The Anarchy Period and the Rise of House Plantagenet

1. Introduction

         The Anarchy period in the British History refers to the civil war that took place after Henry I died on December 1^st, 1135. According to historical accounts, King Henry I had more than 15 illegitimate children that he used as supporting strata. He called them Kins and they were given fiefs and ranks. As an heir, he had just two legitimate children from his first wife Matilda of Scotland, the daughter named Matilda too and a son William. Unfortunately, William died in the White Ship Disaster of 1120, where in a young age his boat sunk in the Channel. Although Henry I married another woman, he couldn’t have children. Consequently, he gathered his Barons and Kins and made them sign a pledge to accept and support his daughter Matilda to be Queen of England.

2. Causes of the Civil War: Stephen Vs Matilda

Matilda was married to the Roman Emperor Henry V, Emperor of Germany and Rome. Automatically she was the Empress of Germany until her Husband’s death in 1125, 5 years after the White Ship Disaster; so she went back to Normandy. Since, Matilda was still young, her father planned her marriage to Geoffrey of Anjou so that he can have new allies to protect the southern borders of England. Henry designed Matilda as his legal heiress hoping that she would have male children to whom the crown will be passed to.

            After Henry I death, another heir submerged to claim the throne. Stephen of Blois, Henry I’s nephew, was supposed to be on the infamous White Ship and because of health problems he didn’t aboard it. Stephan was born in County of Blois in central France; his father, Count Stephen-Henry, and his mother was Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. Placed into the court of his uncle, Henry I of England, Stephen was granted extensive lands and power. He married Matilda of Boulogne, inheriting additional estates in Kent and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. He became Count of Boulogne.

           Henry I died while Matilda and Geoffrey were fighting a fresh rebellion broke out in southern Normandy, and Geoffrey and Matilda intervened militarily on behalf of the rebels since they were in Anjou; on the southern borders of the Norman Duchy. From the beginning, Matilda and Geoffrey suspected that they did not have sincere support in England, according to King (2010), proposed to Henry I 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”. (pp. 38–39)

          Stephen took advantage of the situation and went directly to England, where supported by his brother Henry of Blois who was Bishop of Winchester seized the throne and convinced those who pledged oath of loyalty to Henry I that being a male and having a King will be better for the Kingdom’s order and success. With Matilda still in France, Stephen was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on 26th December, 1135.

3. Twenty years of a Civil War

Matilda was supported by her half-brothers, especially Robert of Gloucester, and her Uncle King David I of Scotland. The latter attacked the English lands from the north which obliged Stephan to march there and try to find an agreement between them. Stephen tried so hard to win the nobles’ acceptance so he was spending huge amounts of money on banquets and gifts. He couldn’t impose a stronghold on his court. Later that year, Pope Innocent II confirmed Stephen as lawful king.

        Welsh uprisings early in the year had been successful, which encouraged further rebellions across south Wales in 1137. Revolts occurred in south-west England too. Matilda and Geoffrey had not been quiet either; in early 1136, shortly after Stephen’s coronation, Geoffrey attacked Normandy, but Stephen had to stay in England to deal with issues there and could do little to prevent him. Stephen tried to retake land on the Normandy-Anjou border in 1137 which had been seized by Geoffrey in 1135, but his army ended up fighting itself and then his Norman forces deserted him.

        After losing Wales and Normandy, Stephen focused on alleviating England since the Barons started revolting wanting more lands and more rewards. Besides, the royal treasury was exhausted because of high expenses of the court and wars. The civil war started in 1138, when Robert of Gloucester supported his sister’s claim to the throne and started a rebellion helped by Norman barons who have lands cross channel in England. Robert was very powerful and persuasive and started a rebellion across the south-west of England. Meanwhile, Matilda and Geoffrey succeeded to have total control over Normandy, and David I once again invaded the north of England,” announcing his support for his niece’s claim”.

        He sent his wife, Queen Matilda, to Kent to deal with Robert’s rebels, whilst a small retinue was sent north to deal with the Scots. Stephen headed west to retake several rebelling counties, although he was unable to take Bristol. Stephen managed to once again negotiate peace with David, but this came at the expense of giving land in Carlisle and Cumberland to David, which greatly aggravated its current owner, the Earl of Chester.

       After taking control of Normandy, Matilda and Geoffrey started a coalition with Robert planning to reconquer England, so they started building castles on the northern borders and asked their supporters in England to prepare themselves in the southwest of England. Stephen started building castles and reinforcing his defense on the southern area.  Robert was the leader of his sister’s army since as a woman she wasn’t accepted to contribute to the war while her husband was in control of Normandy and Anjou.

        “In August 1139, Matilda’s initial invasion began. Some of her forces crossed the channel to Wareham to try and capture a port for Matilda’s forces to land, but they were repelled by Stephen’s forces and had to retreat to the south-west. However, in September, Matilda was invited by the Dowager Queen Adeliza (who had been the second wife of Matilda’s father, Henry I) to land in her lands at Arundel, West Sussex. At the end of September Matilda and her brother Robert landed with 140 knights. Robert marched north-west to raise support, and to meet up with the dispersed forces from the first landing attempt, whilst Matilda stayed at Arundel Castle. Stephen ignored the other troops and immediately besieged Arundel, trapping Matilda. Stephen agreed to a truce, and released Matilda from the siege to allow her and her knights to be escorted to the south-west where she was reunited with Robert. The reasons why Stephen allowed this are not quite known, although it could have come from a sense of chivalry, or because Arundel Castle was considered impregnable, or because he worried about keeping his army at Arundel whilst Robert roamed freely. In this, Matilda’s sex may have been to her advantage – it would have been frowned upon to include Matilda in warfare as a woman, and her male half-brother would probably have been viewed as far more of a threat.” (https://www.britannica.com/topic/house-of-Plantagenet)

         Stephen made a deadly mistake as Matilda established a supporting group in the south-west, and controlled territory from Devon and Cornwall, across Gloucester and Bristol, into the Welsh Marches, and even across to Oxford and Wallingford, threatening London. In 1140, The Bishop of Ely unsuccessfully rebelled in East Anglia; meanwhile, Earl of Chester seized Lincoln Castle and joined Matilda. The meanness of the Earl of Chester proved invaluable to Matilda. In 1141, Stephen and Chester took to battle on 2nd February. Stephen’s center was encircled by Robert and Chester’s cavalry while many of Stephen’s supporters fled. Stephen was captured and taken back to Matilda’s base in Gloucester. The two met, and then Stephen was transferred to Bristol castle.

         Matilda captured Stephen’s brother, Henry of Blois, and obliged him to declare church support for her, and he handed over control of the royal treasury to her, even going as far as to excommunicate many of Stephen’s supporters who refused to give Matilda their support. “Everything seemed set in Matilda’s favour: Stephen even released his subjects from their oath of fealty to him, which had placed many in a dilemma of whether they could morally abandon Stephen for Matilda. Just after Easter, 1141, the clergy gathered in Winchester and declared Matilda Lady of England and Normandy, prior to her coronation. Matilda then moved to London to begin preparations for her coronation in June”. (Thomson, 1997, p. 154)

           Although Matilda won the support of Earl of Chester, she wasn’t accepted by several lords in London just because of being a woman. Matilda suffered from sexism and that was the main problem she faced. This sexism, combined with the remnants of support for Stephen, meant that just days before Matilda’s planned coronation the City of London rebelled against her which obliged her to escape. However, she was still gaining support. Geoffrey was in control Normandy, while Robert and Matilda were in control of several lands in England; consequently, the Lords who had lands in both parts were concerned about their assets. This made the majority of them change loyalty to Matilda’s side.

           Queen Matilda, Stephen’s wife, didn’t give up on him and took advantage of London’s riot against Matilda to gather Stephen’s loyal men and succeeded to capture Robert and to exchange him for Stephen. “Stephen’s legitimacy as king was renewed by the church under his brother Henry, and Stephen and Matilda were re-coronated during Christmas 1141.” Robert returned to Normandy and Matilda stayed in Oxford Castle which made her an easy prey for Stephen. He under sieged the castle in winter desiring to weaken her by starving them. Hence, Matilda succeeded to escape incognito so her men would surrender the day after.

4. Henry II and The Rise of House Plantagenet

Battles continued for years and Robert almost succeeded to capture Stephen in the Battle of Wilton in 1143. The same year, the Earl of Essex rebelled against Stephen, and in 1144 the Earl of Chester revolted once again. From the South, Robert didn’t stop his attacks, Matilda kept control over several lands and castles while Geoffrey was recognized as Duke of Normandy by the king of France Louis VII in 1144. Robert died in 1147 and Matilda’s son Henry took the leadership of the army to invade England again. Nobles started leaning to the peaceful environment by making peace treaties with each other whilst Stephen tried to change his policy with Henry.   

           Matilda and Geoffrey worked on elevating Normandy without neglecting her son’s right to the throne of England. In 1149, being named the Duke of Normandy by his father, Henry went back to England; where he managed to make alliances with Earl of Chester with the help of his great uncle the King of Scotland in order to control the North. In 1152, Henry got married to Eleanor of Aquitaine, who divorced from the French King, and had control over several assets which made him win more supporters. Stephen felt the danger Henry represented, as he controlled more and more lands, and accepted to sign a truce with him.

         Finally, in November 1153, the Treaty of Winchester was signed where Stephan recognized Matilda’s son Henry as “his adopted son and successor, as long as Henry gave homage to him. Stephen’s son William would, in turn, pay homage to Henry and renounce his claims to the throne in return for the security of his lands”. The period of Anarchy officially ended when Stephen died on October 25th 1154 and Henry was crowned Henry II in December 1154 King of England and Duke of Normandy.

5. Conclusion

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle claimed that “there was nothing but disturbance and wickedness and robbery” and in many places, particularly in the south, there had certainly been periods of lawlessness. The Anarchy lasted for 20 years that weakened the royal treasury because of producing different coins by the king and his barons so the royal income severely damaged. Matilda did not succeed to be Queen but enjoyed a high position with tremendous influence in her son’s court.  People were relieved that there was peace at last, especially that the new king Henry II started reconstruction and focused on stabilizing England as well as restore its economic power and military union.