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Matilda (c. 1103-1152), the heiress of Count Eustace III. and a niece of Henry's first wife. The old king arranged this match after the untimely loss of his son, William Atheling, in the tragedy of the See also:

White See also:

SHIP

Ship; until 1125 Stephen was regarded as the probable See also:

HEIR (Lat. heres, from a root meaning to grasp, seen in heres or erus, master of a house, Gr. xeip, hand, Sans. hat ana, hand)

heir to the See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

THRONE

throne. But the return of the widowed empress Matilda (q.v.) to her See also:

FATHER

father's See also:

court changed the situation. Henry compelled Stephen and the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of his barons to acknowledge the empress as their future ruler (1126). Seven years later these oaths were renewed; and in addition the ultimate claims of Matilda's See also:

INFANT (in early forms enfaunt, enfant, through the Fr. enfant, from Lat. infans, in, not, and fans, the present participle of fari, to speak)

infant son, Henry of See also:

ANJOU

Anjou, were recognized (1133). But the See also:

DEATH

death of Henry I. found the empress absent from England. Stephen seized the opportunity.

He hurried across the Channel and began to See also:

CANVASS (an older spelling of " canvas ")

canvass for supporters, arguing that his oaths to Matilda were taken under See also:

coercion, and that she, as the daughter of a professed See also:

NUN (O. Eng. nunne, from Lat. nonnus, nonna, familiar terms for an old man or woman)

nun, was illegitimate. He was raised to the throne by the Londoners, the See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official baronage and the See also:

clergy; his most influential supporters were the old See also:

JUSTICIAR (med. Lat. justiciarius or justitiarius, a judge)

justiciar, See also:

Robert, See also:

bishop of See also:

Salisbury, and his own brother Henry, bishop of See also:

Winchester. See also:

Innocent II. was induced by Bishop Henry to ratify the See also:

election, and Stephen thus cleared himself from the stain of See also:

PERJURY (through the Anglo-Fr. perjurie, modern parjure, Lat. perjurium, a false oath, perjurare, to swear falsely)

perjury. Two charters of liberties, issued in rapid See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession, confirmed the King's See also:

ALLIANCE

alliance with the See also:

Church and earned the See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good will of the nation. But his supporters traded upon his notorious facility and the unstable nature of his See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power. Extortionate concessions were demanded by the See also:

GREAT

great barons, and particularly by See also:

EARL

Earl Robert of See also:

Gloucester, the See also:

HALF

half-brother of the empress. The clergy insisted that neither their goods nor their persons should be subject to See also:

SECULAR (Lat. saecularis, of or belonging to an age or generation, saeculum)

secular See also:

jurisdiction. Stephen endeavoured to See also:

FREE

free himself from the See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of such interested supporters by creating a See also:

MERCENARY (Lat. mercenarius, from merces, reward, gain)

mercenary See also:

army and a royalist party. This led at once to a rupture between himself and Earl Robert (1138), which was the See also:

SIGNAL

signal for sporadic rebellions. Soon afterwards the king attacked the bishops of Salisbury, See also:

Ely and See also:

Lincoln—a powerful See also:

FAMILY

family clique who stood at the, See also:

head of the official baronage—and, not content with seizing their castles, subjected them to See also:

PERSONAL

personal See also:

OUTRAGE (through O. Fr. ultrage, oltrage, oultrage, from Lat. ultra, beyond, exceeding, cf. Ital. oltraggio; the meaning has been influenced by connexion with " rage," anger)

outrage and detention. The result was that the clergy, headed by his brother, the bishop of Winchester, declared against him (1139). In the midst of these difficulties he had See also:

LEFT

left the western See also:

MARCHES, THE (It. Le Marche)

marches at the See also:

mercy of the Welsh, and the See also:

defence of the See also:

NORTHERN

northern shires against See also:

David of See also:

Scotland had devolved upon the barons of See also:

YORKSHIRE

Yorkshire.

Stephen was thoroughly discredited when the empress at length appeared in England (See also:

SEPT

Sept. 30, 1139). Through a misplaced sense of See also:

CHIVALRY (O. Fr. chevalerie, from Late Lat. caballerius)

chivalry he declined to take an opportunity of seizing her See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person. She was therefore able to join her half-brother at Gloucester, to obtain recognition in the western and See also:

south-western shires, and to contest the royal See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title for eight years. Stephen's initial errors were aggravated by See also:

BAD, BCD

bad See also:

general-ship. He showed remarkable See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy in hurrying from one centre of See also:

REBELLION

rebellion to another; but he never ventured to attack the headquarters of the empress. In 1141 he was surprised and captured while besieging Lincoln See also:

Castle. The empress in consequence reigned for six months as "See also:

LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; the first part of the word is hldf, loaf, bread, as in the corresponding hldford, lord; the second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, to knead, seen also in " dough "; the sense development fr

Lady (Domino) of the English"; See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save for her faults of See also:

TEMPER (from Lat. temperare, to mingle or compound in due proportion, to qualify, rule, regulate, to be moderate, formed from tempos, time, fit or due season)

temper the cause of Stephen would never have been retrieved. But, later in the See also:

YEAR

year, his supporters were able to procure his See also:

RELEASE (O.Fr. reles, variant of relais, from relaisser, to release, let go, Lat. relaxare)

release in See also:

EXCHANGE

exchange for the earl of Gloucester. After an obstinate See also:

SIEGE (0. Fr. sege, siege, mod. siege, seat, ultimately from sedere, to sit, cf. Class. Lat. obsidium, a siege)

siege he expelled Matilda from See also:

Oxford (Dec. 1142) and compelled her to fall back upon the See also:

west. The next five years witnessed anarchy such as England had never before experienced.

England See also:

north of the Ribble and the See also:

TYNE

Tyne had passed into the hands c f David of Scotland and his son, See also:

Prince Henry; Ranulf earl of See also:

Chester was constructing an See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent principality; on the west the raids of the Angevin party, in the See also:

east and midlands the excesses of such rebels as See also:

Geoffrey de See also:

Mandeville, earl of See also:

Essex, turned considerable districts into wildernesses. Meanwhile Geoffrey of Anjou, the See also:

HUSBAND

husband of the empress, completed the See also:

CONQUEST

conquest of See also:

NORMANDY

Normandy (1144). In 1147 the situation improved for Stephen; Robert of Gloucester, the ablest of the Angevin partisans, died, and the empress left England in despair. But her son soon appeared in England to renew the struggle (1149) and conciliate new supporters. Soon after his return to Normandy Henry was invested by his father with the duchy (1150). He succeeded to Anjou in 1151; next year he acquired the duchy of See also:

AQUITAINE

Aquitaine by See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage. Stephen struggled hard to secure the succession for Eustace, his elder son. But he had quarrelled with See also:

Rome respecting a vacancy in the see of See also:

York; the See also:

pope forbade the English bishops to consecrate Eustace (1151) ; and there was a general unwillingness to prolong the See also:

CIVIL

civil See also:

war. Worn out by incessant conflicts, the king bowed to the inevitable when Henry next appeared in England (1153). Negotiations were opened; and Stephen's last hesitations disappeared when Eustace was carried off by a sudden illness. See also:

LATE

Late in 1153 the king acknowledged Henry as his heir, only stipulating that the earldom of See also:

Surrey and his private estates should be guaranteed to his surviving son, William: The king and the See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke agreed to co-operate for the repression of anarchy; but Stephen died before this See also:

WORK

work was more than begun (Oct. 1154).

On his great See also:

seal Stephen is represented as tall and robust, bearded, and of an open countenance. He was See also:

FRANK, JAKOB (1726-1791)

frank and generous; his occasional acts of duplicity were planned reluctantly and never carried to their logical conclusion. High spirited and proud of his dignity, he lived to repent, without being able to undo, the ruinous concessions by which he had See also:

con-ciliated supporters. In warfare he showed courage, but little generalship; as a statesman he failed in his dealings with the Church, which he alternately humoured and thwarted. He was a generous See also:

PATRON

patron of religious See also:

FOUNDATIONS

foundations; and some pleasing anecdotes suggest that his personal See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character deserves more See also:

COMMENDATION (from the Lat. commendare, to entrust to the charge of, or to procure a favour for)

commendation than his See also:

RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record as a king. See the Gesta See also:

STEPHAN, HEINRICH VON (1831-1897)

Stephan, See also:

Richard of See also:

HEXHAM

Hexham, "Eked of Rievaux' Relatio de Standardo, and the See also:

CHRONICLE (from Gr. Xpovos, time)

chronicle of Robert de Torigni, all in R. Howlett's See also:

CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF

Chronicles of the Reins of Stephen, &c. (4 vols., See also:

LONDON

London, 1884—1889) ; Ordenc Vitalis s Historia ecclesiastica, ed. Le See also:

Prevost (5 vols., See also:

Paris, 1838—1855) ; William of See also:

Malmesbury's Historia novella, ed. W. See also:

Stubbs (London, 1889) ; See also:

John of See also:

Worcester's Continuation of See also:

Florence, ed. J.

H. See also:

WEAVER, JAMES BAIRD (1833- )

Weaver (Oxford, 19o8); the See also:

PETERBOROUGH

Peterborough Chronicle, ed. C. Plummer (1892—1899). Of See also:

MODERN

modern See also:

WORKS

works see See also:

MISS

Miss K. Norgate's England under the Angevin See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

Kings, vol. i. (London, 1887) ; O. RSssler's Kaiserin Mathilde (See also:

Berlin, 1897) ; J. H. See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

Round's Geoffrey de Mandeville (London, 1892) ; H. W. C. avis's " The Anarchy of Stephen's Reign" in Eng.

Hist. See also:

REVIEW (Fr. revue, from revoir, to see again, Lat. re and videre)

Review for 1903. (H. W. C.

End of Article: STEPHEN (1097?-1154)

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