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Northern France around the time of Stephen's birth. Stephen was born in Blois, France, in either 1092 or 1096. [1] [nb 1] His father was Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois and Chartres, an important French nobleman and an active crusader who died when Stephen was at most ten years old. [2]
Gesta Stephani, from Sewell's edition, 1846. Deeds of King Stephen or Acts of Stephen or Gesta Regis Stephani is a mid-12th-century English history by an anonymous author about King Stephen of England and his struggles with his cousin, Empress Matilda, also known as the "Empress Maud".
Empress Matilda (c. 7 February 1102 – 10 September 1167), also known as Empress Maud, [nb 1] was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter and heir of Henry I, king of England and ruler of Normandy , she went to Germany as a child when she was married to the future Holy Roman Emperor ...
As this novel explains, Maud made herself extremely unpopular by the strictures of her government, her arrogant disposition, and her demands for money. [9] [10] [11] Queen Matilda, wife of King Stephen, takes over the leadership of his armies while her husband is imprisoned, and does well in keeping up the pressure against the forces of the ...
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin (the only legitimate son of Henry I) who had drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120.
Cadfael is on good terms with people on both sides of the English war; his best friend Hugh is a staunch supporter of King Stephen, and his son Olivier is just as much committed to the Empress Maud. Cadfael explains his neutrality by saying "In my measure there's little to choose between two such monarchs, but much to be said for keeping a man ...
King Stephen and his knights were rapidly surrounded by the Angevin force. Then might you have seen a dreadful aspect of battle, on every quarter around the king's troop fire flashing from the meeting of swords and helmets – a dreadful crash, a terrific clamour – at which the hills re-echoed, the city walls resounded.
In return for his help in repelling the king's troops, the countess's father compelled her husband to swear fealty to Empress Matilda, who was Earl Robert's half-sister. On 29 August 1146, Earl Ranulf was seized by King Stephen at court in Northampton. Stephen later granted him the castle and city of Lincoln sometime after 1151. [citation needed]