ABSTRACT
When Stephen recognized Henry Plantegenet as his heir and signed the Treaty of Wallingford, 1 England was in a sad state of disorder and exhaustion. Obedience was rendered only to the lord of the nearest castle. The sheriffs whom Stephen had retained only collected scanty revenues and did not always pay those into the Exchequer. 2 Stephen agreed with his heir to resume the demesnes and revenues of the crown which he had alienated, to destroy the “ adulterine castles ” which had been built without licence, to send the Flemish mercenaries home, to appoint honest sheriffs, capable of restoring order in each county, and to strike good coinage. He was also bound to restore to his subjects the possessions they had enjoyed in the time of Henry I and to give security to the clergy and the working class. He had scarcely the means and no time to fulfil this programme and it was Henry II who, after his accession, carried it out with remarkable energy and promptness. The resumption of the royal castles was achieved only at the cost of severe fighting but, within a year, England was nearly pacified. 3 Obviously a civil war that had dragged on so long and been marked by such atrocities left its scars; on the one side, was the economic ruin which prompted Henry II to avoid large-scale wars; on the other, the strengthening of the dangerous elements in society and an aggravation of immoral and violent habits which were certainly the primary cause (although no one seems to have realized it) of the reforms in the system of police and justice.
