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.Five of these earls formed the first line.The secondwas under William of Ypres and William of Aumale, and wasprobably made up of the king s foreign troops.Stephenhimself, with a strong band of men all on foot, was postedin the rear.The enemy s formation was similar.The Earlof Chester claimed the right to lead the attack, because thequarrel was his, but the men upon whom Robert most de-pended were the disinherited, of whom he had collectedmany, -men raised up by Matilda s father and cast down ACHAP.by Stephen, and now ready to stake on the hope of revengeXand of restoration and these he placed in the first line.EarlRalph led the second, and himself the third.The battle wassoon over, except the struggle round the king.His firstand second lines were quickly swept away by the determinedcharge of Robert s men and took to flight, but Stephen andhis men beat off several attacks before he was finally over-powered and forced to yield.He surrendered to Robert ofGloucester.Many minor barons were taken prisoners withhim, but the six earls all escaped.The citizens of Lincolnwere punished for their adhesion to the king s side a sack-ing of the city, in which many of them were slain.Stephenwas taken to Gloucester by Robert, and then sent to imprison-ment in the castle of Bristol, the most secure place whichMatilda possessed. CHAPTER XITHE LAST STAGE OF THE CIVIL WARTHE victory at Lincoln changed the situation of affairs at CHAP.From holding a little oval of territory about thea blow.mouth of the Severn as the utmost she had gained, withsmall immediate prospect of enlarging it, Matilda found theway to the throne directly open before her with no obstaclein sight not easily overcome.She set out at once for Win-On his side, Bishop Henry was in no mood tochester.stake his position and influence on the cause of his brother.Stephen s attitude towards him and towards the Church hadsmoothed the way for Matilda at the point where she mightexpect the first and most serious check.The negotiationswere not difficult, but the result shows as clearly as in thecase of Stephen the disadvantage of the crown at such a crisis,and the opportunity offered to the vassal, whether baron orbishop, who held a position of independent strength and wasdetermined to use it in his own interests.The arrangementwas called at the time a -a treaty.The Empresstook oath to the bishop that all the more important businessof England, especially the filling of bishoprics and abbacies,should be done according to his desire, and her oath wassupported by those of her brother and of the leading baronswith her.The bishop in turn received her as Lady ofEngland, and swore fealty to her as long as she shouldkeep this pact.The next day, March 3, she entered thecity, took possession of the small sum of money which hadbeen left in the treasury by Stephen and of the royal crownwhich was there, entered the cathedral in solemn procession,supported by Henry and the Bishop of St.David s, with fourother bishops and several abbots present, and had herselfproclaimed at once lady and queen of England, whateverthe double title may mean.Certainly she intended to be THE STAGE OF CIVIL WAR234CHAP.and believed herself nothing less than reigningXIout waiting for any ceremony of coronation, she appointed abishop, created earls, and spoke in a formal document of herkingdom and her crown.Directly after these events Henry of Winchester had sum-moned a council, to learn, very likely to guide, the decision ofthe Church as to a change of allegiance.The council met inWinchester on April 7.On that day the legate met sepa-rately, in secret session, the different orders of the clergy,and apparently obtained from them the decision which hewished.The next day in a speech to the council, he recitedthe misgovernment of his brother, who, he declared, had,almost immediately after his accession to power, destroyed thepeace of the kingdom and without any allusion to his deposi-tion, except to the battle of Lincoln as a judgment of God,and with no formal action of the council as a whole, heannounced the choice of the Church in favour of Matilda.The day following, a request of the Londoners and of thebarons who had joined them for the release of Stephen, andone of his queen s to the same effect, was refused.TheEmpress was not present at the council.She spent Easterat Oxford, receiving reports, no doubt, of the constanther party was now gaining in different parts of England.It was not, however, till the middle of June that London,naturally devoted to Stephen, was ready to receive her.Her reception in London marks the height of her success.She bought the support of the powerful Geoffrey deville by confirming to him the price which he had extortedfrom, Stephen, the earldom of Essex, and by bidding higherthan her rival with gifts of lands, revenues, and privilegeswhich started him on the road to independence of the crown,which he well knew how to follow.Preparations were nodoubt at once begun for her coronation.Her uncle KingDavid came down from Scotland to lend it dignity, but it wasdestined never to occur.Her fall was as rapid as her rise,and was due, even more clearly than Stephen s, to her owninability to rule.The violent and tyrannical blood of heruncle, William Rufus, showed itself in her as plainly as theirresolute blood of Robert in her cousin, but she287 ff. MATILDA IN LONDONnot wait to gain her uncle s security of position to make CHAP.violence and tyranny possible.Already, before she came upto London, she had offended her followers by the arroganceand harshness of her conduct.Now these traits of characterproved fatal to her cause.She greatly offended the legate,to whom she was as deeply indebted as Stephen had been,and whose power to injure her she might easily understand,by refusing to promise that Eustace might hold his father scontinental counties of Boulogne and Mortain.Equallyunwise was her attitude towards London.She demanded alarge subsidy.The request of the citizens for a confirmationof the laws of King Edward, because her father s were tooheavy for them, she sternly refused.Queen Matilda, actingthe part of a man, advanced with her forces to thebourhood of the city and brought home to the burghers theevils of civil war.They were easily moved.A suddenuprising of the city forced the Empress to ignominiousflight, leaving her baggage behind.She retreated to Oxford,and Matilda the queen entered the recovered city.Geoffreyde Mandeville at once brought his allegiance to the newmarket and obtained, it is probable, another advance of priceand Henry of Winchester was easily persuaded to returnto his brother s side. Behold, says the historian of theEmpress s party, while she was thinking that she could im-mediately possess all England, everything changed. He addsthat the change was her own fault, and in this he wasBut Matilda was not ready to accept calmly so decideda reverse, nor to allow Winchester to remain in undisturbedpossession of her enemies, and her brother Robert was not.They had been driven from London on June 24.At theend of July, with a strong force, they attacked the oldercapital city, took possession of a part of it, forced the bishopto flee, and began the siege of his castle.At once theleaders of Stephen s cause, encouraged by recent events,gathered against them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Five of these earls formed the first line.The secondwas under William of Ypres and William of Aumale, and wasprobably made up of the king s foreign troops.Stephenhimself, with a strong band of men all on foot, was postedin the rear.The enemy s formation was similar.The Earlof Chester claimed the right to lead the attack, because thequarrel was his, but the men upon whom Robert most de-pended were the disinherited, of whom he had collectedmany, -men raised up by Matilda s father and cast down ACHAP.by Stephen, and now ready to stake on the hope of revengeXand of restoration and these he placed in the first line.EarlRalph led the second, and himself the third.The battle wassoon over, except the struggle round the king.His firstand second lines were quickly swept away by the determinedcharge of Robert s men and took to flight, but Stephen andhis men beat off several attacks before he was finally over-powered and forced to yield.He surrendered to Robert ofGloucester.Many minor barons were taken prisoners withhim, but the six earls all escaped.The citizens of Lincolnwere punished for their adhesion to the king s side a sack-ing of the city, in which many of them were slain.Stephenwas taken to Gloucester by Robert, and then sent to imprison-ment in the castle of Bristol, the most secure place whichMatilda possessed. CHAPTER XITHE LAST STAGE OF THE CIVIL WARTHE victory at Lincoln changed the situation of affairs at CHAP.From holding a little oval of territory about thea blow.mouth of the Severn as the utmost she had gained, withsmall immediate prospect of enlarging it, Matilda found theway to the throne directly open before her with no obstaclein sight not easily overcome.She set out at once for Win-On his side, Bishop Henry was in no mood tochester.stake his position and influence on the cause of his brother.Stephen s attitude towards him and towards the Church hadsmoothed the way for Matilda at the point where she mightexpect the first and most serious check.The negotiationswere not difficult, but the result shows as clearly as in thecase of Stephen the disadvantage of the crown at such a crisis,and the opportunity offered to the vassal, whether baron orbishop, who held a position of independent strength and wasdetermined to use it in his own interests.The arrangementwas called at the time a -a treaty.The Empresstook oath to the bishop that all the more important businessof England, especially the filling of bishoprics and abbacies,should be done according to his desire, and her oath wassupported by those of her brother and of the leading baronswith her.The bishop in turn received her as Lady ofEngland, and swore fealty to her as long as she shouldkeep this pact.The next day, March 3, she entered thecity, took possession of the small sum of money which hadbeen left in the treasury by Stephen and of the royal crownwhich was there, entered the cathedral in solemn procession,supported by Henry and the Bishop of St.David s, with fourother bishops and several abbots present, and had herselfproclaimed at once lady and queen of England, whateverthe double title may mean.Certainly she intended to be THE STAGE OF CIVIL WAR234CHAP.and believed herself nothing less than reigningXIout waiting for any ceremony of coronation, she appointed abishop, created earls, and spoke in a formal document of herkingdom and her crown.Directly after these events Henry of Winchester had sum-moned a council, to learn, very likely to guide, the decision ofthe Church as to a change of allegiance.The council met inWinchester on April 7.On that day the legate met sepa-rately, in secret session, the different orders of the clergy,and apparently obtained from them the decision which hewished.The next day in a speech to the council, he recitedthe misgovernment of his brother, who, he declared, had,almost immediately after his accession to power, destroyed thepeace of the kingdom and without any allusion to his deposi-tion, except to the battle of Lincoln as a judgment of God,and with no formal action of the council as a whole, heannounced the choice of the Church in favour of Matilda.The day following, a request of the Londoners and of thebarons who had joined them for the release of Stephen, andone of his queen s to the same effect, was refused.TheEmpress was not present at the council.She spent Easterat Oxford, receiving reports, no doubt, of the constanther party was now gaining in different parts of England.It was not, however, till the middle of June that London,naturally devoted to Stephen, was ready to receive her.Her reception in London marks the height of her success.She bought the support of the powerful Geoffrey deville by confirming to him the price which he had extortedfrom, Stephen, the earldom of Essex, and by bidding higherthan her rival with gifts of lands, revenues, and privilegeswhich started him on the road to independence of the crown,which he well knew how to follow.Preparations were nodoubt at once begun for her coronation.Her uncle KingDavid came down from Scotland to lend it dignity, but it wasdestined never to occur.Her fall was as rapid as her rise,and was due, even more clearly than Stephen s, to her owninability to rule.The violent and tyrannical blood of heruncle, William Rufus, showed itself in her as plainly as theirresolute blood of Robert in her cousin, but she287 ff. MATILDA IN LONDONnot wait to gain her uncle s security of position to make CHAP.violence and tyranny possible.Already, before she came upto London, she had offended her followers by the arroganceand harshness of her conduct.Now these traits of characterproved fatal to her cause.She greatly offended the legate,to whom she was as deeply indebted as Stephen had been,and whose power to injure her she might easily understand,by refusing to promise that Eustace might hold his father scontinental counties of Boulogne and Mortain.Equallyunwise was her attitude towards London.She demanded alarge subsidy.The request of the citizens for a confirmationof the laws of King Edward, because her father s were tooheavy for them, she sternly refused.Queen Matilda, actingthe part of a man, advanced with her forces to thebourhood of the city and brought home to the burghers theevils of civil war.They were easily moved.A suddenuprising of the city forced the Empress to ignominiousflight, leaving her baggage behind.She retreated to Oxford,and Matilda the queen entered the recovered city.Geoffreyde Mandeville at once brought his allegiance to the newmarket and obtained, it is probable, another advance of priceand Henry of Winchester was easily persuaded to returnto his brother s side. Behold, says the historian of theEmpress s party, while she was thinking that she could im-mediately possess all England, everything changed. He addsthat the change was her own fault, and in this he wasBut Matilda was not ready to accept calmly so decideda reverse, nor to allow Winchester to remain in undisturbedpossession of her enemies, and her brother Robert was not.They had been driven from London on June 24.At theend of July, with a strong force, they attacked the oldercapital city, took possession of a part of it, forced the bishopto flee, and began the siege of his castle.At once theleaders of Stephen s cause, encouraged by recent events,gathered against them [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]