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.