KING STEPHEN AND THE ANARCHY Civil War and Military Tactics in Twelfth Century Britain

The Anarchy, the protracted struggle between Stephen of Blois and the Empress Matilda for the English crown between 1135 and 1154, is often seen as a disastrous breakdown in one of the best-governed kingdoms of medieval Europe. But perhaps the impact of the conflict has been overstated, and its effect on the common people across the country is hard to judge. That is why Chris Peerss fresh study of this fascinating and controversial era is of such value. He describes each phase of this civil war, in particular the castles and sieges that dominated strategic thinking, and he sets the fighting in the context of the changing tactics and military systems of the twelfth century. His fresh account of this pivotal episode in the medieval history of England will be absorbing reading anyone who is keen to gain an insight into this period of English history and has a special interest in the practice of medieval warfare.
Despite the best efforts of King Henry I (1068-1135) to line up his legitimate daughter Matilda (1102-1167) for the royal hot seat in the event of his death, Henry’s upstart nephew Stephen of Blois (1092/1096-1154) grabbed the English throne for himself, welching on an earlier promise. Matilda then, slowly but surely, went to war with King Stephen – this was the Anarchy.
The root of all this succession-based squabbling was the fateful booze-cruise of the White Ship, which sank in November 1120 and sowed the seeds of civil war by depriving King Harry I of his only legitimate male heir, William. Wills was one of hundreds of other drunk young nobles and crew on the bedevilled boat, which sank after hitting a rock.