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Brothers turn against each other
In 1135, Henry I died. Instead of keeping their promise to the king and making his daughter queen, the barons elected his nephew Stephen as king. Stephen was the son of Adela, daughter of William the "Conqueror".
The barons chose Stephen as king because they were very arrogant and hated to have a woman rule them, and this woman was not yet a Norman. As you remember, Matilda's mother was the great-granddaughter of Edmund the "Ironclad King". Matilda was born in England and spent most of her life there, so she is more English than Norman.
Matilda's husband, Geoffrey, was the Count of Anjou, known as Jeffrey of the Plantagenet dynasty. When fighting on the battlefield, he wore a yellow plantagenet branch on his "helmet" so that his friends could recognize him even if his helmet covered his face. The Latin word for "broom" is "planta genista" (plantagenet), which is gradually pronounced "plantagenet".
Jeffrey was French, but he was not a Norman. Therefore, the Normans regarded him as a foreigner like the English and did not want him to rule England. This would have happened if his wife Matilda had become queen. Moreover, the barons knew that Stephen was kind and gentle, and they thought that if there was such a king, they could do whatever they wanted.
Stephen did. He was too gentle to rule over these barbarons. These people need an uncompromising and ruthless person to contain them. Stephen does not have either of these two conditions. He allowed the barons to build fortified forts throughout the country.
These forts are built with formidable dark dungeons that are prisons for people. There, the barons did outrageous things. It is said that the fortress is not filled with people, but with evil spirits. "God has forgotten England," they said, "and Christ slept peacefully, and so did his holy One." ”
Even during the conquest, the English did not suffer so much. In the past, there was a formidable ruler who forced everyone to obey his will. Today, every baron sees himself as a king and a tyrant, and the baron's castle is his kingdom, where he tortures and kills according to his evil will. Stephen was a humble knight and gentleman, but during the nineteen years of his reign, England was lawless and filled with sorrow and mourning.
The barons made Stephen king of England, and Matilda and her husband Geoffrey fled to Normandy. There, the barons also rebelled against them and elected Stephen their duke.
So King David of Scotland gathered an army to fight for his niece Matilda. Since the time of the Romans, the Scots and the English have been enemies. The Scots are still as savage and fierce as ever. They traveled through England all the way to Yorkshire, doing horrific cruelty everywhere they went.
In a place called North Allerton, they fought a big war. The battle was called the "Battle of the Banners" and the sacred flags of the four saints were hoisted from a flagpole, which was fixed to a carriage around which the English gathered their troops.
The Scots fought unusually bravely, but they did not wear armor. Although they rushed into battle full of heroic pride, they could not break through the Norman camp in steel armor, nor could they withstand the arrows of the English. They were defeated, and David could not help Matilda as he had hoped.
The scramble for the throne
Later, Matilda returned from France. Until Stephen's death, there was still a civil war on the land of England. The so-called civil war is a war within a country. The people of this country are not fighting outsiders, but their own people fighting each other.
This is the most terrible war, where friends and brothers often fight for different sides, killing and hurting each other. In this civil war, those who wanted Matilda to be queen fought against those who wanted Stephen to remain king.
Matilda's army was victorious for a time, but she was very arrogant and conceited, and soon became enemies of those who fought for her even in the first place. Later, she was imprisoned in Oxford. At this time, Stephen's army was gathering nearby. The king's soldiers were so closely guarded that no food could be brought into the town, and no one could escape.
This practice is known as blockade. The people of the town of Oxford began to starve, and they had eaten all the food they had on hand. Stephen's soldiers were very careful to ensure that food was not brought into town. It was a harsh winter. A layer of ice has formed on the Thames. Snowy and covered with earth. It was cold, but there was no firewood to bake.
In the end, Matilda could no longer bear the situation. She was determined to escape. One night, four figures dressed in white silently walked through the streets of Oxford to the gate. The gate quietly opened, and the gatekeeper knew who the men in white were. One by one, they walked out of the gate and into the snow-covered fields.
The group walked silently, and Stephen's soldiers did not notice them. The four men in white were none other than Matilda and her three loyal knights. They are disguised and dressed in white, so that they are not easily detected when walking on snow. There was no bridge over the river, but a thick layer of ice formed on the surface of the river, and they crossed the river and escaped safely.
Matilda escaped, but the war continued. Finally, Matilda's son Henry arrived in England, determined to fight for the crown. However, Stephen was tired of war, and the whole earth longed for a truce. So, at the suggestion of a wise pastor, Stephen and Henry reconciled.
The first meeting between the two was on the banks of the Thames, where there is still a small stream. They stood on either side of the riverbank. Stephen was depressed and soulless, and years of war and anxiety made him look tired and old. Henry was young and dashing and full of hope. There they signed the Peace of Wallingford.
According to this peace, Stephen kept the crown during his lifetime; recognize Henry as his adopted son; After Stephen's death, the country was ruled by Henry; Previously, Stephen allowed all the castles built by the evil barons to be demolished. Those castles were supposed to be used as eerie prisons, which were really daunting.
And just like that, the country finally made peace. Soon after, Stephen died. In 1154, to the cheers of the people, Henry ascended the throne.