The 19 years of civil war between Henry I’s daughter, Matilda, and her cousin, Stephen of Blois, were so destructive they came to be known as the Anarchy. Sharon Bennett Connolly, author of a new book about the women of the Anarchy, explains how the conflict began and why it could be called a true cousins’ war.
“I know not how to tell of all the atrocities nor all the cruelties wrought upon the unhappy people of this country. They lasted throughout the 19 long winters that Stephen was King. Never did a country endure greater misery. Wherever the earth was tilled the earth bore no corn, and men said that Christ and His saints slept.” Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Despite this being, probably, the most famous quote of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the period known as the Anarchy is the most underrepresented time in English history.
Coming so soon after the Norman Conquest and immediately before the Plantagenets, it tends to get overlooked.
And yet…
In modern terms, it could be seen as a fight for women’s rights. It is the one time in English history where women led the opposing armies.
It has a better claim to the name ‘Cousins’ War’ than the Wars of the Roses ever had. And, honestly, it is fascinating!
Why?
The Anarchy happened as a consequence of the White Ship disaster of 1120. This event was not the cause of the war, but it was the catalyst. England’s Prince William, the heir to the throne and the apple of his father’s eye, was drowned along with 300 other souls when the Blanche Nef (White Ship) foundered as it left Barfleur for England, shortly after midnight on 25 November.
Henry I suddenly had no heir. His only other legitimate child, a daughter, was far away in Germany, married to Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor.
At that time, it was expected that she would be spending her whole life there, as the emperor’s consort and the mother of his future children.
Henry I’s wife, Matilda of Scotland, had died in 1118. Henry needed a new wife, desperately. Early in 1121, just weeks after his son’s death, the grieving king married Adeliza of Louvain in the hope of producing more sons. However, despite keeping her with him constantly, Adeliza did not fall pregnant.
Having recognised over 20 illegitimate children as his own, it must have been quite a surprise for Henry that he could not get his young wife pregnant. The blame fell on Adeliza, but Henry did not divorce her. Ironically, Adeliza would have seven children with her second husband, William d’Aubigny, Earl of Arundel.
Anyway, with no child forthcoming, Henry needed to reconsider his plans for the succession. It may have been with this in mind that he promoted his nephew, his sister Adela’s son, Stephen of Blois.
Henry gave Stephen land in England and arranged his marriage to Matilda of Boulogne, the niece of his late wife, Matilda of Scotland.
Through her grandmother, the sainted Margaret of Wessex, Queen of Scotland, Matilda of Boulogne could trace her lineage back to Alfred the Great, King of Wessex. Matilda was the only child and sole heiress of her father, Eustace III, Count of Boulogne. Stephen became one of the most powerful men at Henry’s court.
However, events in Germany in 1125 meant that Henry could again think of seeing his own blood succeed him. The emperor died, and Henry recalled his daughter, Empress Matilda, to England. He recognised her as his heir, had all the barons swear to uphold her succession – twice, just to be sure.
At the first such oath-swearing, in 1126, Stephen jostled with Henry I’s illegitimate son, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, to be the second secular lord, after King David of Scotland, to take the oath – though whether they were vying for prominence or politely ceding precedence is open to question.
But then, Henry made a faux pas and arranged for Matilda to marry Geoffrey, Count of Anjou. Neither Matilda nor the barons were happy with the choice. He was 14, she was 25; and – worst of all — he was from Anjou, a traditional enemy of Normandy.
The marriage had a rocky start, with Matilda leaving her teenage husband for a time and having to be persuaded into returning to him. It meant that Matilda was in Anjou when her father died in December 1135.
On top of that, Matilda and her husband were in the middle of a dispute with Henry, who had not given the couple custody of three Norman castles that were supposed to form Matilda’s dowry.
And, having recently suffered a traumatic childbirth, with her second son, Geoffrey, in which her life was despaired of, Matilda was once again pregnant. Henry’s death could not have come at a worse time for the Empress.
Stephen, on the other hand, was prepared…
It seems Stephen of Blois had been making backroom deals for some time, in preparation for Henry I’s inevitable demise. With the considerable resources of his wife’s county of Boulogne at his back, Stephen embarked for England to claim the crown while his allies took control of Normandy.
He was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 22 December 1135, just three weeks after Henry I had breathed his last.
If Stephen thought he had won, he was very much mistaken. What is the saying? “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”.
It was certainly apt for Stephen. He may have won the opening salvo, but Matilda would not be incapacitated for ever.
The war would be a long and bloody one, with Empress Matilda, supported by the generalship of her illegitimate half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, facing her cousins, King Stephen and his queen, Matilda of Boulogne, with the crown of England as the prize.
The stage was set for 19 years of civil war, with spectacular battles, violent sieges, daring escapes and a year – 1141 – in which the opposing forces were both led by women, Empress Matilda and Queen Matilda of Boulogne.
The stage was set for the Anarchy.
Women of the Anarchy by Sharon Bennett Connolly is published on 15 January, 2024.
Sharon Bennett Connolly FRHistS is the best-selling author of five non-fiction history books. She also writes the popular history blog, History… the interesting bits, co-presents the podcast A Slice of Medieval and regularly gives talks on women’s history.
Other Historia features by Sharon include:
At the heart of English history: the Warenne Earls of Surrey
Magna Carta’s inspirational women
You may also enjoy these Anarchy-related features:
The Empress Matilda and the stolen crown by Carol McGrath
Matilda: The greatest king England never had by Catherine Hanley
Images:
- Henry I (R), his wife Matilda (middle, top), their daughter Matilda (middle, bottom) and their son William (L) from the Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings: Duke University via Picryl (public domain)
- Stephen of Blois, King of England: Wikimedia (CC0 1.0)
- The sinking of the White Ship, 1307–27: British Library, Royal MS 20 A.ii, fol. 6v via Wikimedia (public domain)
- Henry I mourning the loss of the White Ship: see 3
- Geoffrey of Anjou: Museum of Archaeology and History, Le Mans, via Wikipedia (public domain)
- Empress Matilda from the from the Gospels of Henry the Lion, c1188: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, via Wikimedia (public domain)
