Next up, we have King Stephen of Blois... and his rival, Empress Matilda.
Stephen refused to allow England and Normandy to fall into the hands of a woman, thus he cultivated popularity in England, while Matilda and her sons continued to try to usurp power from Henry I. When Henry ate his lampreys and kicked the bucket, Matilda was way down in Anjou, helping head a rebel army. Technically, she was the new queen in her own right, but the people of England went back to their Anglo Saxon tradition of electing kings. Thus, they "voted" Stephen to be their new king. Stephen, of course, found this to be favorable, and had himself crowned. Matilda swore revenge. For the rest of his reign, Stephen was locked in a civil war with rival barons, the Scots, and Empress Matilda. - Was considered very pious. His brother, Henry, was a monk, and was later appointed a bishop by Stephen. - Was not a child of Henry I, but a nephew. - Almost died along with the crown prince in the boating accident, but had an attack of diarrhea and drunkenness, and decided to sleep it off. This saved his life. - Immediately found himself under attack from all sides. Scotland, Wales, Normandy, and Anjou were under attack. Geoffrey and Henry, Matilda's sons, were both leading armies against Stephen. Even so, Stephen started off well and solidified England... but the wars drained England of its wealth. - Was known for personally fighting his enemies, and his aptitude for siege warfare. - He took property from the church to fund England, which led him into conflict with the church... and his brother. - Refused to let his men target women in war, which led to a rather silly practice of letting Matilda get away a few times. - Lost London to Matilda, but the people of London mobbed her "coronation," screaming in support of Stephen. Matilda had to flee to Oxford. - Was captured by Matilda, and lost loyalty with his barons. However, Stephen's wife (also named Matilda,) kept the fight alive.... for a time, it was a war of 2 Matildas, politically. - Had a habit of inviting barons to dinner, only to spring a trap and jail or kill them when they arrived. Soon, no one would come have dinner with him. - Fought on two fronts, Matilda in England, Geoffrey of Anjou (her second husband) in Normandy. (Not to be confused with her son, Geoffrey.... confused yet?) Failed on both fronts, and wound up in a stalemate that ground on for years. - England fell into anarchy, with the rich preying daily on the poor. The Civil war petered out, with no clear winner. - Paid for Empress Matilda's son Henry to go on crusade... probably because he realized that making peace with Matilda was the only way to move forward. - wound up in a huge fight with the pope over appointment of bishops. This would happen again and again in English history. - Though he had sons, he named Matilda's son Henry as his heir... why did he do this? No one really knows for sure. Most assume it was to end the civil war... others point to the fact that he was dying, and may have wanted to give England to the most popular candidate. - On his death, from a stomach illness, England was passed to Henry, Matilda's son. (Thus Matilda conceded her claim in favor of her son.) England was broke, torn apart by decades of anarchy, and the people now had a healthy hatred of the nobility. Would young Henry be able to fix this? Stay tuned! |
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