ENGLAND. 



605 



Hiitoty. ten ; and hastily leav ing Normandy, where he had accom- 

 ''^V 1 ' panied Henry, he was received in London by a few of his 

 partisans, who hailed him king. He next prevailed upon 

 the Archbishop of Canterbury to put the crown upon 

 his head, by falsely asserting that Henry, on his death- 

 bed, had expressed his intention of leaving his kingdom 

 to the Count of Boulogne ; and then proceeded to exer- 

 cise all the functions of sovereign authority. Though 

 few barons attended his coronation, yet none opposed 

 his usurpation ; raid in return for their submission, de- 

 manded new immunities and privileges. Stephen was 

 anxious to secure his tottering throne, and made liberal 

 promises to all. To the clergy, he promised to fill all 

 vacant benefices, and never to levy any of the vacant 

 rents; to the nobility, he allowed the right of fortifying 

 their castles, and promised to reduce the royal forests 

 to their ancient boundaries ; and to the people, he enga- 

 ged to remit the tax of Danegelt, and restore the laws 

 of King Edward. He further fortified his authority by 

 the sanction of the jxipe ; and surrounded his throne by 

 a band of mercenaries, whom he had invited from the 

 continent, and who defended it by the terror of the 

 sword. 



Distracted The barons had no sooner obtained liberty to put 

 state of the their castles in a state of defence, than the kingdom was 

 kingdom, filled with fortresses, which they garrisoned either with 

 their vassals, or with soldiers who flocked from all quar- 

 ters Hence ever}' chief became a petty tyrant, and 

 exercised the law of retaliation with his own hand. 

 Private animosities were kindled into open wars, which 

 were carried on with the utmost fury ; and all the mi- 

 series which flow from an uncontroulled power among 

 the great, fell upon the defenceless people. The infe- 

 rior gentry even, finding no redress for any grievance 

 from the laws, were obliged to secure the protection of 

 some neighbouring chieftain, by submitting to his ex- 

 actions, am 1 assisting him in his depredations. England 

 thus became a scene of uninterrupted violence und de- 

 vastation. An unbridled and licentious soldiery laid 

 waste the country, plundered the villages and even the 

 cities, set fire to the houses, and sometimes sold the in- 

 habitants to slavery. Agriculture was neglected, and 

 its instruments destroyed. A famine was the conse- 

 quence, which reduced the oppressors, as well as the 

 oppressed, to the extreme of want and indigence. Ste- 

 phen was endowed both with valour and abilities, and 

 belield with concern the evil effects of some of those 

 concessions which were extorted from his situation. 

 The prerogatives of the crown had, in many instances, 

 been forced to yield to the power of the nobility and 

 clergy, who, intrenched within their castles, sometimes 

 set his mandates at defiance. He therefore resolved to 

 make some effort for th" recovery of the royal authori- 

 ty. But his measures were ill calculated to accomplish 

 his purpose. Instead of supporting the people against 

 the oppressions of the barons, lie was equally hostile to 

 their rights and comfort. He made his power the sole 

 measure of his conduct, and violated not only the pro- 

 mises which he had made at his accession, but also the 

 ancient priv'V_res of his subjects. His mercenaries sub- 

 sisted entire!) by depredation. Their fierceness of dis- 

 position ltd them to commit the most wanton outrages; 

 and every place was filled with complaints against hij 

 A. D. 1137. government. I fis enemies took advantage of the g 



ral discontent; and Robert Earl of Gloucester, the na- 

 tural brother of Matilda, headed an insurrection in fa- 

 vour of his sister. 



On the death of her father, Matilda expected that, 



according to his last will, she would have been imme- HUtory. 

 diately received as queen. But her claim seems to have v *~ 'V'"' 

 been little attended to, both in Normandy and England; 

 and Stephen was scarcely crowned, when he was 'acknow- 

 ledged in botn kingdoms. Her brother Robert, how- 

 ever, who was a man of honour and abilities, was much 

 attached to her interests, and waited only for a favour- 

 able opportunity to assert them. Robert possessed con- 

 siderable influence in the kingdom, and was supported 

 by numerous friends and retainers. On Stephen's ac- 

 cession to the throne, he had taken the oath of fealty ; 

 but with tliis express condition, that the king should 

 never invade any of his rights or dignities ; and thus in- 

 reserved for himself a pretence for throwing off his al- 

 legiance whenever he thought proper. As soon, there- 

 fore, as he had settled the plan of an insurrection, he 

 retired to the continent, renounced his allegiance, and 

 sent the king a defiance ; upbraiding him with a breach 

 of those conditions which had been annexed to his oath 

 of fealty. About the same time, David King of Scot- Irruption of 

 land entered Yorkshire with an army in support of Ma- 

 tilda's claim ; but the ravages and massacres which he 

 committed, instead of drawing the nobility to his stand- 

 ard, enraged them against him. They assembled their 

 vassals, and, awaiting his approach at Northallerton, 

 defeated him with great slaughter ; and David and his 

 son Henry narrowly escaped falling into the hands oi' 

 the conquerors. This success overawed the malcon- 

 tents in England, and might have given stability to 

 Stephen's throne, had he not engaged in a quarrel with 

 tile clergy. 



Sensible of the evils which attended the liberty of 

 erecting so many citadels throughout the kingdom, which 

 only served as sanctuaries for treason and licentiousiu > -. 

 Stephen resolved to diminish their number, and for tlii^ 

 purpose began by destroying those of the clergy. Ma- 

 ny of the prelates had acted entirely as barons, and pos- 

 sessed fortified castles, and numerous retainers. Under 

 pretence of a fray which h;.d arisen in the court be- 

 tween the attendants of the B^hop of Salisbury and the 

 Earl of Brittany, the king seized that prelate, and also 

 liis nephew, the Bishop of Lincoln, threw them into 

 prison, and obliged them to deliver up the strong cas- 

 tles winch they had erected. This bold measure at 

 once excited the whole power of the church against 

 him Even the Bishop of Winchester, the king's bro- 



him. 



ther, who had received a Icgaiitine commission from 

 the Pope, took part with his brethren, and resolved to 

 vindicate their violated privileges. Stephen was sum- Aug. 3'j. 

 moned to appear before a synod held at Westminster, 1139. 

 and to justify his conduct ; and submitted so far as to 

 send a deputy to plead his cause, who accused the two 

 prelates of treason and sedition ; but the synod, before 

 they would enter upon this cause, demanded the resti- 

 tution of their castles. This Stephen refused, and the 

 Bishop of Salisbury threatened to appeal to the Pope. 



This dispute increased the partisans of Matilda ; and 

 the legate himself encouraged her to attempt the reco- 

 very of her rights. She accordingly landed in Eng- 

 land, accompanied by the Earl of Gloucester and 1 10 

 knights, and was received by Adelais, the queen-dow 

 ager, into Arundel Castle. Her party daily gained Insurrection 

 ground, and she was soon in a condition to meet Ste- '" t vour .*' 

 phen in the field. A civil war was thus raised in the M:ltil(Ja ' 

 heart of the kingdom, which raged for above a year 

 with various success. At length, however, the fate of 

 war deprived Stephen of his crown. While he was be- Ftb. t. 

 sieging tha castle of Lincoln, the Earl of Gloucester 



