...
and Ely
Bishop of Ely
The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire , together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its see in the City of Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the...
respectively, and Roger's son, Roger le Poer
Roger le Poer
Roger le Poer was the twelfth Lord Chancellor of England, from 1135 to 1139. He was the son of Roger of Salisbury, Lord Chancellor for King Henry I of England.-References:* accessed on October 30, 2007...
, who was the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
. These bishops were powerful landowners as well as ecclesiastical rulers, and they had begun to build new castles and increase the size of their military forces, leading Stephen to suspect that they were about to defect to the Empress Matilda. Roger and his family were also enemies of Waleran, who disliked their control of the royal administration. In June 1139, Stephen held his court in Oxford, where a fight between Alan of Britanny and Roger's men broke out, an incident probably deliberately created by Stephen. Stephen responded by demanding that Roger and the other bishops surrender all of their castles in England. This threat was backed up by the arrest of the bishops, with the exception of Nigel who had taken refuge in Devizes Castle
Devizes Castle
Devizes Castle was in the town of Devizes, Wiltshire, England .The first motte and bailey castle on this site was built in 1080 by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury. This castle burnt down in 1113 and was rebuilt in stone by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, by 1120. He occupied it under Henry I and later...
; the bishop only surrendered after Stephen besieged the castle and threatened to execute Roger le Poer. The remaining castles were then surrendered to the king.
Stephen's brother, Henry of Blois, was alarmed by this, both as a matter of principle, since Stephen had previously agreed in 1135 to respect the freedoms of the church, and more pragmatically because he himself had recently built six castles and had no desire to be treated in the same way. As the papal legate, he summoned the king to appear before an ecclesiastical council to answer for the arrests and seizure of property. Henry asserted the Church’s right to investigate and judge all charges against members of the clergy. Stephen sent Aubrey de Vere
Aubrey de Vere II
Aubrey de Vere II — also known as "Alberic[us] de Ver" — was the second of that name in England after the Norman Conquest, being the eldest surviving son of Alberic or Aubrey de Vere who had followed William the Conqueror to England in or after 1066.Their lineage is probably Norman, possibly...
as his spokesman to the council, who argued that Roger of Salisbury had been arrested not as a bishop, but rather in his role as a baron who had been preparing to change his support to the Empress Matilda. The king was supported by Hugh
Hugh of Amiens
Hugh of Amiens , monk of Cluny, prior of Limoges, prior of Lewes, abbot of Reading and archbishop of Rouen, was a 12th-century Picard-French Benedictine prelate.-Early career:...
, Archbishop of Rouen
Archbishop of Rouen
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen is an Archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the ecclesiastical province of the archdiocese comprises the majority of Normandy....
, who challenged the bishops to show how canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
entitled them to build or hold castles. Aubrey threatened that Stephen would complain to the pope that he was being harassed by the English church, and the council let the matter rest following an unsuccessful appeal to Rome. The incident successfully removed any military threat from the bishops, but it may have damaged Stephen's relationship with the senior clergy, and in particular with his brother Henry.
Initial phase of the war (1139–40)
The Angevin invasion finally arrived in 1139. Baldwin de RedversBaldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon
Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel.He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen, and was the only first rank magnate never to accept the new king. He seized Exeter, and was a pirate out of Carisbrooke, but he was driven out...
crossed over from Normandy to Wareham
Wareham, Dorset
Wareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
in August in an initial attempt to capture a port to receive the Empress Matilda's invading army, but Stephen's forces forced him to retreat into the south-west. The following month, however, the Empress was invited by the Dowager Queen Adeliza to land at Arundel
Arundel
Arundel is a market town and civil parish in the South Downs of West Sussex in the south of England. It lies south southwest of London, west of Brighton, and east of the county town of Chichester. Other nearby towns include Worthing east southeast, Littlehampton to the south and Bognor Regis to...
instead, and on 30 September Robert of Gloucester and the Empress arrived in England with 140 knights. The Empress stayed at Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England is a restored medieval castle. It was founded by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067. Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror...
, whilst Robert marched north-west to Wallingford
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire , adjacent to the River Thames...
and Bristol, hoping to raise support for the rebellion and to link up with Miles of Gloucester, a capable military leader who took the opportunity to renounce his fealty to the king. Stephen promptly moved south, besieging Arundel and trapping Matilda inside the castle.
Stephen then agreed to a truce proposed by his brother, Henry of Blois; the full details of the truce are not known, but the results were that Stephen first released Matilda from the siege and then allowed her and her household of knights to be escorted to the south-west, where they were reunited with Robert of Gloucester. The reasoning behind Stephen's decision to release his rival remains unclear. Contemporary chroniclers suggested that Henry argued that it would be in Stephen's own best interests to release the Empress and concentrate instead on attacking Robert, and Stephen may have seen Robert, not the Empress, as his main opponent at this point in the conflict. Stephen also faced a military dilemma at Arundel—the castle was considered almost impregnable, and he may have been worried that he was tying down his army in the south whilst Robert roamed freely in the west. Another theory is that Stephen released Matilda out of a sense of chivalry
Chivalry
Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...
; Stephen was certainly known for having a generous, courteous personality and women were not normally expected to be targeted in Anglo-Norman warfare.
Having released the Empress, Stephen focused on pacifying the south-west of England. Although there had been few new defections to the Empress, his enemies now controlled a compact block of territory stretching out from Gloucester and Bristol south-west into Devon and Cornwall, west into the Welsh Marches and east as far as Oxford and Wallingford, threatening London. Stephen started by attacking Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire , adjacent to the River Thames...
, held by the Empress's childhood friend Brien FitzCount
Brien FitzCount
Brien FitzCount , held the lordships of Wallingford and Abergavenny, and was a staunch supporter of the Empress Matilda during the Anarchy of King Stephen's reign in England in the 1140s.- Illegitimate Birth :He was the illegitimate son of Alan IV, Duke of Brittany...
, only to find it too well defended. Stephen left behind some forces to blockade the castle and continued west into Wiltshire to attack Trowbridge, taking the castles of South Cerney and Malmesbury
Malmesbury
Malmesbury is a market town and civil parish located in the southern Cotswolds in the county of Wiltshire, England. Historically Malmesbury was a centre for learning and home to Malmesbury Abbey...
en route. Meanwhile, Miles of Gloucester marched east, attacking Stephen's rearguard forces at Wallingford and threatening an advance on London. Stephen was forced to give up his western campaign, returning east to stabilise the situation and protect his capital.
At the start of 1140, Nigel, the Bishop of Ely, whose castles Stephen had confiscated the previous year, rebelled against Stephen as well. Nigel hoped to seize East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
and established his base of operations in the Isle of Ely
Isle of Ely
The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right.-Etymology:...
, then surrounded by protective fenland
Fenland
Fenland is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in March, and covers the neighbouring market towns of Chatteris, Whittlesey, and Wisbech, often called the "capital of the fens"...
. Stephen responded quickly, taking an army into the fens and using boats lashed together to form a causeway that allowed him to make a surprise attack on the isle. Nigel escaped to Gloucester, but his men and castle were captured, and order was temporarily restored in the east. Robert of Gloucester's men retook some of the territory that Stephen had taken in his 1139 campaign. In an effort to negotiate a truce, Henry of Blois held a peace conference at Bath, to which Stephen sent his wife. The conference collapsed over the insistence by Henry and the clergy that they should set the terms of any peace deal, which Stephen found unacceptable.
Ranulf of Chester remained upset over Stephen's gift of the north of England to Prince Henry. Ranulf devised a plan for dealing with the problem by ambushing Henry whilst the prince was travelling back from Stephen's court to Scotland after Christmas. Stephen responded to rumours of this plan by escorting Henry himself north, but this gesture proved the final straw for Ranulf. Ranulf had previously claimed that he had the rights to Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...
, held by Stephen, and under the guise of a social visit, Ranulf seized the fortification in a surprise attack. Stephen marched north to Lincoln and agreed to a truce with Ranulf, probably to keep him from joining the Empress's faction, under which Ranulf would be allowed to keep the castle. Stephen returned to London but received news that Ranulf, his brother and their family were relaxing in Lincoln Castle with a minimal guard force, a ripe target for a surprise attack of his own. Abandoning the deal he had just made, Stephen gathered his army again and sped north, but not quite fast enough—Ranulf escaped Lincoln and declared his support for the Empress, and Stephen was forced to place the castle under siege.
Second phase of the war (1141–42)
While Stephen and his army besieged Lincoln Castle at the start of 1141, Robert of Gloucester and Ranulf of Chester advanced on the king's position with a somewhat larger force. When the news reached Stephen, he held a council to decide whether to give battle or to withdraw and gather additional soldiers: Stephen decided to fight, resulting in the battle of LincolnBattle of Lincoln (1141)
The Battle of Lincoln or First Battle of Lincoln occurred on 2 February 1141. In it Stephen of England was captured, imprisoned and effectively deposed while Empress Matilda ruled for a short time.-Account:...
on 2 February 1141. The king commanded the centre of his army, with Alan of Brittany on his right and William of Aumale
William le Gros, 1st Earl of Albemarle
William le Gros was the Count of Aumale , Earl of York, and Lord of Holderness. He was the eldest son of Stephen, Count of Aumale, and his spouse, Hawise, daughter of Ralph de Mortimer of Wigmore....
on his left. Robert and Ranulf's forces had superiority in cavalry and Stephen dismounted many of his own knights to form a solid infantry block; he joined them himself, fighting on foot in the battle. Stephen was not a gifted public speaker, and delegated the pre-battle speech to Baldwin of Clare
Baldwin of Clare
Baldwin of Clare was the youngest son of Gilbert Fitz-Richard, of the elder branch of the line of Gilbert, count of Eu, grandson of Richard the Fearless....
, who delivered a rousing declaration. After an initial success in which William's forces destroyed the Angevins' Welsh infantry, the battle went badly for Stephen. Robert and Ranulf's cavalry encircled Stephen's centre, and the king found himself surrounded by the enemy army. Many of Stephen's supporters, including Waleron de Beaumont and William of Ypres, fled from the field at this point but Stephen fought on, defending himself first with his sword and then, when that broke, with a borrowed battle axe. Finally, he was overwhelmed by Robert's men and taken away from the field in custody.
Robert took Stephen back to Gloucester, where the king met with the Empress Matilda, and was then moved to Bristol Castle
Bristol Castle
Bristol Castle was a Norman castle built for the defence of Bristol. Remains can be seen today in Castle Park near the Broadmead Shopping Centre, including the sally port.-History:...
, traditionally used for holding high-status prisoners. He was initially left confined in relatively good conditions, but his security was later tightened and he was kept in chains. The Empress now began to take the necessary steps to have herself crowned queen in his place, which would require the agreement of the church and her coronation at Westminster
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
. Stephen's brother Henry summoned a council at Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
before Easter in his capacity as papal legate to consider the clergy's view. He had made a private deal with the Empress Matilda that he would deliver the support of the church, if she agreed to give him control over church business in England. Henry handed over the royal treasury, rather depleted except for Stephen's crown, to the Empress, and excommunicated many of Stephen's supporters who refused to switch sides. Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury was unwilling to declare Matilda queen so rapidly, however, and a delegation of clergy and nobles, headed by Theobald, travelled to see Stephen in Bristol and consult about their moral dilemma: should they abandon their oaths of fealty to the king? Stephen agreed that, given the situation, he was prepared to release his subjects from their oath of fealty to him, and the clergy gathered again in Winchester after Easter to declare the Empress "Lady of England and Normandy" as a precursor to her coronation. When Matilda advanced to London in an effort to stage her coronation in June, though, she faced an uprising by the local citizens in support of Stephen that forced her to flee to Oxford, uncrowned.
Once news of Stephen's capture reached him, Geoffrey of Anjou invaded Normandy again and, in the absence of Waleran of Beaumont, who was still fighting in England, Geoffrey took all the duchy south of the river Seine and east of the river Risle
Risle
The Risle is a long river in Normandy, left tributary of the Seine.The river begins in Orne west of L'Aigle, crosses the western part of the department of Eure flowing from south to north and out into the estuary of the Seine on the left bank near Berville-sur-Mer...
. No help was forthcoming from Stephen's brother Theobald this time either, who appears to have been preoccupied with his own problems with France—the new French king, Louis VII
Louis VII of France
Louis VII was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles , and saw the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England...
, had rejected his father's regional alliance, improving relations with Anjou and taking a more bellicose line with Theobald, which would result in war the following year. Geoffrey's success in Normandy and Stephen's weakness in England began to influence the loyalty of many Anglo-Norman barons, who feared losing their lands in England to Robert and the Empress, and their possessions in Normandy to Geoffrey. Many started to leave Stephen's faction. His friend and advisor Waleron was one of those who decided to defect in mid-1141, crossing into Normandy to secure his ancestral possessions by allying himself with the Angevins, and bringing Worcestershire into the Empress's camp. Waleron's twin brother, Robert of Leicester, effectively withdrew from fighting in the conflict at the same time. Other supporters of the Empress were restored in their former strongholds, such as Bishop Nigel of Ely, and others still received new earldoms in the west of England. The royal control over the minting
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
of coins broke down, leading to coins being struck by local barons and bishops across the country.
Sherborne
Sherborne is a market town in northwest Dorset, England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. The population of the town is 9,350 . 27.1% of the population is aged 65 or...
in Dorset, and Faramus of Boulogne ran the royal household. The queen appears to have generated genuine sympathy and support from Stephen's more loyal followers. Henry's alliance with the Empress proved short-lived, as they soon fell out over political patronage and ecclesiastical policy; the bishop met Stephen's wife Queen Matilda at Guildford
Guildford
Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
and transferred his support to her.
The king's eventual release resulted from the Angevin defeat at the rout of Winchester
Rout of Winchester
In the Rout of Winchester on September 14, 1141 the army of Stephen of England, led by his queen Matilda of Boulogne and William of Ypres, defeated the army of Empress Matilda's Angevin faction, commanded by Earl Robert of Gloucester...
. Robert of Gloucester and the Empress besieged Henry in the city of Winchester in July. Queen Matilda and William of Ypres then encircled the Angevin forces with their own army, reinforced with fresh troops from London. In the subsequent battle the Empress's forces were defeated and Robert of Gloucester himself was taken prisoner. Further negotiations attempted to deliver a general peace agreement but Queen Matilda was unwilling to offer any compromise to the Empress, and Robert refused to accept any offer to encourage him to change sides to Stephen. Instead, in November the two sides simply exchanged Robert and the king, and Stephen began re-establishing his authority. Henry held another church council, which this time reaffirmed Stephen's legitimacy to rule, and a fresh coronation of Stephen and Matilda occurred at Christmas 1141.
At the beginning of 1142 Stephen fell ill, and by Easter rumours had begun to circulate that he had died. Possibly this illness was the result of his imprisonment the previous year, but he finally recovered and travelled north to raise new forces and to successfully convince Ranulf of Chester to change sides once again. Stephen then spent the summer attacking some of the new Angevin castles built the previous year, including Cirencester
Cirencester Castle
Cirencester Castle was a castle in the town of Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England.The castle was originally built in the 11th century in timber, with a square keep added in stone in 1107. The castle was of primarily local significance, being relatively small...
, Bampton
Bampton Castle, Oxfordshire
Bampton Castle was in the village of Bampton, Oxfordshire .Differing accounts of its origin exist. One states that in about 1142 AD during the reign of Stephen, Matilda built a motte castle...
and Wareham
Wareham, Dorset
Wareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
. In September, he spotted an opportunity to seize the Empress Matilda herself in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. Oxford was a secure town, protected by walls and the river Isis, but Stephen led a sudden attack across the river, leading the charge and swimming part of the way. Once on the other side, the king and his men stormed into the town, trapping the Empress in the castle. Oxford Castle
Oxford Castle
Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined Norman medieval castle situated on the west edge of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. The original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced with stone in the 11th century and played an important role in the conflict of the Anarchy...
, however, was a powerful fortress and, rather than storming it, Stephen had to settle down for a long siege, albeit secure in the knowledge that Matilda was now surrounded. Just before Christmas, the Empress sneaked out of the castle, crossed the icy river on foot and made her escape to Wallingford. The garrison surrendered shortly afterwards, but Stephen had lost an opportunity to capture his principal opponent.
Stalemate (1143–46)
The war between the two sides in England reached a stalemate in the mid-1140s, while Geoffrey of Anjou consolidated his hold on power in Normandy. 1143 started precariously for Stephen when he was besieged by Robert of Gloucester at Wilton CastleWilton Castle
Wilton Castle is a 12th-century Norman castle fortification located in southeastern Herefordshire, England on the River Wye adjacent to the town of Ross-on-Wye. The castle is named for the manor associated with it....
, an assembly point for royal forces in Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
. Stephen attempted to break out and escape, resulting in the battle of Wilton
Battle of Wilton (1143)
The Battle of Wilton was a battle of the civil war in England known as The Anarchy. It was fought on 1 July 1143 The date is from Gervase of Canterbury , but Gervase only began writing his chronicle around 1188...
. Once again, the Angevin cavalry proved too strong, and for a moment it appeared that Stephen might be captured for a second time. On this occasion, however, William Martel
William Martel
William Martel was a steward of the royal households of King Henry I and King Stephen of England. He was castellan of Sherborne Castle until 1143....
, Stephen's steward, made a fierce rear guard effort, allowing Stephen to escape from the battlefield. Stephen valued William's loyalty sufficiently to agree to exchange Sherborne Castle
Sherborne Castle
Sherborne Castle is a 16th-century Tudor mansion southeast of Sherborne in Dorset, England. The park formed only a small part of the Digby estate.-Old castle:Sherborne Old Castle is the ruin of a 12th-century castle in the grounds of the mansion...
for his safe release—this was one of the few instances where Stephen was prepared to give up a castle to ransom one his men.
In late 1143, Stephen faced a new threat in the east, when Geoffrey de Mandeville
Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex
Geoffrey de Mandeville II, 1st Earl of Essex was one of the prominent players during the reign of King Stephen of England. His biographer, the 19th-century historian J. H...
, the Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title that has been held by several families and individuals. The earldom was first created in the 12th century for Geoffrey II de Mandeville . Upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct...
, rose up in rebellion against the king in East Anglia. Stephen had disliked the baron for several years, and provoked the conflict by summoning Geoffrey to court, where the king arrested him. Stephen threatened to execute Geoffrey unless the baron handed over his various castles, including the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
, Saffron Walden and Pleshey, all important fortifications because they were in, or close to, London. Geoffrey gave in, but once free he headed north-east into the Fens to the Isle of Ely
Isle of Ely
The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right.-Etymology:...
, from where he began a military campaign against Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, with the intention of progressing south towards London. With all of his other problems and with Hugh Bigod
Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk was born in Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, England.He was the second son of Roger Bigod , Sheriff of Norfolk, who founded the Bigod name in England...
still in open revolt in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, Stephen lacked the resources to track Geoffrey down in the Fens and made do with building a screen of castles between Ely and London, including Burwell Castle
Burwell Castle
Burwell Castle was an unfinished medieval motte and bailey castle in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, England.-Details:Burwell Castle was built near the village of Burwell in 1143 by Stephen I of England, on the site of a former Roman villa...
.
For a period, the situation continued to worsen. Ranulf of Chester revolted once again in the summer of 1144, splitting up Stephen's Honour of Lancaster
Honour of Lancaster
The Honour of Lancaster was a medieval English honour located primarily in the north-west of England, between 1066 to the 15th century.-Details:...
between himself and Prince Henry. In the west, Robert of Gloucester and his followers continued to raid the surrounding royalist territories, and Wallingford Castle remained a secure Angevin stronghold, too close to London for comfort. Meanwhile, Geoffrey of Anjou finished securing his hold on southern Normandy and in January 1144 he advanced into Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, the capital of the duchy, concluding his campaign. Louis VII recognised him as Duke of Normandy shortly after. By this point in the war, Stephen was depending increasingly on his immediate royal household, such as William of Ypres and others, and lacked the support of the major barons who might have been able to provide him with significant additional forces; after the events of 1141, Stephen made little use of his network of earls.
After 1143 the war ground on, but progressing slightly better for Stephen. Miles of Gloucester, one of the most talented Angevin commanders, had died whilst hunting over the previous Christmas, relieving some of the pressure in the west. Geoffrey de Mandeville's rebellion continued until September 1144, when he died during an attack on Burwell. The war in the west progressed better in 1145, with the king recapturing Faringdon Castle
Faringdon Castle
Faringdon Castle was a Norman castle standing just outside the market town of Faringdon in the English county of Berkshire , some 17 km to the north-east of Swindon ....
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. In the north, Stephen came to a fresh agreement with Ranulf of Chester, but then in 1146 repeated the ruse he had played on Geoffrey de Mandeville in 1143, first inviting Ranulf to court, before arresting him and threatening to execute him unless he handed over a number of castles, including Lincoln
Lincoln Castle
Lincoln Castle is a major castle constructed in Lincoln, England during the late 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of a pre-existing Roman fortress. The castle is unusual in that it has two mottes. It is only one of two such castles in the country, the other being at Lewes in Sussex...
and Coventry
Coventry Castle
Coventry Castle was a motte and bailey castle in the city of Coventry, England .It was built in the 11th century by Ranulf Meschines, Earl of Chester, probably out of wood initially...
. As with Geoffrey, the moment Ranulf was released he immediately rebelled, but the situation was a stalemate: Stephen had few forces in the north with which to prosecute a fresh campaign, whilst Ranulf lacked the castles to support an attack on Stephen. By this point, however, Stephen's practice of inviting barons to court and arresting them had brought him into some disrepute and increasing distrust.
Final phases of the war (1147–52)
England had suffered extensively from the war by 1147, leading to later Victorian historians terming the conflict the period of "the AnarchyThe Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
". The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
recorded how "there was nothing but disturbance and wickedness and robbery". Certainly in many parts of the country, such as Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, the Thames Valley
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley Region is a loose term for the English counties and towns roughly following the course of the River Thames as it flows from Oxfordshire in the west to London in the east. It includes parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, North Hampshire, Surrey and west London...
and East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, the fighting and raiding had caused serious devastation. Numerous "adulterine", or unauthorised, castles had been built as bases for local lords—the chronicler Robert of Torigny complained that as many as 1,115 such castles had been built during the conflict, although this was probably an exaggeration as elsewhere he suggested an alternative figure of 126. The previously centralised royal coinage system was fragmented, with Stephen, the Empress and local lords all minting their own coins. The royal forest law had collapsed in large parts of the country. Some parts of the country, though, were barely touched by the conflict—for example, Stephen's lands in the south-east and the Angevin heartlands around Gloucester and Bristol were largely unaffected, and David I ruled his territories in the north of England effectively. The king's overall income from his estates, however, declined seriously during the conflict, particularly after 1141, and royal control over the mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
ing of new coins remained limited outside of the south-east and East Anglia. With Stephen often based in the south-east, increasingly Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, rather than the older site of Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
, was used as the centre of royal government.
The character of the conflict in England gradually began to shift; as historian Frank Barlow suggests, by the late 1140s "the civil war was over", barring the occasional outbreak of fighting. In 1147 Robert of Gloucester died peacefully, and the next year the Empress Matilda left south-west England for Normandy, both of which contributed to reducing the tempo of the war. The Second Crusade
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...
was announced, and many Angevin supporters, including Waleran of Beaumont, joined it, leaving the region for several years. Many of the barons were making individual peace agreements with each other to secure their lands and war gains. Geoffrey and Matilda's son, the future King Henry II, mounted a small mercenary invasion of England in 1147 but the expedition failed, not least because Henry lacked the funds to pay his men. Surprisingly, Stephen himself ended up paying their costs, allowing Henry to return home safely; his reasons for doing so are unclear. One potential explanation is his general courtesy to a member of his extended family; another is that he was starting to consider how to end the war peacefully, and saw this as a way of building a relationship with Henry.
The young Henry FitzEmpress returned to England again in 1149, this time planning to form a northern alliance with Ranulf of Chester. The Angevin plan involved Ranulf agreeing to give up his claim to Carlisle, held by the Scots, in return for being given the rights to the whole of the Honour of Lancaster; Ranulf would give homage to both David and Henry Fitzempress, with Henry having seniority. Following this peace agreement, Henry and Ranulf agreed to attack York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, probably with help from the Scots. Stephen marched rapidly north to York and the planned attack disintegrated, leaving Henry to return to Normandy, where he was declared Duke by his father.
Although still young, Henry was increasingly gaining a reputation as an energetic and capable leader. His prestige and power increased further when he unexpectedly married Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...
in 1152; Eleanor was the attractive Duchess of Aquitaine
Duke of Aquitaine
The Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English and later French kings....
and the recently divorced wife of Louis VII of France
Louis VII of France
Louis VII was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles , and saw the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England...
, and the marriage made Henry the future ruler of a huge swathe of territory across France.
In the final years of the war, Stephen began to focus on the issue of his family and the succession. Stephen's eldest son was Eustace and the king wanted to confirm him as his successor, although chroniclers recorded that Eustace was infamous for levying heavy taxes and extorting money from those on his lands. Stephen's second son, William, was married to the extremely wealthy heiress Isabel de Warenne
Isabel de Warenne, 4th Countess of Surrey
Isabel de Warenne, Countess of Surrey was an English peeress. She was the only surviving heir of William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey and his wife, Adela, the daughter of William III of Ponthieu....
. In 1148, Stephen built the Cluniac
Cluny Abbey
Cluny Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was built in the Romanesque style, with three churches built in succession from the 10th to the early 12th centuries....
Faversham Abbey
Faversham Abbey
Faversham Abbey was a Cluny style monastery immediately to the north-east of the town of Faversham in the county of Kent in England.It was founded by King Stephen and his queen Matilda of Boulogne in 1148. A party of monks from Bermondsey Abbey provided the nucleus and the first abbot.The Abbey was...
as a resting place for his family. Both Stephen's wife, Queen Matilda, and his older brother Theobald died in 1152.
Argument with the church (1145–52)
Stephen's relationship with the church deteriorated badly towards the end of his reign. The reforming movement within the church, which advocated greater autonomy from royal authority for the clergy, had continued to grow, while new voices such as the Cistercians had gained additional prestige within the monastic orders, eclipsing older orders such as the Cluniacs. Stephen's dispute with the church had its origins in 1140, when Archbishop ThurstanThurstan
Thurstan or Turstin of Bayeux was a medieval Archbishop of York, the son of a priest. He served kings William II and Henry I of England before his election to the see of York in 1114. Once elected, his consecration was delayed for five years while he fought attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury...
of York died. An argument then broke out between a group of reformers based in York and backed by Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
, the head of the Cistercian order, who preferred William of Rievaulx as the new archbishop, and Stephen and his brother Henry of Blois, who preferred various Blois family relatives. The row between Henry and Bernard grew increasingly personal, and Henry used his authority as legate to appoint his nephew William of York to the post in 1144 only to find that, when Pope Innocent II died in 1145, Bernard was able to get the appointment rejected by Rome. Bernard then convinced Pope Eugene III to overturn Henry's decision altogether in 1147, deposing William, and appointing Henry Murdac
Henry Murdac
Henry Murdac was abbot of Fountains Abbey and Archbishop of York in medieval England,-Early life:Murdac was a native of Yorkshire. He was friendly with Archbishop Thurstan of York, who secured his promotion in the cathedral chapter of York Minster, however Murdac resigned soon afterwards when...
as archbishop instead.
Stephen was furious over what he saw as potentially precedent-setting papal interference in his royal authority, and initially refused to allow Murdac into England. When Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury, went to consult with the Pope on the matter against Stephen's wishes, the king refused to allow him back into England either, and seized his estates. Stephen also cut his links to the Cistercian order, and turned instead to the Cluniacs, of which Henry was a member.
Nonetheless, the pressure on Stephen to get Eustace confirmed as his legitimate heir continued to grow. The king gave Eustace the County of Boulogne in 1147, but it remained unclear whether Eustace would inherit England. Stephen's preferred option was to have Eustace crowned while he himself was still alive, as was the custom in France, but this was not the normal practice in England, and Celestine II
Pope Celestine II
Pope Celestine II , born Guido di Castello, was pope from 1143 to 1144.-Early life:Guido di Castello, possibly the son of a local noble, Niccolo di Castello, was born either in Città di Castello, situated in Paterna Santa Felicita upon the Apennines, or at Macerata in the March of Ancona.Guido had...
, during his brief tenure as pope between 1143 and 1144, had banned any change to this practice. Since the only person who could crown Eustace was Archbishop Theobald, who refused to do so without agreement from the current pope, Eugene III, the matter reached an impasse. At the end of 1148, Stephen and Theobald came to a temporary compromise that allowed Theobald to return to England. Theobald was appointed a papal legate in 1151, adding to his authority. Stephen then made a fresh attempt to have Eustace crowned at Easter 1152, gathering his nobles to swear fealty to Eustace, and then insisting that Theobald and his bishops anoint him king. When Theobald refused yet again, Stephen and Eustace imprisoned both him and the bishops and refused to release them unless they agreed to crown Eustace. Theobald escaped again into temporary exile in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, pursued to the coast by Stephen's knights, marking a low point in Stephen's relationship with the church.
Treaties and peace (1153–54)
Henry FitzEmpress returned to England again at the start of 1153 with a small army, supported in the north and east of England by Ranulf of Chester and Hugh Bigod. Stephen's castle at MalmesburyMalmesbury Castle
-Details:The town of Malmesbury was an important settlement in the early medieval period, both as a trading centre and as the site of Malmesbury Abbey. Early in the 12th century the Abbey came under the control of Bishop Roger of Salisbury who built a motte and bailey castle close to the abbey...
was besieged by Henry's forces and the king responded by marching west with an army to relieve it. Stephen unsuccessfully attempted to force Henry's smaller army to fight a decisive battle along the river Avon. In the face of the increasingly wintry weather, Stephen agreed to a temporary truce and returned to London, leaving Henry to travel north through the Midlands where the powerful Robert de Beaumont
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester was Justiciar of England 1155–1168.The surname "de Beaumont" is given him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert"...
, Earl of Leicester, announced his support for the Angevin cause. Despite only modest military successes, Henry and his allies now controlled the south-west, the Midlands and much of the north of England.
Over the summer, Stephen intensified the long-running siege of Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire , adjacent to the River Thames...
in a final attempt to take this major Angevin stronghold. The fall of Wallingford appeared imminent and Henry marched south in an attempt to relieve the siege, arriving with a small army and placing Stephen's besieging forces under siege themselves. Upon news of this, Stephen gathered up a large force and marched from Oxford, and the two sides confronted each other across the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
at Wallingford in July. By this point in the war, the barons on both sides seem to have been eager to avoid an open battle. As a result, instead of a battle ensuing, members of the church brokered a truce
Treaty of Wallingford
The Treaty of Wallingford of 1153, aka Treaty of Winchester or as the Treaty of Westminster, was an agreement that effectively ended the civil war known as the Anarchy, caused by a dispute between Empress Matilda and her cousin King Stephen of England over the English crown...
, to the annoyance of both Stephen and Henry.
In the aftermath of Wallingford, Stephen and Henry spoke together privately about a potential end to the war; Stephen's son Eustace, however, was furious about the peaceful outcome at Wallingford. He left his father and returned home to Cambridge to gather more funds for a fresh campaign, where he fell ill and died the next month. Eustace's death removed an obvious claimant to the throne and was politically convenient for those seeking a permanent peace in England. It is possible, however, that Stephen had already begun to consider passing over Eustace's claim; historian Edmund King observes that Eustace's claim to the throne was not mentioned in the discussions at Wallingford, for example, and this may have added to Stephen's son's anger.
Fighting continued after Wallingford, but in a rather half-hearted fashion. Stephen lost the towns of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and Stamford
Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...
to Henry while the king was diverted fighting Hugh Bigod in the east of England, but Nottingham Castle
Nottingham Castle
Nottingham Castle is a castle in Nottingham, England. It is located in a commanding position on a natural promontory known as "'Castle Rock'", with cliffs high to the south and west. In the Middle Ages it was a major royal fortress and occasional royal residence...
survived an Angevin attempt to capture it. Meanwhile, Stephen's brother Henry of Blois and Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury were for once unified in an effort to broker a permanent peace between the two sides, putting pressure on Stephen to accept a deal. Stephen and Henry FitzEmpress's armies met again at Winchester, where the two leaders would ratify the terms of a permanent peace in November. Stephen announced the Treaty of Winchester in Winchester Cathedral: he recognised Henry FitzEmpress as his adopted son and successor, in return for Henry doing homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to him; Stephen promised to listen to Henry's advice, but retained all his royal powers; Stephen's remaining son, William, would do homage to Henry and renounce his claim to the throne, in exchange for promises of the security of his lands; key royal castles would be held on Henry's behalf by guarantors whilst Stephen would have access to Henry's castles; and the numerous foreign mercenaries would be demobilised and sent home. Stephen and Henry sealed the treaty with a kiss of peace in the cathedral.
Death
Stephen's decision to recognise Henry as his heir was, at the time, not necessarily a final solution to the civil war. Despite the issuing of new currency and administrative reforms, Stephen might potentially have lived for many more years, whilst Henry's position on the continent was far from secure. Although Stephen's son William was young and unprepared to challenge Henry for the throne in 1153, the situation could well have shifted in subsequent years—there were widespread rumours during 1154 that William planned to assassinate Henry, for example. Historian Graham White describes the treaty of Winchester as a "precarious peace", capturing the judgement of most modern historians that the situation in late 1153 was still uncertain and unpredictable.Certainly many problems remained to be resolved, including re-establishing royal authority over the provinces and resolving the complex issue of which barons should control the contested lands and estates after the long civil war. Stephen burst into activity in early 1154, travelling around the kingdom extensively. He began issuing royal writ
Writ
In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court...
s for the south-west of England once again and travelled to York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
where he held a major court in an attempt to impress upon the northern barons that royal authority was being reasserted. After a busy summer in 1154, however, Stephen travelled to Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
to meet the Count of Flanders
Thierry, Count of Flanders
Thierry of Alsace , in Flanders known as Diederik van den Elzas, was count of Flanders from 1128 to 1168. He was the youngest son of Duke Thierry II of Lorraine and Gertrude of Flanders...
; some historians believe that the king was already ill and preparing to settle his family affairs. Stephen fell ill with a stomach disorder
Stomach disease
The stomach is an important organ in the body. It plays a vital role in digestion of foods, releases various enzymes and also protects the lower intestine from harmful organisms. The stomach connects to the esophagus above and to the small intestine below. It is intricately related to the pancreas,...
and died on 25 October at the local priory
Dover Priory
The Priory of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Martin of the New Work, or Newark, commonly called Dover Priory, was a priory at Dover in southeast England...
, being buried at Faversham Abbey with his wife Matilda and son Eustace.
Aftermath
After Stephen's death, Henry II succeeded to the throne of England. Henry vigorously re-established royal authority in the aftermath of the civil war, dismantling castles and increasing revenues, although several of these trends had begun under Stephen. The destruction of castles under Henry was not as dramatic as once thought, and although he restored royal revenues, the economy of England remained broadly unchanged under both rulers. Stephen's remaining son William I of Blois was confirmed as the Earl of SurreyEarl of Surrey
The Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England, and has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror...
by Henry, and prospered under the new regime, with the occasional point of tension with Henry. Stephen's daughter Marie I of Boulogne also survived her father; she had been placed in a convent by Stephen, but after his death left and married. Stephen's middle son, Baldwin, and second daughter, Matilda, had died before 1147 and were buried at Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate. Stephen probably had three illegitimate sons, Gervase, Ralph and Americ, by his mistress Damette; Gervase became Abbot of Westminster in 1138, but after his father's death Gervase was removed by Henry in 1157 and died shortly afterwards.
Historiography
Much of the modern history of Stephen's reign is based on accounts of chroniclers who lived in, or close to, the middle of the 12th century, forming a relatively rich account of the period. All of the main chronicler accounts carry significant regional biases in how they portray the disparate events. Several of the key chronicles were written in the south-west of England, including the Gesta Stephani, or "Acts of Stephen", and William of MalmesburyWilliam of Malmesbury
William of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
's Historia Novella, or "New History". In Normandy, Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...
wrote his Ecclesiastical History, covering Stephen's reign until 1141, and Robert of Torigni
Robert of Torigni
Robert of Torigni was a Norman monk and chronicler. He was born at Torigni-sur-Vire in central Normandy, at an unknown date. He entered the monastery of Le Bec in 1128 and became prior there about 1149. He was elected abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel in 1154, and served there until his death.Robert was...
wrote a later history of the rest of the period. Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon , the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th century English historian, the author of a history of England, Historia anglorum, "the most important Anglo-Norman historian to emerge from the secular clergy". He served as archdeacon of Huntingdon...
, who lived in the east of England, produced the Historia Anglorum that provides a regional account of the reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
was past its prime by the time of Stephen, but is remembered for its striking account of conditions during "the Anarchy". Most of the chronicles carry some bias for or against Stephen, Robert of Gloucester or other key figures in the conflict. Those writing for the church after the events of Stephen's later reign, such as John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury , who described himself as Johannes Parvus , was an English author, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres, and was born at Salisbury.-Early life and education:...
for example, paint the king as a tyrant due to his argument with the Archbishop of Canterbury; by contrast, clerics in Durham regarded Stephen as a saviour, due to his contribution to the defeat of the Scots at the battle of the Standard
Battle of the Standard
The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, in which English forces repelled a Scottish army, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire. The Scottish forces were led by King David I of Scotland...
. Later chronicles written during the reign of Henry II were generally more negative: Walter Map
Walter Map
Walter Map was a medieval writer of works written in Latin. Only one work is attributed to Map with any certainty: De Nugis Curialium.-Life:...
, for example, described Stephen as "a fine knight, but in other respects almost a fool." A number of charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
s were issued during Stephen's reign, often giving details of current events or daily routine, and these have become widely used as sources by modern historians.
Historians in the "Whiggish
Whig history
Whig history is the approach to historiography which presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty and enlightenment, culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy. In general, Whig historians stress the rise of constitutional government,...
" tradition that emerged during the Victorian period traced a progressive and universalist
Universalism
Universalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability...
course of political and economic development in England over the medieval period. William Stubbs
William Stubbs
William Stubbs was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford.The son of William Morley Stubbs, a solicitor, he was born at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1848, obtaining a first-class in classics and a third in...
focused on these constitutional aspects of Stephen's reign in his 1874 volume the Constitutional History of England, beginning an enduring interest in Stephen and his reign. Stubbs' analysis, focusing on the disorder of the period, influenced his student John Round
John Horace Round
Horace Round was a historian and genealogist of the English medieval period. He translated the Domesday Book for Essex into contemporary English. As an expert in the history of the British peerage he was appointed Honorary Historical Adviser to the Crown.-Family and early life:Round was born on 22...
to coin the term "the Anarchy" to describe the period, a label that, whilst sometimes critiqued, continues to be used today. The late-Victorian scholar Frederic William Maitland
Frederic William Maitland
Frederic William Maitland was an English jurist and historian, generally regarded as the modern father of English legal history.-Biography:...
also introduced the possibility that Stephen's reign marked a turning point in English legal history—the so-called "tenurial crisis".
Stephen remains a popular subject for historical study: David Crouch suggests that after King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
he is "arguably the most written-about medieval king of England". Modern historians vary in their assessments of Stephen as a king. Historian R. H. Davis
Ralph Henry Carless Davis
Ralph Henry Carless Davis , always known publicly as R. H. C. Davis, was a British historian specialising in the European Middle Ages...
's influential biography paints a picture of a weak king: a capable military leader in the field, full of activity and pleasant, but "beneath the surface ... mistrustful and sly", with poor strategic judgement that ultimately undermined his reign. Stephen's lack of sound policy judgement and his mishandling of international affairs, leading to the loss of Normandy and his consequent inability to win the civil war in England, is also highlighted by another of his biographers, David Crouch. Historian and biographer Edmund King, whilst painting a slightly more positive picture than Davis, also concludes that Stephen, while a stoic, pious and genial leader, was also rarely, if ever, his own man, usually relying upon stronger characters such as his brother or wife. Historian Keith Stringer provides a more positive portrayal of Stephen, arguing that his ultimate failure as king was the result of external pressures on the Norman state, rather than the result of personal failings.
Popular representations
Stephen and his reign have been occasionally used in historical fiction. Stephen and his supporters appear in Ellis Peters' historical detective series Brother Cadfael, set between 1137 and 1145. Peters' depiction of Stephen's reign is an essentially local narrative, focused on the town of ShrewsburyShrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
and its environs. Peters paints Stephen as a tolerant man and a reasonable ruler, despite his execution of the Shrewsbury defenders after the taking of the city in 1138. In contrast, Stephen is depicted in both Ken Follett
Ken Follett
Ken Follett is a Welsh author of thrillers and historical novels. He has sold more than 100 million copies of his works. Four of his books have reached the number 1 ranking on the New York Times best-seller list: The Key to Rebecca, Lie Down with Lions, Triple, and World Without End.-Early...
's historical novel The Pillars of the Earth
The Pillars of the Earth
The Pillars of the Earth is a historical novel by Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. It is set in the middle of the 12th century, primarily during the Anarchy, between the time of the sinking of the White Ship and the...
and TV mini-series
The Pillars of the Earth (TV miniseries)
The Pillars of the Earth is an eight part 2010 TV miniseries, adapted from Ken Follett's novel of the same name. It debuted in the U.S. on Starz and Canada on The Movie Network/Movie Central on July 23, 2010. Its UK premiere was on Channel 4 in October 2010 at 9pm...
as a conniving villain. Although Follett begins his book with Austin Poole
Austin Lane Poole
Austin Lane Poole was a British mediaevalist.Poole came from an academic lineage, being the son of Reginald Lane Poole , the nephew of Stanley Lane Poole , and the grandson of Reginald Stuart Poole .Austin Poole...
's account of the sinking of the White Ship to set the historical scene for the subsequent events, in many other ways Follett uses Stephen's reign as a location for a story about essentially modern personalities and issues, a feature reproduced in the epic costume TV adaptation.
Issue
Stephen of Blois married Matilda of BoulogneMatilda of Boulogne
Matilda I was suo jure Countess of Boulogne. She was also queen consort of England as the wife of King Stephen.-Biography:...
in 1125. They had the following issue:
- Eustace (c. 1130 – 1153), who succeeded his parents as Count Eustace IV of Boulogne
- Matilda (died before 1141), betrothed to Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of WorcesterWaleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of WorcesterWaleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, 1st Earl of Worcester , was the son of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois, and the twin brother of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester...
- Marie (1136 – 1182), who succeeded as Countess Marie I of Boulogne
- Baldwin (died before 1135)
- William (c. 1137 – 1159), who succeeded as Count William I of Boulogne
King Stephen's illegitimate children by a certain Damette were:
- GervaseGervase of BloisGervase of Blois was the Abbot of Westminster in England between c.1138 to c.1157. Historically Gervase has had a bad reputation for mismanaging the abbey, although modern historians have re-evaluated his performance as abbot.-Description:...
, Abbot of Westminster - Ralph
- Americ