Stephen and Matilda’s Civil War: Cousins of Anarchy
How anarchic was the Anarchy, the long and confused series of civil wars that followed the death of Henry I of England and Normandy in 1135? Not as much as historians make out, maintains Matthew Lewis. In his view the two main chroniclers, both churchmen, greatly exaggerated the disorder. True, there were sometimes three or four different governments in England, which clashed at the margins, but within each they were reasonably well governed.
I am not sure that Lewis’s able summary of this complex period bears him out. Just the recital of all the swings of fortune between the two main contenders, not counting the sideshows, is bewildering. I read this book because the only thing I knew about the Anarchy was Matilda’s dramatic escape from Oxford castle across the frozen river Thames. I now know this was merely one highlight among many. It is an exciting story. Lewis explains it well, but I would not like to have lived through it. It sounds much too anarchic.
