King Edmund - King Stephen

KING STEPHEN

Also in the Yale English Monarchs Series

EDWARD THE CONFESSOR by Frank Barlow

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR by David Douglas*

WILLIAM RUFUS by Frank Barlow

HENRY I by Warren Hollister

KING STEPHEN by Edmund King

HENRY II by W. L. Warren

RICHARD I by John Gillingham

KING JOHN by W. L. Warren

EDWARD I by Michael Prestwich

EDWARD II by Seymour Phillips

RICHARD II by Nigel Saul

HENRY V by Christopher Allmand

HENRY VI by Bertram Wolffe

EDWARD IV by Charles Ross

RICHARD III by Charles Ross

HENRY VII by S B Chrimes

HENRY VIII by J J Scarisbrick

EDWARD VI by Jennifer Loach

JAMES II by John Miller

QUEEN ANNE by Edward Gregg

GEORGE I by Ragnhild Hatton

GEORGE II by Andrew Thompson

GEORGE III by Jeremy Black GEORGE IV by E. A. Smith

Available in the U.S. from University of California Press

KING STEPHEN

Edmund King

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON

Copyright 2010 Edmund King

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publishers.

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Set in Baskerville by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd

Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

King, Edmund.

King Stephen / Edmund King.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-300-11223-8 (cl: alk. paper)

1. Stephen, King of England, 1097?1154. 2. Great BritainHistoryStephen, 11351154. 3. Great BritainKings and rulersBiography. I. Title.

DA198.5.K54 2010

942.02'4092dc22

[B]

2010017511

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Michael and Frances

1 King Henry I grieves at the death of his son William. BL Cotton MS Claudius D. ii. fol. 45v. The British Library Board.

2 Seal of Stephen, count of Boulogne and Mortain. Northamptonshire Record Office, Finch Hatton MS 170, fol. 90r. (no. 423).

3 The road to Rome. Matthew Paris autograph drawing. BL Royal MS 14. C. VII, fol. 2r. The British Library Board.

4 First seal of King Stephen. BL Seal xxxix. 10. The British Library Board.

5 Coronation of King Stephen. Miniature from Flores Historiarum by Matthew Paris, 12502. MS 6712 (A.6.89) fol.133r. Chetham's Library, Manchester, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library.

6 Judgement of Solomon capital, Westminster Abbey, c.1120. Dean and Chapter of Westminster

7 Henry of Blois enamel plaques. London, British Museum, MLA.52, 327, 1. Trustees of the British Museum.

8 Reconstruction of Wolvesey Palace, Winchester, by Liam Wales of the buildings as they may have looked in 1170. English Heritage.

9 Jewellery at St Albans, illustrated by Matthew Paris. BL Cotton MS Nero D. i, fol. 146v. The British Library Board.

10 The seal of the empress Matilda: Archives Centre, King's College, Cambridge SJP/19. Photograph Tracy Wilkinson; Drawing of the seal. BL, Harley MS 5019, fol. 75r. The British Library Board.

11 Oxford Castle, St George's Tower: engraving of a sketch by A. Pugin. English Heritage NMR, CC51/00384. English Heritage. NMR.

12 Coin of the Empress Matilda. National Museum Wales, E.1000/87.

13 Selection of magnate coins. Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, CM 11812001, CM 6922005, CM 12292001, CM 12382001, CM 501955.

14 Castle Rising, Norfolk. Bernard Cox/RIBA Library Photographs Collection.

15 Castle Hedingham, Essex. Photograph by Nathaniel Lloyd 1920s. English Heritage NMR, CCC000475. English Heritage. NMR.

16 The Lewis Chessmen. Trustees of the British Museum.

17 Seal of Waleran, count of Meulan, earl of Worcester. Archives Nationales, Paris, L 892 no. 20.

18 Battle of Lincoln: Baldwin Fitz Gilbert addresses the troops. BL Arundel MS 48, fol. 168v. The British Library Board.

19 Noah's Ark, relief panel over small south recess, Lincoln Cathedral. The Courtauld Institute of Art, London B62/819.

20 Charter and seal of Queen Matilda. Northamptonshire Record Office, Finch Hatton MS 170fol. 90v. (no. 424).

21 Seal of Gervase, abbot of Westminster, WAM 1172A. Dean and Chapter of Westminster.

22 Seal of Mary, prioress of Higham. St John's College, Cambridge D46.27. By permission of the Master and Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge.

23 Horoscopes for the king's party, c.1151. BL Royal MS App. 85, fol. 1v. The British Library Board.

24 Two coins: (a) King Stephen, type 7; (b) Henry Fitz Empress, the future king. Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, CM 12002001, CM 12252001.

One of the monks of Peterborough, writing during the 1150s, noted that the English church and his own monastery had suffered much sorrow and tribulation during King Stephen's reign. But he would not go into too much detail, he said, for many have written much thereon. Since I studied the monastery of Peterborough for my doctorate, it might have been thought incumbent on me to have followed his example. That I failed was due initially to the fact that the extensive writings on the reign, greatly extended since his day, provided admirable material for undergraduate teaching. I taught an advanced course on the reign at the University of Sheffield for the majority of the years between 19712 and (while in retirement) 20078. My first thanks are to those students who worked with me in these classes, helping me to structure the nineteen long winters in which Christ and his saints were asleep. We have worked in a strong and happy department, in which medieval history has always been valued. The list which follows could easily be extended but in this connection I thank in particular: Clyde Binfield, Patrick Collinson, Sarah Foot, Mark Greengrass, Ian Kershaw, David Luscombe, R. I. (Bob) Moore, Daniel Power, and Martial Staub. The University has provided much practical support also, offering regular research leave, from 1977 onwards, and two periods of special leave. A semester of leave was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board.

It is a pleasure to turn now to thank other friends and colleagues who have offered material support to the present volume. The list is a long one and many of them in their turn have written much thereon. I owe a particular debt to those who have read drafts of the book: Kathleen Thompson and Nicholas Vincent read it all, and Marjorie Chibnall read several chapters. Their close, at times critical but always supportive, reading has been invaluable. It is a pleasure but also humbling to note that Marjorie Chibnall has been assisting me in this way for nearly fifty years. Among those who have generously shared research findings and new texts with me I thank: David Crouch, Judith Green, Kimberly LoPrete, Daniel Power, Richard Sharpe, and Nicholas Vincent. The support of the following has been no less valuable: Emilie Amt, Marion Archibald, Julia Barrow, Janet Burton, Thomas N. Bisson, Martin Brett, Stephen Church, Charles Coulson, Paul Dalton, John Gillingham, Christopher Harper-Bill, Barbara Harvey, Sandy Heslop, Katherine Keats-Rohan, Nicholas Karn, Brian Kemp, Paul Latimer, David Roffe, Matthew Strickland, Keith Stringer, Heather Tanner, Elisabeth Van Houts, Graeme White, and Kenji Yoshitake.