ENGLAND. 



MtiMU 



.- 



arrived with an army to the relief of bis friends. Ste- 

 phen resolved immediately to give him battle. His 



, s, led on 



by tumultuous baron.-. After a v i.ih-nt <>ni t, M< horse 

 rave way, and were soon followr 1 by the infantry. 

 Thi- king, uua< t fly, was left in the midst 



<. f the enemy . Hi' defended himself with great bra- 

 very and resolution, till at last hi- battle-axe and .sword 

 .red in piece', he was compelled to siir- 

 He was thrown into pri- 

 son at ('!. 1 with irons. 



; lda was immediately ai-knnw i -uvcreign 



by niivst of ;hr : . ; l-ut she M-emt'd to 



depend more upon t!i<- power of the latter, than of the 

 barons, fur the continuance of her authoritv. She en- 

 nach the Bishop of Winchester more 

 firmly to her interest-, by entrusting him with the en- 

 tire administration of the government, and placing in 

 .ids the disposal of all vacant bishoprics and ab- 

 bies. This unbounded power, accompanied with libe- 

 ral pr. ,'iired the favour of the legate and the 

 church ; and Matilda might have long reigned in tran- 

 quillity, had she possessed the policy and prudence to 

 conciliate a turbulent and martial people. But she dis- 

 1 the nation by her pride. She nad been the wife 

 of the cnipt-1-or, and seemed still to retain a conscious- 

 Bess of her dignity. She knew not how to temper a 

 refusal with affability ; but rejected the petitions of her 

 subjects in the most peremptory and haughty manner. 

 She refused the petition of the Londoners, to replace 

 t'v .') pressive laws of King Henry by those of King 

 Edward ; and imprudently offended the legate, by de- 

 nying his request to allow his nephew, Eustace, to in- 

 herit Boulogne, and Stephen's other patrimonial estates. 

 This refusal was the cause of another revolution ; and 

 this prelate resolved to deprive her of a throne, to 

 which he lud been chiefly instrumental in raising her. 

 lie instigated the I/ondoners to revolt, and had nearly 

 pot possession of the queen's person. But she fled to 

 Oxford, and afterwards to Winchester, where she was 

 besieged by the legate. Being hard pressed by famine, 

 he made her escape, but in the flight her brother Ro- 

 bert was taken prisoner. This nobleman was soon af- 

 ter exchanged for Stephen ; and as each was the life of 

 his own party, the contest was carried on for several 

 years with great animosity, but without any decisive 

 advantage on either side. 



The death of Earl Robert, however, which happen- 

 ed in 114-6, gave a severe blow to the interests of Ma- 

 tilda, and would have been fatal to her cause, had it 

 not been counterbalanced by the imprudence of Ste- 

 phen, who alienated the affections of many of his 

 friends, by endeavouring to extort from them the sur- 

 render of their castles. About the same time, also, 

 Eugenins III. had succeeded to the Papal throne, and 

 had deprived Henry of the legantine commission, which 

 he conferred upon Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbu- 

 ry, his enemy and rival ; and the king, by refusing to 

 submit to nine encroachments of that pontiff, was, 

 with his whole party, laid under an interdict. These 

 circumstances encouraged the adherents of Matilda ; 

 and Stephen was obliged to conciliate the church, by 

 making proper Mibmis.-ions to the Pope. Both sides, 

 however, were so weakened, that a cessation of hosti- 

 wa.t the core-equence ; and many of the nobility 

 Mttildare- j"> l '<I the crusade, which was at this time preached by 

 tint to St Barnard. Matilda had retired to Normandy with 

 Vorw.aniljr. her eon I Icnry, to whom she soon after resigned the 

 A. D. 1148. government of that duchy. 



Another 



(Evolution, 



Young Henry Pli-ntji^enc-t had received the honour Hurr. 

 of knighthood from hi> grand-uncle David. King <>t' N ~~,~~ r ' 

 Scotland ; and, while in that country, had displayed 

 such valour, gallantry, and prudence, as r 

 hones of his party in England. By the death of lii.1 

 father < MollVey. in I I. 10, he succeeded to the dm hies 

 of Anjou and Maine: and by In-. nv:rriage with Elea- 

 r.nr. daughter and heires< of \\ ill-am. Duke of ( !ni. 



! '.r\ of I'oictou, who had been divorced from 

 I.ouis VII. King of Franco, he got possession of tlio M - 

 rich pro\ inee- a her dowry. I !is power, added to his 

 great uccomplMuiicnts, had such an influence in Eng- 

 land, that when Stephen was dc-ir. .iring the 

 crown to his son Eustace, and required Theobald, the 

 to anoint him his successor, that primate refu- 

 sed, and immediately fled to the continent. Thi- > 

 prompted Henry to make an attempt upon England; 

 and having gained some advantages over the rovalisU 

 at Malmesbury, he proceeded to meet Stephen at Wal- 

 lingford. But the chiefs of both parties dreading the 

 renewal of bloodshed, compelled the rival princes t<> 

 settle their differences by a compromise. A treaty wa 

 accordingly concluded, by which it was agreed, that 

 Stephen should enjoy the crown of England during his 

 lite; that Henry should be acknowledged his succes- 

 sor ; and that William, Stephen's second son Eustace 

 iK'ing dead, should inherit Boulogne, and his patrimo- n , - 

 nial estates. Stephen survived this transaction only a Stephen. 

 year ; and his death put his rival in quiet possession of A. U. 1 1 54. 

 the throne. 



Henry II. on his accession to the throne of England, Henry II. 

 was the most powerful and the ablest sovereign in Eu- 

 rope. Besides his English and Norman dominions, he 

 possessed in right of his father, Anjou, Touraine, and 

 Maine; and in that of his wife, Guicnne, Poictou, 

 Xaintonge, Auvergne, Perigord, Angoumois, and the 

 Limousin. To these he soon after annexed Brittany, 

 and the county of Santz. He thus was master of above 

 a third of the whole Erench monarchy, and conse- 

 quently became an object of apprehension to the French 

 king, who, though monarch of a rich and fertile terri- 

 tory, yet had so little controul over his vassals, that 

 they were accustomed to make war upon eadi other 

 without his permission, and sometimes to turn their 

 arms against their sovereign. Louis had remarked, 

 with terror, the rising grandeur of the house of Planta- 

 genet ; and, in order to retard its progress, had always 

 endeavoured to support the fortunes of Stephen. But 

 lie now saw that it would be in vain to attempt any op- 

 position to Henry's Succession, and considered it more 

 prudent to conciliate, than to irritate, so formidable a 

 neighbour. 



The English, tired with bloodshed and depredations, 

 and sensible of the noble qualities of their new monarch, 

 received him with acclamations of joy, and all ranks 

 willingly took the oath of allegiance. Conscious that 

 his title to the throne was supported not only by here- 

 ditary rigllt, but by the unanimous voice of the people, 

 Henry began his reign, by resuming those privileges 

 which had been extorted from the weakness of his pre- 



or. He restored authority to the laws, by demo- Demolish* 

 lishing all the castles which had been built since the $',? 

 death of Henry I., except a few which he retained in baron*, 

 his own hands, for the protection of the kingdom. I le 

 dismissed the mercenary troops ; revoked all the grant* 

 made by his predecessor ; restored the coin, which had 

 been much adulterated, during the former reign, to its 

 proper value and standard ; and, by a rigorous execu- 

 tion of justice, curbed the violence and robberies of the 



