Following the deaths by drowning of his two legitimate sons, William and Richard, plus their half brother Outtel, Henry I did all he could to ensure that his daughter Matilda would succeed him to the throne and forced his nobles to swear to this on more than one occasion, the last being at Oxford when all present, including Stephen of Blois, son of the Conqueror’s sister Adela gave his word. Stephen was a pleasant, affable and likeable man and a favourite of Henry who gave him so much land and property both sides of the channel that he became one of the richest and most powerful of noblemen. He lacked the moral strength and ruthlessness however to be a firm leader which ultimately proved to be the cause of his failure to secure his line through the accession of his son. He was one of the party intended to travel to England in 1120 on the White Ship, but declined due to diarrhea, an attack which probably saved his life.
Matilda was the legitimate daughter of Henry, but was a quarrelsome and difficult woman. Her marriage to the Emperor Henry V of Germany was of huge diplomatic importance to the English King as witnessed by the dowry of 10,000 marks of silver. The marriage gave Henry an ally against the French King and also enhanced status as the father in law of the Emperor. Following her husband’s death in 1125 she returned home and it was probably her experience as an Empress which included witnessing royal acta, channeling petitions to the Emperor, being entrusted with the royal insignia and even becoming titular regent of Italy in 1118, which persuaded her father to put her forward as his successor following the White Ship disaster. Her training had ensured that she had a mind of her own and sufficient self confidence to be her own woman.
Her marriage to Geoffrey of Anjou, who was 10 years her junior, in 1128 was another strategic move by her father who was always seeking allies in his territorial disputes with the French King and the other nobles ever nibbling at the edges of his lands. Geoffrey’s father Fulk went off immediately after the wedding to become the consort of Melisende of Jerusalem leaving Geoffrey as Count and thus, a suitable match for a princess.
Fulk would however rule as King of Jerusalem to Melisende’s Queen whereas no such arrangement was envisaged for Geoffrey, the allegiance sworn to Matilda in 1131 being to her alone. It is typical of her that she retained the title of Empress even after her marriage to Geoffrey and her son Henry, born of this marriage was called Henry Fitzempress
The marriage did not have an auspicious start; she had a notoriously sour nature while he was rather shallow. Henry desperately needed a grandson to secure his line but Matilda and Geoffrey lived apart for the first three years of the marriage. It was only the prospect of the succession of Anjou going to a half brother from Palestine (born in 1131) that forced reconciliation. Thus the combination of duty and greed resulted in the birth of Henry (1133), Geoffrey (1134) and William (1136).
Henry, recognizing the weakness in Geoffrey would not let him have any authority or influence in Normandy or England. Matilda spent much of her time in Rouen being taught government administration, but this all came to an end with Henry’s death.
Stephen wasted no time in hurrying to England to claim the throne despite his oath to support Matilda. In this he was supported by many nobles, particularly his brother Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester and Hugh Bigod, a powerful Earl of East Anglia. They could not countenance being ruled by a woman and also saw some potential personal gains to be had under the rather weak Stephen.
Within 3 weeks he had secured the support of London, Henry’s officials and the church. It was vital for him to be recognized by the royal administration based in Winchester as it gave Stephen access to the royal treasure. Stephen was duly crowned on 22nd December 1135 by William, Archbishop of Canterbury, even though the cleric had sworn allegiance to Matilda.
Stephen’s swift action had taken his rivals by surprise, Matilda and her husband Geoffrey of Anjou, Henry’s illegitimate son Robert of Gloucester and of course, Stephen’s elder brother Theobald whom many favoured for the accession. The Only options open to them following the coronation was acceptance or rebellion and civil war.
Stephen also ensured his acceptance by the church by enlisting the support of the Pope, in return for which, he opened the way for increased papal influence in English political affairs and granted the church a Charter of Liberties.
All should have been set fair for Stephen, but his precarious position required the ruthless streak of the Conqueror and this trait was sadly lacking in him. His weak attempts to play the nobles off against each other and to seek compromise in an age when only strength was admired soon alienated those who had declared for him. His first test was against Baldwin De Redvers who rose against Stephen in 1136. Stephen attempted to lay siege to Baldwin in Exeter, but the disaffection of his Flemish mercenaries and their squabbles with the Norman contingent of his army led to disarray and retreat. Sensing the lack of resolve in Stephen, the nobles started to fight among themselves settling old scores and seizing what they could from each other. Civil war was to scar Stephen’s reign and throughout this time it was said that ‘Jesus and the Saints slept’.
During this time, Geoffrey of Anjou, Matilda’s husband had been increasing his influence in Normandy. He was little concerned with England and its troubles but saw an opportunity to further his own ambitions to annex the Duchy. Stephen mounted a campaign against Geoffrey in 1137, but again his army fell into disarray with the Flemish and Norman troops disintegrating into rival factions and fighting each other. In England the barons continued to fight among themselves, frequently changing sides in their support or otherwise of Stephen.
A stronger man might have been able to pull all these conflicting factions together, but the situation worsened when Robert Earl of Gloucester, Matilda’s half brother, rose against Stephen in 1138 to exploit the dissatisfaction felt by many at Stephen’s inability to impose order in the country and handing over the important towns of Caen and Bayeux to Geoffrey. It should be remembered that Robert had as good a claim to the throne as any, but had accepted the fait accompli of Stephen’s accession up till now. He became alienated however, by the many favours granted by the King to the Beaumont family twins Waleran of Meulan and Robert of Leicester. Many of his neighbours fell in with him and the West Country became the centre of the anti Stephen revolt.
Stephen, with events getting out of hand, and seeing treachery everywhere, ordered the arrest of the powerful Bishop Roger of Salisbury and his relatives. This act, which lost him the support of the clergy, was another wrong move. Heartened at news of the growing uprising, Matilda came to England, landing at Arundel where her stepmother now lived. Here Stephen displayed the strange workings of a medieval mind. After threatening to besiege Arundel castle, with incredible chivalry he had Matilda and her forces escorted to her half brother in Bristol.
The support Matilda enjoyed was not solely from supporters of her hereditary claim, but more from those who felt cheated from their lands under Henry or were jealous of favours bestowed on others by Stephen and who felt that they may profit better under a change of ruler. Stephen’s forces were numerically stronger than those of Matilda and her half brother, but shortage of resources, indecision and lack of resolve to crush his enemies, whose power base was centered around Robert’s West Country estates, prolonged the rebellion.
Stephen was beset by enemies all around: Geoffrey in Normandy, Robert of Gloucester in the west and, in July 1138, the Scottish King David invaded England ostensibly to lend support to his niece Matilda’s claim to the English throne, but seeing in the turmoil a chance to annex Northumberland. Stephen being preoccupied with the rebellion in the south west, the defence of the north fell to the ageing bedridden Thurstan, Archbishop of York who declared the forthcoming conflict a crusade and promised heavenly reward to the participants and eternal damnation to those who would not fight.
As an added inducement, Thurstan provided the banners of four Yorkshire saints which were mounted on poles affixed to a four wheeled wagon. Atop the poles was a silver casket containing the Host, all this was designed to give heart and resolve to his forces as well as providing, in the words of a contempory “a sure and conspicuous rallying point by which they might rejoin their comrades in the event of being cut off”. Thurstan’s methods were successful and a large force consisting of English, Anglo Norman and Welsh moved against the Scottish King.
The two armies met at Northallerton in Yorkshire on 22nd August 1138. Thurstan’s forces were drawn up on a slight rise and arrayed in a single division rather than the more usual three. All the knights were on foot having sent the horses to the rear as a sign of their refusal to retreat. In this rank of soldiers were deployed blocks of archers interspersed with the armoured men-at-arms, an arrangement that would figure prominently in many future battles fought by the English both at home and abroad.
The Scots halted six hundred yards away on another small rise, but fell to arguing among themselves as to who should lead the attack, the men from Galloway insisting that it was their traditional right to be first in the Scottish ranks. King David ordered his trumpeters to sound the advance and the men of Galloway “gave vent to a yell of a horrible sound” and charged the English line beating their swords on their shields. The English archers sheltering behind the front rank took terrible toll of the Galwegians. A contempory writer recorded that “the Scots, bristling all around with arrows and in blind madness rushing forward to smite the foe, but lashing the air with furious strokes”.
King David’s son Henry, seeing this carnage, led a cavalry charge from the right, screaming his battle cry “Albany! Albany!”, and scattered the defenders of the English left. Had Henry been supported by infantry, he might well have won the day, but in this confusion an English knight held up a severed head, shouting that King David was slain. On hearing this, the Scottish morale was shattered and the Galwegians, unable to endure any more of the arrow storm or the fierceness of the armoured knights, fled the field. Some of David’s supporters however, seeing the King’s Dragon banner still aloft realized that the David was still alive and rallied to his standard allowing the King to make a fighting withdrawal.
In January 1141, Stephen moved with his forces to attack the pro Matilda Earl of Chester in his castle at Lincoln. On learning of this, the Earl left the castle in the care of his brother William Roumare, while he himself escaped to join Earl Robert in the Welsh Marches. Robert had been busy building up his forces in Wales with the aid of his allies, the two Welsh princes Mariadeth and Kaladrius, sons of the powerful Madog who had made common cause with Robert against Stephen and Miles, the hereditary sheriff of Gloucestershire and castellan of Gloucester.
Miles had initially supported Stephen, but had turned to Matilda after her landing in England. It is likely that, given the adherence to Matilda of Miles’s more powerful neighbour Robert of Gloucester, his change of allegiance may have been more prompted by self preservation. The Welsh had little love for Stephen whose cavalier distribution of the lands of the Marches to his friends, particularly the Mortimers, had driven them into alliance with Robert, a third of whose army were Welsh.
On the 2nd February, Robert’s forces crossed the swollen Fossdyke and marched for Lincoln. On hearing of their coming, Stephen called a meeting of his nobles. The older, wiser heads counseled that he should retreat to London to raise a more powerful army, but the hotheads argued for an immediate attack on Earl Robert. The hotheads won the day and Stephen’s forces gave up the advantage of the high ground around the besieged castle and descended to meet the enemy.
Stephen’s forces were led by no less than 6 Earls: Richmond, Norfolk, Southampton who would command the right wing and Surrey, Worcester and York. The latter would command the left wing and the others in the centre with the King. As was usual during the period, speeches were made to the troops before the battle to stiffen resolve and mock the enemy. Earl Ranulf made a short speech and then Robert of Gloucester.
Robert called the Duke of Richmond “an infamous man polluted by crime”, Worcester was “slothful in deed, last to attack, first to run, tardy in battle and swift in flight” he claimed that Surrey had stolen York’s wife and that he was “weaking with wine and unacquainted with warfare”, he dismissed Southampton as “a man whose deeds consist of words alone”. Stephen, claiming that “he had not an agreeable voice” instructed Baldwin of Clare to address the army. Baldwin accuses Robert of “having the mouth of a lion but the heart of a hare, whatever he begins like a man he ends like a woman”. He dismissed the lightly armed Welsh contingent as “objects for our contempt, devoid of skill in the art of war like cattle running upon the hunting spears”.
York opened the battle by tearing into the lightly armed Welshmen creating much slaughter, but the better disciplined followers of the pro Matilda Earl of Chester, who it is recorded “stood out in his bright armour”, moved in on York’s men and routed them. For all his faults, lack of courage was not one of them and there is a contempory account of Stephen’s capture which does much to give the flavour of barbarity and bloodshed of medieval warfare.
“No rest, no breathing time was granted them except in the quarter where stood the most valiant King as the foe dreaded the incomparable force of his blows. The Earl of Chester, on perceiving this and envying the King his glory, rushed upon him with the weight of his armed men.
Then was seen the might of the King, equal to a thunderbolt, slaying some with his immense battleaxe and striking others down. Then arose the shouts afresh, all rushing against him and him against all. At length through the number of the blows, the King’s battleaxe was broken asunder. Instantly, with his right hand drawing his sword well worthy of a King, he marvelously waged combat until the sword as well was broken asunder”.
On seeing this, William Kahammes, a powerful knight rushed upon the King seizing him by the helmet, crying with a loud voice, “Hither!, Hither! I have the King!”. All flew to the spot and the King was taken. Pulling off the King’s helmet, Stephen, foaming at the mouth in his rage finally recognized the inevitable and surrendered to Robert of Gloucester.”
Stephen was put in chains and taken first to Gloucester where Matilda could see him in his defeat and then to the dungeons of Bristol castle. Upon his imprisonment, Stephen absolved his vassals of their allegiance, an act which made easier Henry, Bishop of Winchester’s defection to Matilda.
Matilda now needed to grasp the reins of power and needed prominent nobles to join her cause. On 2nd March 1141 she arranged a meeting with Henry, Bishop of Winchester and brother to Stephen. If she could persuade him to join her it would add much weight to her cause. The meeting took place outside the gates of Winchester on a cold and wet March day. The rain poured down on the two parties as the Empress promised “that all matters of chief account in England, especially gifts of bishoprics and abbacies should be subject to his control if he received her in Holy Church as Lady and kept his faith to her unbroken”. Bishop Henry agreed to accept her as Queen so long as she too kept her promises.
On 3rd she was formally welcomed in Winchester and took up residence in the castle, Henry handed her the keys to the royal treasury and the royal crown. She was acclaimed in Winchester market place as “Our Lady And our Queen”, although it is interesting to note that throughout this period she was never openly referred to as Queen, the title ‘Dominus’ or Lady of the English’ being more commonly used. Henry sent for Archbishop Theobald and he duly arrived three days later but was clearly reluctant to abandon Stephen the anointed King.
While Matilda travelled in triumph to Oxford, a church council meeting was convened, William of Malmesbury was present at the meeting and recorded that Henry explained his change of loyalty due to Stephen’s failure to keep his promises to the church and the arrest of Bishop Roger of Salisbury. He pompously declared that “though he loved his brother, he loved his Heavenly Father more”.
The church did not want the country to be without a ruler and, following more meetings with Henry, were persuaded to support Matilda, who, in the meantime, was having troubles of her own.
Having arrived in London she lost no time in establishing her authority, but her arrogance and high handedness, plus harsh tax demands quickly alienated her from the very people whose support she needed. Her procession through the city turned to a riot when the people rose against her and she was driven from London.
Learning nothing from these experiences and listening to no advice, Matilda very soon lost the support of Bishop Henry, who, turning his coat again returned to Stephen’s cause. Henry with a strong force besieged Winchester castle determined to restore the city to the royalist cause. Matilda responded on the 31st of July by arriving with a besieging force of her own and the bishop’s men were forced to retreat to the fortified Wolvesly palace, Henry’s official residence while Henry escaped to gather reinforcements. A double siege ensued with Matilda’s forces besieging the bishop’s men in Wolvesly and the royalists besieging the city. Three days later the city was set on fire.
It is not known if this was Matilda or Henry’s doing, but the fire cost Matilda most of her provisions and she was forced to make a break for it. The royalists and the Londoners then proceeded to sack the town, burning and looting, dragging many away for torture and execution, Stephen’s supporters were starting to waver and his Normandy possessions were being overrun by Count Geoffrey. Matilda’s fortunes were in no better state however, although she and her supporters had managed to escape from Winchester, her half brother Robert was captured at Stockbridge about 10 miles from the town. This capture enabled Stephen’s supporters to negotiate the King’s release in exchange for Robert and Stephen thus regained his crown and title on 1st November 1141 after being held captive since 2nd February.
The war dragged on and in October of the following year, Stephen laid siege to Matilda in Oxford castle. The siege lasted 3 months and the situation became desperate enough for Matilda to seek a means of escape and it said that she climbed down a rope from St George’s tower and escaped across the frozen river wearing white as a camouflage, finally reaching the safety of Wallingford castle, showing that for all her lack of tact or charm she had some of the Conqueror’s spirit in her. She remained the focal point of resistance to Stephen, but her moment had passed. She made a new base of resistance in Devizes being joined by her eldest son Henry in 1142, but was unable to extend her area of influence. Her requests for help from her husband were ignored, he was far more interested in the domination of Normandy which he completed in 1144.
The wars were finally ended when agreement was reached, following the death of Stephen’s only son Eustace, that Stephen would reign for his lifetime and that Matilda’s son would inherit thereafter. Things might have been very different for Stephen had Eustace lived and if Stephen had forced the church to accept the accession of his son. With the death of her half brother Robert in 1147, Matilda gave up, leaving further resistance to her son and returned to Normandy.
The rest of her life was spent furthering the interests of her son and dabbling in the politics of Normandy and its relations with Germany and France. Although unpopular and never achieving the throne, she was the mother of the Plantagenets who would reign for the next 350 years. Matilda lived to see the first 13 years of her son’s reign and is buried in Fontrevault Abbey. It is said that the name Plantagenet derives from the habit of Geoffrey’s family, being avid hunters, of planting sprigs of the plant we know as Broom to provide ground cover for game animals. The Latin name of this plant being Genista, therefore, Planta Genista.
We should also remember the role in Stephen’s life played by another Matilda (sometimes known as Maude), his wife and tireless supporter in these parlous times. She was the daughter of the Count of Bouloigne, granddaughter of Malcolm of Scotland and a direct descendant of both Ethelred the Unready and Charlemagne She was made of sterner stuff than Stephen. In 1138 Maude supervised the capture of Dover castle, from Matilda’s supporters; in 1139 she negotiated a treaty with her uncle David, King of Scotland.
She rallied support for Stephen after his capture at Lincoln and was instrumental in persuading Stephen’s brother Henry of Winchester to return to Stephen’s cause. She also played a large part in manipulating the favours of the Londoners against the Empress Matilda. She is described in the Gesta Stephani as “a woman of subtlety and a man’s resolution”, who “bore herself with valour like a man”, thus showing that it was possible to be both hard and resolute without alienating her supporters through arrogance.
Stephen however, was still to know no peace. The enmities and rivalries of the civil war continued with much death and destruction during a time when, as the chroniclers recorded “the saints slept”.
Stephen held only a modest court and little is known of his death. Richard Baker’s chronicles state that “he was suddenly seized with the iliac passion and with an old disease of the emroids”. Any pain in the Illiac region could be the result of appendicitis which can lead to an abscess, causing peritonitis and death; it seems that he also had a recurrent attack of haemorrhoids at this time.
Stephen was buried beside his wife Maud and son Eustace at the monastery he had founded at Faversham in Kent in October 1151.
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