Geoffrey Continues the Norman Conquest
News of Stephen’s success at Oxford and Matilda’s peril interrupted the campaign. Robert of Gloucester had to sail for England at once, but it was doubtful whether Geoffrey should…
Siege and Capture of Cherbourg
Two brothers, Ralf and Richard of La Haye, refused to perform homage. Ralf submitted, but Richard withdrew with some two hundred knights into Cherbourg, a mighty fortress on solid…
Conquest of Normandy South of the Seine
With Cherbourg taken, the whole duchy south and west of the Seine passed to Geoffrey, except the single town of Vaudreuil, which also fell before the year ended.…
Entry into Rouen
In January 1144 Geoffrey crossed the Seine at Vernon and pitched his camp at La Trinité-du-Mont, close to the walls of Rouen.…
Siege of Rouen Castle
The castle was still held against Geoffrey by some followers of the earl of Warren. Barons headed by Waleran of Meulan came to help in the siege, but neither their valour nor his…
Allied Support and Final Conquests
Allies now offered themselves readily to finish the conquest, foremost among them the young King Louis VII of France, the overlord of Normandy.…
Investiture of Normandy
The following summer William the Monk was shot dead by a chance arrow, and the surrender of Arques completed Geoffrey’s conquest of Normandy.…
Revolt of the Angevin Barons
Geoffrey was called home by a fresh revolt among his own Angevin barons, led again by Robert of Sablé.…
Henry’s Return to Normandy and the Fall of the Empress
Undisputed master from the Poitevin border to the English Channel, Geoffrey sent envoys to Earl Robert asking that his son Henry might visit him.…
Topography of the Battle of Lincoln
A note addresses the puzzling topography of the Battle of Lincoln. Two principal questions arise from two conflicting sources: which way did Robert and Ralf approach the city, and…
The Approach to Lincoln
William of Malmesbury describes the army starting from Gloucester, joining Ralf on the road, and arriving at the swollen River Trent, while Henry of Huntingdon describes an “almos…
The Site of the Battle
Local tradition asserts that the battle was fought north of the city, beyond the New Port, but this is implausible: Stephen’s biographer says he went “extra civitatem obvius eis a…
CAPÍTULO VII.
CHAPTER VII. — The English Church, 1136–1149. Following the departure of the Empress Matilda, the twelve years since King Henry’s death left England in devastation, yet amid the wreck of the state the Church endured as the sole surviving institution of order.…
The Wreck of the State and the Survival of the Church
After the Empress’s departure a deceptive quiet settled over England — the stillness of exhaustion rather than of peace.…
Henry of Winchester: His Upbringing and Rise
The youngest child of Stephen-Henry (Count of Blois) and Adela, Henry had been devoted by his mother to the religious life and brought up at the great abbey of Cluny.…
Henry as Pilot of the English Church
Steeped in monastic tradition, Henry was the churchman and monk to whom the religious revival of Henry I’s later years naturally looked for guidance.…
Henry’s Ecclesiastical Statesmanship
Clergy and people followed Henry like a flock of sheep, yet neither political party really trusted him because he belonged to neither.…
Henry’s Character and the Cluniac Ideal
The failure of those efforts was due partly to circumstances and partly to Henry’s own character.…
The Legatine Commission and the Rights of Canterbury
Henry’s legatine commission, while a chief source of his strength, was a source of moral and spiritual weakness to the English Church, for it set him above the primate of all Brit…
The Appointment of Theobald to Canterbury
Henry of Winchester felt himself naturally marked out to succeed Archbishop William, and was apparently even elected to the vacant primacy.…
Theobald’s Response and the Gathering of Scholars
For several years the archbishop bore his supersession quietly. His sympathies inclined to the Empress, but his conduct showed no party spirit, and no personal jealousy thwarted H…
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