The Anglo-Norman succession debate of II26: Prelude to Stephen's anarchy

On 1 January 1127 Henry 1 made his magnates and prelates swear to accept his daughter Maud as heiress to England and Normandy. In the months prior to the oathtaking, certain identifiable curiales ～ Robert earl of Gloucester, Brian fitz Count, and David king of Scots - seem to have been supporting Maud's candidacy. Others, including Roger bishop of Salisbury and his kinsmen, appear to have opposed her and perhaps to have supported Henry's nephew, William Clito, as heir.The factions resurfaced at Henry's death in December 1135. William Clito having died in the meantime, Roger of Salisbury became one of Stephen of Blois' earliest and strongest supporters. Maud's former friends, Robert of Gloucester and Brian fitz Count, were temporarily immobilized by a violent break between Henry and Maud in the closing months of Henry's reign, but they, along with King David, subsequently became Maud's most active and consistent champions.The two factions differed neither in socioeconomic background nor in ideology. It was not a question of old baronial families on one side and newly-risen curiales on the other, but simply of differing personal allegiances originating in the divisions among Henry's courtiers in 1126.     

Regni et pacis inquietatrix : Zur Rolle der kaiserin Mathilde in der ‘anarchie’

Some twelfth-century continental historians regarded the Empress Matilda as an angel. But the English chroniclers mirror the distinctly negative traits in her character. They accuse Matilda of having lost her war against King Stephen because of her pride, arrogance and even cruelty. Why did the daughter of King Henry I have such a very bad press in England?Undoubtedly the empress irritated the English by her harshness. She had not always been a devil, however. In 40–1139 Matilda acted in close harmony with her brother, Earl Robert of Gloucester. Both were willing to conclude a truce with King Stephen. But in 1141 the Angevin party in England lost its cohesion, and after the battle of Lincoln the empress began to follow her own path. It seems that Gloucester did not approve of all of her actions. Matilda took possession of her father's crown in Winchester and claimed to de domina et regina — just as Stephen, her prisoner at that time, was dominus et rex. She tried to turn back the wheel of history and made enemies everywhere. The empress believed in her ability to rule in her own right, but Anglo-Norman feudal society did not allow for the erection of a dominatio feminea. The verdict on Matilda began to take shape when she tried to settle the affairs of the kingdom in a ‘tyrannical’ way.     

William of Malmesbury's Carolingian sources

In his great history of England, the Gesta regum Anglorum, completed in 1125, William of Malmesbury included digressions on continental affairs. One of these, on the Merovingian and Carolingian monarchs, provides an interesting study of William's historical method. His Frankish sources are difficult to identify, but we are helped by the survival of the late twelfth-century English MS. Oxford, Bodleian Library Lat. class d.39. This book contains, inter alia, a collection of chronicles and short pieces on Frankish history. We attempt to show that it was copied from a MS. made by or for William, and that his own notes were recopied into its margins. Moreover, it seems probable that he himself compiled the collection of chronicles in it. This discovery enables us to identify most of William's Frankish materials, to draw important conclusions about his manipulation of them, and so advance our knowledge of twelfth-century historiography generally.     

William Rufus: myth and reality

The commonly accepted view of the reign of William II (1087–1100) is a political myth, primarily the work of Eadmer, who depicted the king as the villain against whom St Anselm strove to impose the revolutionary Gregorian reform programme in England. Henry I, moreover, denigrated his brother's regime as a cover for furthering William's harsh but constructive policies. Eadmer's writings were quarried by subsequent twelfth-century writers in the mainstream of the English monastic historical tradition, who added their own literary embellishments. Nineteenth-century historians uncritically accepted these accounts and Henry I's gloss on the reign. They then contributed moral judgements of their own, which passed without qualification into modern secondary works.This paper re-evaluates William II's political and governmental achievements, and his ecclesiastical policy. His character is considered in the light of recent work on twelfth-century intellectual and psychological attitudes, and the accounts of more favourable chroniclers. It is concluded that the king developed his father's strong policies in every direction with considerable success, making possible the more publicized but essentially imitative work of Henry I. William's expansion and consolidation of national frontiers, his legal and financial developments, and his maintenance of royal control over the Church are revealed under the distortions of ecclesiastical and Henrician historiography.     

Orderic Vitalis and Rober of Bellême

The Norman monastic chronicler Orderic Vitalis's treatment of Robert of Bellême, the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman magnate and overmighty subject of the English kings, William II and Henry I, is discussed and compared with evidence from other sources. A contrast is drawn between Orderic's eagerness to portray Robert as a villain and his apparent acceptance of the misdemeanors of Henry I, who is presented favourably because of the period of relative peace following Henry's deposition in 1106 of his brother, the Norman duke, Robert Curthose. Orderic downplays the work of Henry's predecessors, Robert Curthose and William II, and in Robert of Bellême creates a counterweight to his picture of the just king Henry I. His negative assessment of all Robert's actions therefore needs to be adjusted and it is suggested that other modern interpretations based on his work may need similar re-examination and revision.     

Duke Richard of York's intentions in I450 and the origins of the wars of the roses

The return of Richard, duke of York, from Ireland in 1450 represents his first overt attempt to remedy certain grievances. His criticism of the Lancastrian régime eventually brought him leadership in the Wars of the Roses. The grivances of 1450 are contained in two bills addressed to Henry VI. At first, the duke harboured personal grievances — fear of attainder and having his claim to the throne bypassed, resentment at his counsel being ignored and his debts unpaid — which were exaguerated by unsertainty and the king's readiness to believe the worst. Richards apreciation of the widespread hostility towards the government and the disarray of the king's Household after Suffolk's murder enabled him to convert grievances into public criticisms in his second bill. He encouraged investigations into official oppression in southeastern England, and his supporters may have stimulated risings there to demonstrate support for him. Compared with Henry's nervous reaction to York's first bill, he firmly checkmated the pretensions of the second, and Yorks achievement in 1450 was limited. But he had taken a first step towards appealing for support by converting personal grievances into a general bid for sympathy. Whether he aid so for personal or public motives — or both — remains an open question.     

The development of the chapter of the diocese of Exeter 1050–1161

At the same time as Bishop Leofric (1046–1072) transferred the seat of his cathedral from Crediton to Exeter in 1050, he introduced the rule of Chrodegang as the basis for the government of his church. The rule itself, therefore, is the best guide to the way the canons lived during Leofric's episcopate. During the episcopates of Leofric's successors (Osbern 1072–1103, William Warelwast 1107–1138, Robert I 1138–1155, Robert II 1155–1160) evidence from a variety of sources allows us to perceive some changes in the administration of the rule and aspects of the development of the chapter. It is with these changes and developments that this paper is concerned.     

The Anglo-Norman succession debate of II26: Prelude to Stephen's anarchy

On 1 January 1127 Henry 1 made his magnates and prelates swear to accept his daughter Maud as heiress to England and Normandy. In the months prior to the oathtaking, certain identifiable curiales ～ Robert earl of Gloucester, Brian fitz Count, and David king of Scots - seem to have been supporting Maud's candidacy. Others, including Roger bishop of Salisbury and his kinsmen, appear to have opposed her and perhaps to have supported Henry's nephew, William Clito, as heir. The factions resurfaced at Henry's death in December 1135. William Clito having died in the meantime, Roger of Salisbury became one of Stephen of Blois' earliest and strongest supporters. Maud's former friends, Robert of Gloucester and Brian fitz Count, were temporarily immobilized by a violent break between Henry and Maud in the closing months of Henry's reign, but they, along with King David, subsequently became Maud's most active and consistent champions. The two factions differed neither in socioeconomic background nor in ideology. It was not a question of old baronial families on one side and newly-risen curiales on the other, but simply of differing personal allegiances originating in the divisions among Henry's courtiers in 1126.     

William of Malmesbury's Carolingian sources

In his great history of England, the Gesta regum Anglorum, completed in 1125, William of Malmesbury included digressions on continental affairs. One of these, on the Merovingian and Carolingian monarchs, provides an interesting study of William's historical method. His Frankish sources are difficult to identify, but we are helped by the survival of the late twelfth-century English MS. Oxford, Bodleian Library Lat. class d.39. This book contains, inter alia, a collection of chronicles and short pieces on Frankish history. We attempt to show that it was copied from a MS. made by or for William, and that his own notes were recopied into its margins. Moreover, it seems probable that he himself compiled the collection of chronicles in it. This discovery enables us to identify most of William's Frankish materials, to draw important conclusions about his manipulation of them, and so advance our knowledge of twelfth-century historiography generally.     

The social status and economic interests of Richer de Refham,Lord Mayor of London

Richer de Refham came to London during the 1290s and quickly established himself as a successful mercer. He expanded his initial business interests to include money-lending and property holdings, and became a leading landowner in London by acquiring the property of old families who had dominated the city's business and political life, and of some of his political enemies. His acquisitions led him into constant litigation and, undoubtedly, are connected to his political affiliations and conflicts.De Refham, who came from a family of East Anglian knights, was eventually enfeoffed with lands in Norfolk and Essex. The grants raise questions as to the identity of the grantors, the political and social relationships which existed between the grantors and grantee, and the significance of the enfeoffments to de Refham's social and economic position.With close ties to the mercantile class and rural knights, de Refham may have had a significant influence on the formation of those bonds which brought together the diverse and often conflicting interests of the knights and burgesses in the emerging House of Commons.     

The Bruce dynasty,Becket and Scottish pilgrimage to Canterbury, c.1178-c.1404

This paper seeks to question the assumption that the outbreak of prolonged Anglo-Scottish war in 1296 brought an abrupt decline in Scottish interest in St Thomas, his shrine at Canterbury and the great abbey dedicated to him in Scotland at Arbroath. A survey of Scottish devotion to Becket after 1296 reveals that in fact the interest of the monarchy and certain sections of Scottish society intensified. For the two Bruce kings, devotion to Becket developed a double importance although in very different political contexts. For Robert I (1306-29) St Thomas, Canterbury and Arbroath served as both a focus of personal faith and of strategic observances in the struggle against England. However, for David II (1329-71), captured in battle against England in 1346, such observances also became a central feature of attempts to persuade his subjects of the value of closer Anglo-Scottish relations: David's reign was marked by a surge in pilgrimage to Canterbury by Scottish royals, nobles, clerics and ordinary lay folk. Had David lived longer and/or produced a Bruce heir, continued Scottish devotion to Becket might have formed the basis of far more amicable Anglo-Scottish relations than would be the norm under Stewart kings of Scots after 1371.     

Christopher Saxton’s Last Maps: Nichol Forest and the Debatable Land, 1607

Although it has been generally held that Saxton in his later life did not work far from home, two previously unrecognized maps in The National Archives show him surveying in 1607 for the Earl of Cumberland in the dangerous Border country. These maps throw new light onto the working methods of Saxton and his son, suggesting that by this date Robert was doing most of the work. The original map appears to have been commissioned as an estate map but was then copied to be re-used as evidence in a law suit, thus separating the maps from their context.     

King Stephen,the English church,and a female mystic: Christina of Markyate's Vita as a neglected source for the council of Winchester (August 1139) and its aftermath

One of the central reasons for the disintegration of royal authority (sometimes called ‘the Anarchy’) during the reign of King Stephen of England is generally thought to have been his troubled relationship with the English church. The king was summoned to appear before the legate in England, Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester (who was also Stephen's brother), at a church council called for Winchester on 29 August 1139, in order to show cause for his conduct in arresting several prominent bishops and in confiscating their property. Several major chroniclers discuss the events leading up to and occurring at the council of Winchester, especially William of Malmesbury in his Historia novella and the anonymous Gesta Stephani. The versions of events contained in these sources are not entirely consistent. The present paper examines yet another recounting of the events of the council, seldom appreciated by historians of twelfth-century England, presented in the Vita of Christina of Markyate (c.1096/98–c.1155/66), composed by an anonymous monk of St Albans between 1140 and 1146. Christina was close to the abbot of St Albans, Geoffrey de Gorham, who was probably the patron of the Vita and who quite likely attended the Winchester council and apparently became involved in its aftermath. These events are recorded in some detail in the Vita, presenting us with a vivid recounting of the council and the immediate consequences thereof. The narrative of the Vita contains a somewhat different picture of the personalities and occurrences surrounding the Winchester council than we encounter in the chronicles. The current essay compares the Vita to the standard accounts. We argue that the Vita may be the earliest and possibly most reliable source for the events of the council. Moreover, if we privilege the report of the Vita, the council becomes an especially significant moment in the breakdown of relations between Stephen and the English church.     

King Stephen,the English church,and a female mystic: Christina of Markyate's Vita as a neglected source for the council of Winchester (August 1139) and its aftermath

One of the central reasons for the disintegration of royal authority (sometimes called ‘the Anarchy’) during the reign of King Stephen of England is generally thought to have been his troubled relationship with the English church. The king was summoned to appear before the legate in England, Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester (who was also Stephen's brother), at a church council called for Winchester on 29 August 1139, in order to show cause for his conduct in arresting several prominent bishops and in confiscating their property. Several major chroniclers discuss the events leading up to and occurring at the council of Winchester, especially William of Malmesbury in his Historia novella and the anonymous Gesta Stephani. The versions of events contained in these sources are not entirely consistent. The present paper examines yet another recounting of the events of the council, seldom appreciated by historians of twelfth-century England, presented in the Vita of Christina of Markyate (c.1096/98–c.1155/66), composed by an anonymous monk of St Albans between 1140 and 1146. Christina was close to the abbot of St Albans, Geoffrey de Gorham, who was probably the patron of the Vita and who quite likely attended the Winchester council and apparently became involved in its aftermath. These events are recorded in some detail in the Vita, presenting us with a vivid recounting of the council and the immediate consequences thereof. The narrative of the Vita contains a somewhat different picture of the personalities and occurrences surrounding the Winchester council than we encounter in the chronicles. The current essay compares the Vita to the standard accounts. We argue that the Vita may be the earliest and possibly most reliable source for the events of the council. Moreover, if we privilege the report of the Vita, the council becomes an especially significant moment in the breakdown of relations between Stephen and the English church.     

Charles the bold and the crusade: politics and propaganda

The pressures on Charles the Bold (duke of Burgundy from 1467 to his death in 1477) to lead, or lend his support to, a crusade were many. His Italian allies and the papacy all pleaded for his help and participation; and these appeals were augmented by the exhortation contained in much of the literature popular at the Burgundian court and by the presence there of refugees from the East.Charles's response was mixed. Political and moral pressures made it impossible for him to ignore the question of the crusade, but, even if his attitude should be characterized as cautious rather than as indifferent, he never did go on crusade. Equally, however, he repeatedly justified his comparative inaction and, at the same time, made propaganda against his enemies by suggesting that their hostility alone prevented him from embarking on an expedition to drive back the infidel.This response, since it was not untypical of the princes of his generation, helps explain the West's failure to unite against the Turks. From the point of view of Burgundian history, Charles's cautious attitude towards the crusade tends to support the revisionists who argue that he was far less ‘rash’ than the traditional historical view allows.     

The trial of consul pritchard

Abstract

William Pritchard, Fiji's first British consul, quickly became a pivotal figure after his arrival in 1858, negotiating an offer of cession, establishing a court, stabilising relations among the resident populations, and resisting Tongan threats to the power of Cakobau, the leading chief. In 1859 the Fijian chiefs gave him ‘supreme authority to govern Fiji’. His resistance to the Tongan faction put him at odds with Wesleyan missionaries, who influenced Col. William Smythe, who was sent by the British government to investigate the offer of cession. Smythe recommended against cession and campaigned for the government to send a commission to investigate Pritchard's conduct, charging him with financial irregularities and interfering in Fijian native affairs. Pritchard was dismissed from office, but records reveal the commission to have been a travesty. Pritchard influenced events in Fiji at a crucial time, and his reputation and career deserve reassessment.     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Merchants and Revolution: Commercial Change, Political Conflict, and London's Overseas Traders, 1550–1653. By Robert Brenner.
Court Patronage and Corruption in Early Stuart England. By Linda Levy Peck.
Civil War and Restoration in Three Stuart Kingdoms. The Career of Randal MacDonnell, Marquis of Antrim, 1609–83. By Jane H. Ohlmeyer.
Justice Upon Petition. The House Of Lords and the Reformation of Justice 1621–1675. By James S. Hart.
Proceedings in Parliament, 1628: vol. V, Lords Proceedings in 1628; vol. VI, Appendices and Index. Edited by Mary Freer Keeler, Maija Jansson Cole, and William B. Bidwell.
Not Peace but a Sword: The Political Theology offhe English Revolution. By Stephen Baskerville.
Politics Under the Later Stuarts. Party Conflict in a Divided Society 1660–1715. By Tim Harris.(Studies in Modem History.)
The Making of a Great Power: Late Stuart and Early Georgian Britain, 1660–1722. By Geoffrey Holmes.(Foundations of Modern Britain.)
The Age of Oligarchy: Pre-Industrial Britain, 1722–1783. By Geoffrey Holmes and Daniel Szechi.(Foundations of Modern Britain.)
The Augustan Court: Queen Anne and the Decline of Court Culture. By R. O. Bucholz.
A Patriot Press. National Politics and the London Press in the 1740s. By Robert Harris.(Oxford Historical Monographs.)
The Insatiable Earl. A Life Of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. By N. A. M.Rodger.     

Toward a reappraisal of William the Great,duke of Aquitaine (995–1030)

William, duke of Aquitaine and count of Poitou, has won a glowing reputation from historians for his personal piety and his active support of religious reform. Scholars have given him the sobriquet ‘the Great’, and he is traditionally regarded as one of those overmighty subjects whose fame and power eclipsed their less accomplished Capetian contemporaries. As count and duke, however, William clearly had responsibilities that went beyond support of the Church. In the present study an effort has been made to examine the more secular aspects of William's career to see if, in fact, he justly deserves to be considered one of the outstanding figures of the early eleventh century.     

Tapping into a Different Cultural Tradition: Sir William Temple's Aesthetic Innovations

Studies of Sir William Temple usually associate him with the English Battle of the Books. Since his defense of the old against the new in European arts and sciences was known even in his day to be inadequate, his role in the literary history of England has so far been largely trivialized. Challenging this conventional reading, this essay strives to show that the innovation and significance of Temple's aesthetics was closely connected with his somewhat known—but hitherto insufficiently scrutinized—longstanding interest in the cultural tradition of the Far East.     

Introduction

Justice Stephen J. Field sat on the Supreme Court of the United States for thirty-four years—from 1863 to 1897. Field was undoubtedly one of the most colorful personalities ever to occupy a seat on the High Court and, perhaps, one of the most controversial. His strong-willed, persistent, tenacious character incited intense feelings in both friends and foes. We can observe this, in part, from the language of his opinions. Field is most well known for stinging, sometimes sarcastic dissents in case like the Slaughter-House cases or Munn v. Illinois . We also find it in the tenor of numerous newspaper articles and pamphlets that were published in connection with the controversies that seemed to follow him. We can glean it from biographies such as Carl Brent Swisher's Stephen J. Field: Craftsman of the Law and Robert McCloskey's American Conservatism in the Age of Enterprise .