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| Matilda |
The civil war was the result of a shipwreck in
1120 when Adelin, son and heir of King Henry I of England, was drowned. That
left Henry without a legitimate male heir not only for the Kingdom of England,
but also for the Duchy of Normandy and County of Cotentin that he also ruled.
His only legitimate child left - he had numerous illegitimate children - was
his daughter Matilda. She had married Holy Roman Emperor Henry V and, after his
death in 1125 she returned to England. Henry made all his nobles swear that
they would accept Empress Matilda as their Queen after his death.
There was some grumbling about this act. While
women could, and did, own and run great estates, it was generally believed that
being a ruler was not something a woman could do adequately. Rulers were
expected to lead their men into battle during wartime and to travel constantly
around thier lands during peacetime to dispense justice, adjudicate disputes
and get to know the knights and nobles of the land. Fighting with sword or
lance demanded great physical strength, something most women did not possess,
while spending long hours in the saddle was not suitable for women who spent
many months either pregnant or breastfeeding. Nevertheless, allowances could be
made so the nobles of England and Normany duly took the oath.
Henry then ordered Matilda to marry Geoffrey
of Anjou, heir to the Count of Anjou. Matilda was outraged, believing a mere
count to be beneath her imperial dignity. The barons were equally appalled,
since Normandy and Anjou were traditional enemies. Meanwhile, Matilda had been
making herself thoroughly unpopular with the English and Norman nobles with a
tactlessness and rudeness based on her clear belief that as an Empress she was
vastly superior to earls and barons. She was particularly unpopular with the
noblewomen, whose fashions she denounced as dowdy and whose manners she scorned
in comparison to those of the imperial court.
When King Henry died, Matilda happened to be
in Anjou. Much closer to England was Stephen of Blois, Count of Boulogne.
Stephen was by his mother a grandchild of King William I, as was Matilda, but
he was also through his father a great great grandson of King Edmund Ironside,
one of the rulers from the English dynasty that William I had destroyed at the
Battle of Hastings in 1066. Not only was he of royal blood, Stephen was
immensely popular and widely regarded as a talented and efficient ruler of his
lands. He was also a man. As soon as he heard Henry was dead and Matilda was
absent, Stephen boarded a ship and headed for England. When he arrived in
London he declared that he was the true King of England. The crowds in London
cheeered him loudly, and as various nobles arrived they too hailed Stephen as
king. The Church too came out in favour of Stephen and a few days later Stephen
was crowned king in Westminster Abbey.
from The Battle of Lincoln by Rupert Matthews.
Book Description
A book dedicated to the Siege of Lincoln that marked a
turning point in the Wars of Anarchy during the reign of King Stephen. A
civil war between King Stephen and his rival Empress Matilda broke out
in 1136. By 1141 England had fallen in to near anarchy with nobles using
the unrest to pursue local feuds, slaughter rivals and pillage each
other's land. In 1141 Stephen moved to capture Lincoln Castle and put
down one such recalcitrant nobleman. While there he was surprised and
attacked by a larger army led by Matilda. The ensuing battle was complex
and confused, but it ended with Stephen utterly defeated - for now.
This book follows the standard pattern set by others in the Bretwalda
Battles series. The reasons for and course of the war in question are
outlined, then detailed analyses of weapons, tactics and strategies are
given with particular reference to this battle. The course of the
battleis then followed, with comment on what there is to see at the site
today. Short biographies of the commanders are also given. The
aftermath of the battle, its effects and importance to the progress of
the war are then described. The "Bretwalda Battles" series has been
running with increasing success as ebooks for some time. Now the first
books in the series are being published in print format.
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