Roberta Gellis (44 page)

In all this time, neither Matilda nor her husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, had made any move to forward her own claim to the throne. Moreover, Pope Innocent II sent a letter recognizing Stephen as king, and shortly after the Easter Court, Robert of Gloucester came to England; he took part in high-level deliberations on the fate of Normandy and, at an equally well-attended Court in Oxford in April, Robert swore to Stephen as king. Over the summer, Stephen put down one minor and one major rebellion with seeming success, although he showed himself to be too lenient with the followers, excusing them from punishment because they claimed they had been following the orders of their overlord. Neither William I or Henry I would ever have accepted such an excuse; you obeyed your overlord
saving
your duty to the king.

However, rebellion quelled, the king’s authority seemed unchallenged in England. Not so in Normandy. The council in which Robert of Gloucester had taken part about the disposition of Normandy had not borne fruit. Count Theobold of Blois (Stephen’s elder brother), to whom the duchy had been offered, refused that prickly gift, and it was now Stephen’s duty to go to Normandy and provide for governance of the duchy and protect it against the incursions of Matilda’s husband, Geoffrey of Anjou.

At first all seemed to go well. Many of Stephen’s barons accompanied him, and in May he had a conference with Louis VI of France during which he did homage for the duchy of Normandy (which meant that Louis recognized him as duke of Normandy and king of England) and made a treaty with Louis. Then disaster struck. Geoffrey of Anjou invaded Normandy and Robert of Gloucester—although he made no overt move—was suspected of favoring Geoffrey. William of Ypres, the leader of Stephen’s mercenary forces, urged that Robert be ambushed.

The ambush failed, Robert having been warned, but relations between Stephen and Robert became, not surprisingly, openly strained. Worse yet, trouble broke out between the king’s baronial forces and the king’s Flemish mercenaries. Whether that trouble was related to the attempted ambush of Robert of Gloucester, a favorite of the barons, or not, the barons took violent offense at the favor shown the mercenaries. Recognizing the uncertain temper and loyalty of his forces, Stephen gave up any hope of attacking and subduing Geoffrey. He made a truce with him, offering two thousand marks of silver for keeping the peace.

Although Normandy was now at peace, and Stephen returned to England at the end of November 1137, the king was not completely satisfied with the accomplishment. William of Ypres was no longer in as high favor as he had been. Waleran de Meulan was now preeminent in influence.

Stephen had to drive the Scots out of Northumbria again in the spring of 1138 and then had to rush west where Geoffrey Talbot had seized Hereford Castle. Stephen drove him out, and out of his first refuge, whereupon Geoffrey ran to Bristol, the chief stronghold of Robert, earl of Gloucester. There he was safe because, soon after Pentecost, Robert had sent messengers to Stephen announcing his defiance and abandoning his oath of fealty.

In the light of this defiance and the threat that Robert of Gloucester would invade England and try to take the throne for his half-sister, Matilda, carrying letters from Geoffrey Talbot and his associates to Normandy could be considered treason. In fact, these were only the beginning of King Stephen’s troubles, but the period covers that of A
Personal Devil
and an Author’s Note is not the place for more history.

Finally, I wish to comment on my use of the word “English.” I am well aware that in 1139 there was no “English” language and the “English” noblemen were Norman rather than native to England. For the sake of simplicity, I have used “English” to denote the native language and English baron to mean a nobleman whose chief lands were in England rather than France or Normandy.

Roberta Gellis,

Lafayette, IN

Copyright © 2001 by Roberta Gellis

Originally published by Forge [0312869983]

Electronically published in 2013 by Belgrave House

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This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.