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Y303: English Government and the Church 1066–1216

Depth study: The Civil War 1139–1154 — Causes of rebellion and civil war, extent of disturbances

  • 2 things to know
  • Unit group 3

Overview

Recall questions on causes of rebellion and civil war, usurpation, the dismissal of Roger of Salisbury, extent of disturbances, finance of the war, administration of justice.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What happened at the battle of Lincoln in 1141?

Key term

What figure was given for unlicensed castles in the war, and how is it treated?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What was the succession problem Henry I left behind?

    Model answer

    His only legitimate son drowned in 1120, so he compelled his magnates to swear to accept his daughter Matilda, an oath repeated more than once but resented because it meant a female ruler and, through her second marriage, an Angevin consort.

  2. 2

    How did Stephen take the throne, and why is his accession described as a usurpation?

    Model answer

    He crossed to England within days of Henry's death, secured London, the treasury at Winchester and his brother's support, and was crowned before Matilda could act, in breach of the oath he had himself sworn; he then bought acceptance with papal confirmation and a charter of liberties to the Church at Oxford in 1136.

  3. 3

    What happened to Roger of Salisbury in 1139, and how has the episode been interpreted?

    Model answer

    Stephen arrested him and his episcopal relatives at court, seized their castles and stripped them of office, and Roger died within months; contemporaries and older historians treated this as the blow that wrecked the administration and lost Stephen the Church, while recent work argues the Exchequer and chancery kept working and that the real damage was to trust, since Matilda landed with Robert of Gloucester that autumn.

  4. 4

    What happened at the battle of Lincoln in 1141?

    Model answer

    Stephen was defeated and taken prisoner, which briefly collapsed his cause and allowed Matilda to be received as Lady of the English.

  5. 5

    Why did Matilda fail to be crowned in 1141?

    Model answer

    She alienated the Londoners with her demands and manner and was driven out of the city, and after Robert of Gloucester was captured at Winchester she had to exchange him for Stephen, restoring the deadlock.

  6. 6

    How did the war end?

    Model answer

    After Henry of Anjou's campaign and the death of Stephen's son Eustace, the two sides agreed at Winchester in 1153 that Stephen should reign for life with Henry as his heir, that castles built without licence should be destroyed and that lands should be restored to those who held them at Henry I's death; Stephen died the following year.

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