ABSTRACT

At last: an authoritative, up to date account of the troubled reign of King Stephen, by a leading scholar of the Anglo-Norman world. David Crouch covers every aspect of the period - the king and the empress, the aristocracy, the Church, government and the nation at large. He also looks at the wider dimensions of the story, in Scotland, Wales, Normandy and elsewhere. The result (weaving its discussions around a vigorous narrative core) is a a work of major scholarship. A must for specialist and amateur medievalists alike.

part One|95 pages

The Causes of the Civil War

chapter Chapter 1|19 pages

The Count of Mortain

chapter Chapter 2|20 pages

Succession

chapter Chapter 3|22 pages

Wales and Normandy

chapter Chapter 4|12 pages

The Summer of Rebellions, 1138

chapter Chapter 5|20 pages

Radicalism and Conspiracy

part Two|125 pages

The Civil War, 1139–1147

chapter Chapter 6|14 pages

Civil War in England

chapter Chapter 7|12 pages

The Ideology of Civil War

chapter Chapter 8|13 pages

Lincoln

chapter Chapter 9|22 pages

Lords and Order

chapter Chapter 10|21 pages

The Failure of the Empress

chapter Chapter 11|24 pages

The Failure of King Stephen

chapter Chapter 12|17 pages

The End of the Civil War

part Three|61 pages

Settling the Kingdom, 1147–1154

chapter Chapter 13|22 pages

War, Peace and the Magnates, 1147–1152

chapter Chapter 14|37 pages

The Solution

part Four|50 pages

The Impact of Stephen's Reign

chapter Chapter 15|25 pages

The Church

chapter Chapter 16|20 pages

The Nation

chapter Chapter 17|3 pages

Conclusion