Carol McGrath’s novel The Stolen Crown retells the extraordinary story of the Empress Matilda and her fight to gain the throne of England during the 12th-century civil war known as the Anarchy. It’s a period, as she says, of “thrills, jeopardy and unforgettable characters”.
When I began to write Empress Matilda’s story I wondered if anybody even knew who this 12th-century princess was. Most have heard of the conflicts between Cromwell and Charles I or that between King Harold and William the Conqueror, but how many would know about Matilda and Stephen and the civil war that raged through England during the mid-12th century?
Why would I write a novel about this pair and their fight over England’s throne? Their story is a surprisingly intriguing one, based on historical facts including double-crossing, thrills, jeopardy and, most importantly, vivid and unforgettable characters.
It’s a 12th-century Game of Thrones and these personalities’ stories provide a gift for any writer of historical fiction.
In dramatizing history writers create gripping narratives and try to recreate recreate past worlds peopled by believable and fascinating protagonists. Here is a short background to the story of Matilda and Stephen.
Henry I had around 19 illegitimate children — but only two legitimate heirs, William and Matilda. In 1120, when his son William died in the White Ship disaster, Matilda (also known as Maud) became his only surviving legitimate heir.
As a child, she had been given in marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V. In 1125 the Emperor died, so Henry I recalled her to England. He insisted that his barons and bishops take an oath to recognise Matilda as Queen after his own death.
A woman as a queen in her own right rather than as a queen consort was unheard of. William of Malmesbury, witness to these events, wrote about the oath taking: “If he [Henry] should die without male issue they [barons and bishops] would without delay or hesitation accept his daughter Matilda, the late Empress, as their sovereign…observing how prejudicially fate had snatched away his son.”
Matilda was a woman of great pride, intelligence and power. But her father, wanting a grandson as double insurance for the continuity of his ruling house and the security of Norman borders, brokered a marriage for her to the 15-year-old, handsome, red-headed, arrogant youth, Geoffrey of Anjou. She was insulted and only agreed reluctantly.
Initially this marriage was a disaster. Possibly she would have preferred marriage to the noble Brien fitz Count, but he was already married to doughty Tilda of Wallingford.
Either Geoffrey sent her back to her father or she left, but she was peremptorily sent back to Anjou to try again. Interestingly, this time, the reunited couple had three sons in quick succession.
When Henry died in 1135 from the much-quoted surfeit of lampreys — to which he was allergic — Matilda’s cousin Stephen of Blois seized the crown of England with the help of bishops and barons in contravention to their oaths to Henry.
A number of nobles lost out during Stephen’s first three years of kingship. One of these was Matilda’s loyal half-brother Robert of Gloucester. Another was Brien fitz Count of Wallingford and the third, Miles of Gloucester, was a brilliant bear-like warrior and strategist. Loyal to their oaths, they sought her return to claim her ‘stolen crown’.
King Stephen, born around 1096, was the son of William the Conqueror’s daughter, Adela, and the Count of Blois-Chatres, a principality wedged between Normandy, Paris and Anjou.
Stephen grew up at Henry I’s court and became an accomplished courtier. “This”, writes his biographer, David Crouch, “was partly through his natural disposition and partly through alertness to the culture of court. He was even-tempered and good-humoured, the necessary qualities for a courtier.”
Henry I had arranged a handsome marriage for Stephen to (another) Matilda, heir to the county of Boulogne. The marriage facilitated trade, which pleased London merchants.
Stephen soon upset many of his co-conspirators. This was the signal for Matilda’s half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, to persuade her to secretly return to England and claim her stolen crown. It is now that Matilda’s story becomes utterly thrilling. It’s a narrative of sieges, pursuit and chase, the capture of a King, two competing queens and a series of escapes.
Matilda’s attempt to be crowned at Westminster collapsed in the face of opposition from the residents of London. She was never formally declared Queen of England but given the ancient Saxon title ‘Lady of the English’. Contemporary sources say she was considered arrogant by London’s burghers; that she deepened her voice to appear like a man. The truth is she made mistakes, tried to force a tax, and would not take advice.
After Matilda’s aborted crowning there were two queens on the chessboard, both capable politically. Stephen’s queen, Matilda of Boulogne, took up the King’s cause.
Amongst a gallery of interesting characters there was also the scheming Bishop of Winchester, Stephen’s brother, a man who saw the best chance and was adept at changing sides.
Further thrilling events follow including a double siege at Winchester. Matilda was besieged in Oxford Castle during deep mid-winter and forced to escape across the Thames in the snow to Abingdon.
This was a time described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles as one “when Christ and his saints slept” because large parts of the country were in the control of independent barons. Law and order disintegrated.
Meanwhile, Geoffrey of Anjou was successful in fighting for Normandy, which was then part of the English crown. He was a surprisingly brilliant captain of war. A settlement over England’s destiny was reached eventually; but it took time.
Woven into my historical narrative are imagined characters and sub-plots which add depth and colour to the novel’s storyline. It is also a very human and moving story with many twists and turns, triumphs and setbacks. Giving life to the personalities involved in these events was a challenge that I have loved. To find what happened next to the protagonists of this story, do read The Stolen Crown.
The Stolen Crown by Carol McGrath is published on 18 May, 2023.
Carol’s written a number of pieces for Historia which you may enjoy, including:
The popular Henry VIII, impotence and the thorny question of male heirs
Opus Anglicanum: the beauty of medieval English embroidery
Top ten books about the Russian Revolution
A review of Battle Song by Ian Ross
For more about the Empress Matilda, have a look at Matilda: The greatest king England never had by Catherine Hanley.
Images:
- The Empress Matilda: München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 30055, Evangeliar Heinrichs d Löwen (Cod. Guelf. 105 Noviss. 2°) — Signaturdokument, folio 171v via Wikimedia (public domain)
- The wedding feast of Henry V and Matilda: Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 373 3895B via Wikimedia (public domain)
- Enamel effigy of Geoffrey of Anjou (Plantagenet) from his tomb, now in the Museum of Archaeology and History in Le Mans: Wikimedia (public domain)
- Stephen of Blois, detail from Epitome Of Chronicles by Matthew Paris: British Library via Wikimedia (public domain)
- St George’s Tower (where Matilda escaped from) and part of D wing, Oxford Castle: Wikimedia (public domain)
