THE King was no sooner dead than all the plans and schemes he had laboured at so long,and lied so much for,crumbled away like a hollow heap of sand.STEPHEN,whom he had never mistrusted or suspected,started up to claim the throne.
Stephen was the son of ADELA,the Conqueror's daughter,married to the Count of Blois.To Stephen,and to his brother HENRY,the late King had been liberal;making Henry Bishop of Winchester,and finding a good marriage for Stephen,and much enriching him.This did not prevent Stephen from hastily producing a false witness,a servant of the late King,to swear that the King had named him for his heir upon his death-bed.On this evidence the Archbishop of Canterbury crowned him.The new King,so suddenly made,lost not a moment in seizing the Royal treasure,and hiring foreign soldiers with some of it to protect his throne.
If the dead King had even done as the false witness said,he would have had small right to will away the English people,like so many sheep or oxen,without their consent.But he had,in fact,bequeathed all his territory to Matilda;who,supported by ROBERT,Earl of Gloucester,soon began to dispute the crown.Some of the powerful barons and priests took her side;some took Stephen's;all fortified their castles;and again the miserable English people were involved in war,from which they could never derive advantage whosoever was victorious,and in which all parties plundered,tortured,starved,and ruined them.
Five years had passed since the death of Henry the First-and during those five years there had been two terrible invasions by the people of Scotland under their King,David,who was at last defeated with all his army-when Matilda,attended by her brother Robert and a large force,appeared in England to maintain her claim.A battle was fought between her troops and King Stephen's at Lincoln;in which the King himself was taken prisoner,after bravely fighting until his battle-axe and sword were broken,and was carried into strict confinement at Gloucester.Matilda then submitted herself to the Priests,and the Priests crowned her Queen of England.
She did not long enjoy this dignity.The people of London had a great affection for Stephen;many of the Barons considered it degrading to be ruled by a woman;and the Queen's temper was so haughty that she made innumerable enemies.The people of London revolted;and,in alliance with the troops of Stephen,besieged her at Winchester,where they took her brother Robert prisoner,whom,as her best soldier and chief general,she was glad to exchange for Stephen himself,who thus regained his liberty.Then,the long war went on afresh.Once,she was pressed so hard in the Castle of Oxford,in the winter weather when the snow lay thick upon the ground,that her only chance of escape was to dress herself all in white,and,accompanied by no more than three faithful Knights,dressed in like manner that their figures might not be seen from Stephen's camp as they passed over the snow,to steal away on foot,cross the frozen Thames,walk a long distance,and at last gallop away on horseback.All this she did,but to no great purpose then;
For her brother dying while the struggle was yet going on,she at last withdrew to Normandy.