The Anarchy (1138–1153): Stephen and Matilda's Civil War

The Anarchy was a civil war fought in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153 over the succession to King Henry I. On one side stood Stephen of Blois, Henry’s nephew, who seized the crown in 1135; on the other, Henry’s daughter Matilda, known as the Empress from her first marriage. After fifteen years of sieges, battles and shifting loyalties, the conflict ended with a compromise that brought Matilda’s son to the throne as Henry II.

Causes: a disputed succession

Henry I, the youngest son of William the Conqueror, lost his only legitimate son, William Adelin, in the White Ship disaster of November 1120. His remaining legitimate child was his daughter Matilda, then married to the German emperor Henry V.

After Henry V died in 1125, Matilda returned to her father. In January 1127 Henry I made the leading nobles and bishops of England swear to accept her as his heir, and the oath was repeated later. In 1128 she married Geoffrey, count of Anjou, a long-standing rival of the Normans, and the match was unpopular with many barons.

When Henry I died in Normandy on 1 December 1135, Matilda was in Anjou. Stephen of Blois, Henry’s nephew and one of the richest landholders in England, crossed the Channel, secured London and the royal treasury at Winchester with help from his brother Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester, and was crowned on 22 December 1135. Many who had sworn the oath to Matilda accepted him, some arguing that their oath had been forced.

The war begins

Stephen’s early reign was relatively stable, but he lost support among powerful families and the church. In 1138 Robert, earl of Gloucester, Matilda’s illegitimate half-brother and the greatest magnate in the west country, renounced his allegiance and declared for his sister. In the north, King David I of Scotland, Matilda’s uncle, invaded in her name and was defeated at the Battle of the Standard near Northallerton on 22 August 1138.

Matilda herself landed at Arundel on 30 September 1139. Stephen allowed her to join Robert at Bristol, a decision often criticised as chivalrous but unwise. The west of England, especially Gloucester and Bristol, became her stronghold for the rest of the war.

Lincoln, London and Winchester, 1141

The turning point seemed to come on 2 February 1141 at the Battle of Lincoln. Stephen, besieging the castle, was attacked by an army under Robert of Gloucester and Ranulf, earl of Chester. Many of his barons fled, and Stephen, fighting on foot, was captured and imprisoned at Bristol.

Bishop Henry of Blois now went over to Matilda. In April 1141 a church council at Winchester recognised her as “Lady of the English”, the title she used while awaiting coronation. In June she reached Westminster, but her demands for money angered the Londoners, and an army loyal to Stephen’s wife, Queen Matilda of Boulogne, approached the city. The citizens rose and the Empress fled before she could be crowned.

Henry of Blois changed sides again. At the Rout of Winchester in September 1141, Matilda’s forces were defeated and Robert of Gloucester was captured covering her retreat. In November Robert and Stephen were exchanged, and the king was restored.

The escape from Oxford and the long stalemate

In September 1142 Stephen trapped the Empress in Oxford Castle and besieged it for about three months. In December, with supplies running out, Matilda escaped with a handful of companions, crossing the snow-covered countryside on foot and reaching Wallingford, which held out for her throughout the war. The escape became one of the most famous episodes of the period.

After 1142 neither side could win. England was divided: Matilda’s party held much of the south-west, while Stephen controlled the south-east and much of the Midlands. Nobles built castles without royal licence, often called adulterine castles, and some, such as Geoffrey de Mandeville in the Fens, used the chaos to plunder.

The church tried to limit the violence. Bishops issued decrees protecting churches and their lands, and in some regions great lords made private agreements with each other to avoid fighting. Many new monasteries, especially Cistercian houses, were founded during the war years, a sign that religious life and patronage continued in many places.

Meanwhile Geoffrey of Anjou conquered Normandy, taking Rouen in 1144 and becoming duke. This cut many Anglo-Norman barons off from their continental lands unless they reached terms with the Angevins. Robert of Gloucester died in October 1147, and Matilda left England for Normandy early in 1148; she never returned.

Henry FitzEmpress and the peace of 1153

The struggle passed to Matilda’s son, Henry FitzEmpress, born in 1133. He led small expeditions to England in 1147 and 1149. By 1153 he was duke of Normandy, count of Anjou and, through his marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, ruler of Aquitaine as well.

Henry landed in England in January 1153. The armies of Henry and Stephen confronted each other across the Thames at Wallingford, but the barons on both sides were reluctant to fight. A truce was arranged. In August Stephen’s elder son, Eustace, died suddenly, removing the main obstacle to a settlement.

The agreement, often called the Treaty of Wallingford, was sealed at Winchester in November 1153 and proclaimed at Westminster soon after. Stephen would remain king for life, adopt Henry as his heir and son, and allow Henry to succeed him. Stephen’s surviving son, William, kept his family lands. Stephen died on 25 October 1154, and Henry II was crowned on 19 December 1154.

How bad was the Anarchy?

The Peterborough version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written at a monastery in the Fens, describes torture, famine and destruction, and says that people openly declared that “Christ and his saints slept”. This passage shaped the later image of the reign as a time of total lawlessness.

Historians today are more cautious. The worst damage was concentrated in contested areas such as the Thames valley, the Fens and the south-west, while much of the country saw relatively little fighting. Royal coinage fragmented and some barons minted their own, but parts of the government, including the Exchequer, continued in some form. The label “the Anarchy” itself comes from Victorian scholarship rather than medieval usage.

Timeline

• 25 November 1120: William Adelin drowns in the White Ship.
• 1 January 1127: English nobles swear to accept Matilda as Henry I’s heir.
• 22 December 1135: Stephen is crowned king after Henry I’s death on 1 December.
• 22 August 1138: The Scots are defeated at the Battle of the Standard.
• 30 September 1139: Matilda lands at Arundel.
• 2 February 1141: Stephen is captured at the Battle of Lincoln.
• September 1141: Rout of Winchester; Robert of Gloucester is captured and later exchanged for Stephen.
• December 1142: Matilda escapes from the siege of Oxford.
• November 1153: Peace settlement sealed at Winchester.
• 19 December 1154: Henry II is crowned king of England.

Why it matters

The Anarchy showed how dangerous a disputed succession could be in a kingdom whose rulers also held lands in France. Its settlement founded the Plantagenet dynasty, which ruled England until 1485. Henry II’s later reforms of royal justice, finance and castles were in large part a response to the disorder of these years.