The Anarchy: “Christ and His Saints Slept”
-Chrissie
Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/bqn1/hwts130
English King Henry I died on 1 December 1135. Despite the oaths taken by English and Norman noblemen, his daughter and chosen successor, the Empress Matilda, was not immediately crowned. This was not entirely unexpected, and Matilda had tried to avoid this by arranging to be crowned alongside her father two years earlier, but he refused to do so. Ostensibly, he was uneasy with the possibility that Matilda’s husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, would take too much power (despite the fact that Henry had arranged this marriage). Geoffrey’s future position had not been spelled out when he and Matilda married, and there was a fear that he would claim the kingship via his wife’s inheritance. The nobility was concerned that, by naming a daughter as his successor, Henry had functionally passed the crown out of his own family. Matilda and Geoffrey had already produced two sons (the future Henry II and Geoffrey) and she was pregnant with a third at the time of her father’s death, but her father made no effort to shift the succession to his grandsons, with their mother acting as regent, an arrangement which would have been much more amenable to the nobility and the people.
At the time of Henry’s death, Matilda was in her husband’s duchy of Anjou, in the midst of a rebellion, and so were not in a good position to force her claim. Instead, she began seizing control of key positions in Normandy, with the intention of doing so all the way to the English Channel, but was stopped after only a few. Additionally, most of her supporters were with her, instead of being dispatched to politically and militarily useful locations for the Empress. And so, it was Stephen of Blois who was crowned successor to Henry I, less than a month after the king’s death. His claim had almost equal validity to that of his cousin: both were grandchildren of William the Conqueror, Matilda by Henry I and Stephen by the Conqueror’s daughter Adela. The fact that the Empress had a better claim because her father had actually sat on the throne was overshadowed by the fact that Stephen’s male nature—the nobility and the people liked better the idea of a man on the throne, even if his claim was not as direct. Stephen also had one other important point of support: the Catholic Church. His brother, Henry was Abbott of Glastonbury Abbey and Bishop of Winchester, delivered the support of the Church, and thus God, by supporting his brothers claim over that of their cousin. Henry was also instrumental in delivering the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury with his argument that the oaths to support Matilda had been wrongfully demanded by King Henry I. The Lord Chancellor also indicated his support for Stephen by giving him access to the Treasury. He was crowned on 26 December 1135 and his position was confirmed by Pope Innocent II a few months later, seeming to put any question of his legitimacy as king to rest.
Not unexpectedly, Stephen faced rebellions early in his reign. King David I of Scotland (Matilda’s uncle on her mother’s side) invaded Northern England for a brief time, stopping after agreements were made about land around Carlisle and the Earldom of Huntington. Wales also rebelled, but Stephen’s attention was with another rebellion in southwest England whose leaders favored Matilda. And, Geoffrey of Anjou invaded Normandy repeatedly, taking little territory but sowing dissent among the people.
All of this time, it seems that Matilda had not been actively pushing her claim. It was not until Robert of Gloucester, one of Henry I’s illegitimate sons, renounced his oath to Stephen in 1138 and declared support for his half-sister that a civil war seemed likely. His action triggered rebellions across England and prompted David to again invade from Scotland, this time specifically supporting the Empress Matilda. Stephen was fairly successful in his efforts against these, with some territorial concessions to the Scots being the most drastic losses in these early rounds of fighting. Much of the negotiation was done by Stephen’ Queen who, confusingly, is also named Matilda. He had intentionally focused on England, allowing much of Normandy to fall to Matilda and Geoffrey.
In September 1139, the Dowager Queen Adeliza offered her home at Arundel Castle as a base for her step-daughter. Matilda stayed there while Robert travelled around England to gain further support. Stephen soon heard of her location and besieged the castle. This lasted only for a short time, as Henry of Winchester negotiated the Empress’ release. She took her household to Gloucester and, from there, held control over much of southwest England. What little support she gained over the next year seems to have stemmed primarily from opposition to Stephen rather than backing of her claim, but it was support nonetheless.
In February 1141, Stephen’s forces met those of Robert at Lincoln. Robert’s forces encircled the king, causing many of his men to flee and allowing for Stephen’s capture. He was held at Bristol Castle while Matilda made arrangements to be crowned. Stephen’s brother, Bishop Henry, turned to supporting the Empress very quickly, because she agreed to give the Church, and him, greater control over Church matters in England. Others of the clergy, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, did not shift their support until they had travelled to see Stephen to be released from their oaths of fealty to him, a courtesy not given to his cousin five years earlier. The Empress’ victory was, however, short-lived. Queen Matilda made a point of keeping her husband’s cause alive, efforts which culminated in the city of London refusing to allow the Empress to come into the city to be crowned late in June 1141. Her retreat from the capital was followed by a massive defeat at Winchester in which Robert was captured.
With King Stephen held by the Empress’ forces and Robert of Gloucester held by Queen Matilda’s forces, left everyone at an impasse because neither side would give any ground. This was ended with a simple prisoner exchange in November 1141. In the autumn of the next year, Stephen caught Empress Matilda at Oxford, holding the castle under siege until just before Christmas, when Matilda escaped, allowing the people of the castle to surrender. After this, the war ground on for years, with Stephen making gains here, the Empress making gains there, but neither in the position to assert victory and thereby end the war. The fighting destroyed a great deal of English farmland, causing starvation in some places. The people felt so abandoned that, as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle puts it, “it was said openly that Christ and his saints slept.”
1147 was a notable year: Robert of Gloucester died, leaving Matilda without her war leader; the Second Crusade called away many of those who had been fighting for both sides; and, lastly, the question of the English monarchy shifted away from Matilda to her eldest son, Henry FitzEmpress. In that year, the fourteen-year-old attempted an invasion with some hired mercenaries. It was halted abruptly, in part due to Henry’s inability to pay his forces. They were captured by Stephen and treated not as enemy combatants, but as wayward children. Stephen paid Henry’s men and sent the boy home to his mother. After this, it is Henry who pushes the claim, not for his mother but for himself, with her blessing.
When Henry FitzEmpress returned to England in 1153, it was with alliances arranged and a larger war chest. He had political and military support from much of the English nobility, creating a situation that allowed for a treaty to be negotiated instead of continued warfare. Sporadic fighting continued until the Treaty of Winchester was signed on Christmas Day 1153. This ended the war by removing Stephen’s sons from the succession in favor of Henry in exchange for the supporters of the Empress and her son recognizing Stephen as king. The peace wasn’t trusted by many, but Stephen’s death in October 1154 ended any potential for problems. Henry II was crowned on 19 December 1154, beginning the Plantagenet Dynasty, who would rule England for centuries to come.