Henry had declared his daughter Matilda his heir and then married her to Geoffrey of Anjou when it was clear his marriage to Adeliza was going to be childless. The king’s nephew Stephen of Blois, and the barons, had sworn to accept the king’s decision, but Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk, announced that Henry had named Stephen his successor when he died in 1135 after he ate too many lamprey fish. Stephen crossed the English Channel and seized the throne, arguing he would be better at keeping order across the kingdom. He was wrong because many barons supported Empress Matilda. Stephen initially had the support of the English barons but his powers waned when he fell sick and rumours of his death spread in 1136. Hugh took the opportunity to seize Norwich castle, but he surrendered the city when the king recovered.
Stephen betrothed his infant daughter Matilda to Waleran de Beaumont before sending him to secure Normandy. But Matilda died in 1137 and de Beaumont joined Geoffrey of Anjou, Empress Matilda’s husband, when he invaded England. Empress Matilda created Waleran the Earl of Worcester and his brother Hugh the Earl of Bedford after they defeated an attack on Normandy in 1138. Waleran then went to Paris to agree a peace treaty between England and France. Robert de Beaumont and Waleran had to fight off more attacks on Normandy, starting in 1140.
Robert de Montfort would capture Waleran de Beaumont when he was fighting for King Louis VII in 1153. Duke Henry’s friends took the opportunity to seize his Norman estates, ending his power.
David I of Scotland switched his support to Empress Matilda after hearing that his son Henry had been insulted at Stephen’s court. He captured several towns, including Carlisle, Alnwick and Newcastle, before he met Stephen, Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare and Robert de Ferrers at Durham in February 1136. The Scots were given Cumberland in return for the lost Northumbrian castles but they included the estates of Ranulf, 4th Earl of Chester, and he vowed to win them back.
King David again harried the north of England in 1138, in support of Matilda, until was defeated at the Battle of the Standard near Northallerton on 22 August. Robert de Ferrers was created Earl of Derby for defeating the Scots. Stephen granted the Earldom of Northumbria to David’s son and heir Henry at the Second Treaty of Durham in 1139.
The young Henry FitzEmpress joined King David and the outraged Ranulf II, 4th Earl of Chester, during an attack on York in May 1149 and Stephen marched north to meet them. Henry was attacked by Stephen’s son Eustace, so Ranulf attacked Lincoln, encouraging Stephen to attack him while Henry escaped. Stephen eventually granted Ranulf the southern half of Lancashire and he gave up his claim on his Cumberland estates.
Stephen negotiated the support of the two Marcher Lords, Walter FitzWalter and his son Miles, when he met them at Reading in 1136. But he refused to help when there was an uprising on the Welsh border and Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare was killed in Gwent by Iorwerth ab Owain. Owain ap Cynan of Gwynedd and Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth joined the rebellion and they defeated the Normans at the battle of Crug Mawr. Miles FitzWalter had to rescue de Clare’s widow from Cardigan Castle.
Miles FitzWalter and Robert Fitzroy, Matilda’s illegitimate half-brother, recognised Matilda as their sovereign and they invited her to England in the summer of 1139. Miles would later be created Earl of Hereford and Robert Fitzroy Earl of Gloucester for giving their support. Ranulf, 4th Earl of Chester, also joined Matilda because Stephen had given his lands to King David of Scotland and he wanted to capture King David’s son Henry as he returned to Scotland.
Stephen’s queen, also Matilda, heard about the plan and she persuaded her husband to escort Henry to Scotland. Ranulf made a plan to intercept the royal party at Lincoln Castle. He and his half-brother, William de Roumare, sent their wives to visit the constable’s wife and then entered the castle in disguise, pretending they were to collect them. Once inside, they seized weapons, let their men in, threw out the royal garrison and took the king prisoner. All Stephen could do was to give Ranulf control of Lincolnshire and Derbyshire and make William the Earl of Lincoln.
Although Stephen had plenty of supporters, their allegiance was dubious and self-serving. Reginald de Dunstanville was another of Henry’s illegitimate sons and Stephen created him Earl of Cornwall in 1141 hoping to get his support. But Reginald stood by his half-sister and the title was confiscated. Simon II de Senlis, 4th Earl of Northumberland, only supported his cause because he believed Matilda would give his Earldom of Northampton to David of Scotland; he was rewarded with the Earldom of Huntingdon.
The worst case of dubious support was Geoffrey de Mandeville. Henry I had confiscated William de Mandeville’s title and estates after an important prisoner escaped while he was in charge of the Tower. Geoffrey de Mandeville wanted them back and was created Earl of Essex when he declared for Stephen in 1140. But he switched to support Matilda when Stephen was captured at Lincoln the following year. She made him custodian of the Tower, cancelled his father’s debts and returned his grandfather’s lands. But the gifts meant nothing because he switched his allegiance back as soon as Stephen was released.
Stephen later arrested Geoffrey and threatened to execute him until he surrendered his castles. Geoffrey resigned as custodian of the Tower of London when he was freed and became an outlaw who had to be tracked down and killed by the king’s men in September 1144.
Ranulf, 4th Earl of Chester, proved to be a corrupt landlord and the citizens of Lincoln complained about his treatment of them. So the king returned to Lincoln, pretending that Ranulf and William had failed to return the castle to him. The townspeople let his army into the town in January 1141 and he laid siege to the castle. Ranulf escaped, leaving his wife Maud behind to make sure his father-in-law Robert Fitzroy, Earl of Gloucester, would help him rescue her.
Advisors told Stephen to escape from Lincoln but he chose to stay and there was a battle on 2 February 1141. William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey and Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester, fled from the first charge and Stephen’s attempts to rally them failed. Warenne and Beaumont escaped to join Matilda but Stephen was captured and imprisoned at Bristol.
Gilbert Fitz Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke, joined Matilda. So did Aubrey de Vere and Hugh Bigod and they were created the Earls of Oxford and Norfolk, respectively. Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, captured Alan of Penthièvre, 1st Earl of Richmond, and tortured him until he surrendered the Earldom of Cornwall.
It seemed all was going well for Matilda but no one would crown her queen in London and she was given the title ‘Lady of the English’ instead. Empress Matilda and her half-brother, Robert Fitzroy, Earl of Gloucester, besieged Winchester in September 1141. Stephen’s queen, Matilda, and William of Ypres marched to relieve the city and while Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and Miles FitzWalter, Earl of Hereford, escaped, Robert Fitzroy was captured. Empress Matilda would hand over Stephen in exchange for him later in the year, giving up her best chance of becoming queen.
Stephen abandoned his attempt to take Lincoln Castle from Ranulf, 4th Earl of Chester, in 1144 when a siege tower collapsed killing dozens of men. Ranulf changed his allegiance after Empress Matilda allied with David of Scotland because he was still trying to reclaim his northern estates. So he visited Stephen at Stamford in 1145 and was restored to favour after repenting his crimes. The king allowed him to keep Lincoln Castle until he could recover his old estates.
Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, encouraged Stephen to support his invasion of Wales but his advisors warned that Ranulf might be planning to ambush him. So the king started an argument with Ranulf at Northampton and then had him imprisoned for treason. Ranulf was forced to surrender all the royal lands and castles he held, hand over all his hostages and take an oath not to resist the king. He was freed after Gilbert Fitz Richard de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford, handed over his nephew Geoffrey to guarantee Ranulf’s good conduct.
Ranulf immediately rebelled and ‘burst into a blind fury of rebellion, scarcely discriminating between friend or foe.’ He failed to capture Lincoln and Stephen tried to seize him at Coventry but captured Gilbert instead and confiscated his castles. Gilbert joined his uncle as soon as he was freed and they were joined by Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Pembroke. While Stephen reconciled with the two Gilberts, Ranulf joined Henry of Anjou instead.
The Second Crusade was announced at Vézelay in 1146 and both Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester, and William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey vowed to take part. They were with the French-Norman crusaders when they were defeated before Damascus and William was killed by the Turks at Mount Cadmus in January 1148. Waleran returned to build an abbey, to thank God for allowing him to survive a shipwreck on the coast of Provence.
Stephen considered exceptional steps when he tried to force John Marshal to capture Newbury Castle in 1152. He announced his 5-year-old son William would be hanged if he did not surrender. John told him to carry out his threat, saying, ‘I still have the hammer and the anvil with which to forge more and better sons!’ Stephen talked about catapulting William into the castle but could not bring himself to harm the boy. So John made the most of Stephen’s indecision to alert Matilda’s forces and young William was released unharmed.
Matilda’s son Henry FitzEmpress, Duke of Normandy, landed in England in 1153 to assert his claim. Henry began by laying siege to Stamford while Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, held Ipswich. Stephen withdrew to London for the winter, Henry was joined by Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, leaving him in control of a large part of England.
The barons sued for peace as Stephen and Henry faced each other at Wallingford in the summer of 1153. King Stephen recognised Prince Henry as his successor under the Treaty of Wallingford, leaving Stephen’s son Eustace furious about being disinherited; he conveniently died a month later.
Peace terms were agreed under the Treaty of Winchester in November 1153. Henry would do homage to Stephen as his adopted son and successor while Stephen’s surviving son William had to renounce his claim to the throne. But it was a perilous peace and there were rumours that William planned to assassinate Henry. Stephen set about reasserting his authority over his kingdom, only to die in October 1154. One of Henry’s first acts was to create William the Earl of Surrey.