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166-525: The author briefly addresses the dedicatee of the poem, Robert, Bishop of Lincoln , then begins his story. Merlin (Merlinus in the Latin of the poem) is introduced as being a prophet ( vates ) and king of Dyfed , who takes part in an unnamed battle alongside Peredur (Peredurus), king of Gwynedd , and Rhydderch (Rodarchus), king of the Cumbrians , against Gwenddoleu (Guennolous), king of Scotland. Gwenddoleu

332-603: A Cluniac monk and followed Stephen to England, where the King made him Abbot of Glastonbury , the richest abbey in England. The King then appointed him Bishop of Winchester , one of the richest bishoprics, allowing him to retain Glastonbury as well. The combined revenues of the two positions made Henry of Winchester the second-richest man in England after the King. Henry of Winchester was keen to reverse what he perceived as encroachment by

498-644: A Polychronicon manuscript. Two sets of extracts from the prophecies in the Vita appear in Cotton Cleopatra C iv (late 15th century) and Harley 6148 (early 17th century). By the beginning of the 19th century, the Vita Merlini had been rediscovered by the antiquary Joseph Ritson , who sent his own manuscript copy of the poem to Walter Scott and planned to produce an edition of it himself. This project never came to fruition, but Scott's friend George Ellis included

664-407: A homo fatuus (meaning either idiot or jester) called Laloecen at the court of Rhydderch correctly prophesies the king's death. In Lailoken B the hero detects the queen's adultery by a leaf caught on her shawl, but is discredited when he predicts his own death in three different manners, only to be vindicated when he is beaten, transfixed by a stake, and drowned in the river Tweed. Lailoken A has

830-418: A Gwenddydd ei Chwaer ("The Conversations of Myrddin and his Sister Gwenddydd") consists mainly of questions by Gwenddydd and prophecies in response by Myrddin, who is represented as a madman. Rhydderch and the battle of Arfderydd are mentioned. Yr Afallennau ("The Apple-trees") is a poem containing much prophecy and also a lament by the narrator over his own circumstances. He has spent fifty years wandering,

996-484: A Welsh fragment of the 14th century or earlier known as "The Birth of Arthur", all of which connect Morgen with Avalon. Another anonymous French romance of the early 13th century, the Vulgate Merlin , displays a knowledge of the Vita in its depiction of Merlin as a trickster , and its introduction of the two themes of the threefold death and the man who buys leather to patch his shoes only hours before his death. It

1162-409: A beggar and then a young man buying leather to patch his shoes, and he laughs at each of them. Rhydderch again offers Merlin his freedom if he will explain why he laughed, and Merlin answers that the beggar was unknowingly standing over buried treasure and that the young man's fate was to drown before he could wear his repaired shoes. When Merlin's words are confirmed Rhydderch lets Merlin go. Back in

1328-591: A council at Winchester before Easter in his capacity as papal legate to consider the clergy's view. He had made a private deal with the Empress Matilda that he would deliver the support of the church, if she agreed to give him control over church business in England. Henry handed over the royal treasury, rather depleted except for Stephen's crown, to the Empress, and excommunicated many of Stephen's supporters who refused to switch sides. Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury

1494-734: A different view. Siân Echard has suggested that it might be "a cerebral game", sometimes grotesque but not light; Michael J. Curley considered it a reaction to the horrors of the period in which the poem was written, the Anarchy of King Stephen's reign, a picture of austerity and renunciation of the world undertaken for learning's sake; and Penelope Doob called it a "profoundly religious" poem, But A. G. Rigg found its religious outlook to be unconventional: Historians such as Gildas or Henry of Huntingdon imposed moral patterns on their material, usually of guilt or retribution or at least of good and evil, but Geoffrey, in creating his own material, has brought

1660-401: A fall from a rock, the second time that he will die in a tree, and the third time that he will die in a river. Rhydderch is thus persuaded that Merlin can be fooled, and that his judgement is not to be trusted. Merlin is asked if his wife can marry again, and he consents to this, but warns any future husband to beware of him. The author now explains that in later years the boy fell from a rock,

1826-556: A feudal knight or baron, whilst steering Henry towards a career in the church, possibly so that their personal career interests would not overlap. Unusually, Stephen was raised in his mother's household rather than being sent to a close relative; he was taught Latin and riding, and was educated in recent history and Biblical stories by his tutor, William the Norman. Stephen's early life was heavily influenced by his relationship with his uncle Henry I . Henry seized power in England following

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1992-431: A limited period of service during a campaign, or, increasingly, mercenaries, who were expensive but more flexible and often more skilled. These armies, however, were ill-suited to besieging castles, whether the older motte-and-bailey designs or the newer, stone-built keeps . Existing siege engines were significantly less powerful than the later trebuchet designs, giving defenders a substantial advantage over attackers. As

2158-489: A madman among madmen, in the Caledonian Forest, having survived the battle of Arfderydd. There are references to Gwenddolau, Rhydderch and Gwenddydd. In Yr Oianau ("The Greetings") the narrator lives in the wilds with a little pig, both suffering from the persecution of Rhydderch. At one point he mourns the death of Gwenddolau. Finally, Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin ("The Dialogue of Myrddin and Taliesin"), includes

2324-526: A major regional rebellion in Kent and across the south-west of England, although Robert himself remained in Normandy. In France, Geoffrey of Anjou took advantage of the situation by re-invading Normandy. David I of Scotland also invaded the north of England once again, announcing that he was supporting the claim of his niece the Empress Matilda to the throne, pushing south into Yorkshire . Anglo-Norman warfare during

2490-454: A matter of principle, since Stephen had previously agreed in 1135 to respect the freedoms of the church, and more pragmatically because he himself had recently built six castles and had no desire to be treated in the same way. As the papal legate, he summoned the King to appear before an ecclesiastical council to answer for the arrests and seizure of property. Henry asserted the church's right to investigate and judge all charges against members of

2656-406: A minimal guard force, a ripe target for a surprise attack of his own. Abandoning the deal he had just made, Stephen gathered his army again and sped north, but not quite fast enough—Ranulf escaped Lincoln and declared his support for the Empress. Stephen was forced to place the castle under siege. While Stephen and his army besieged Lincoln Castle at the start of 1141, Robert and Ranulf advanced on

2822-458: A network of alliances with the western counties of France against Louis, resulting in a regional conflict that would last throughout Stephen's early life. Adela and Theobald allied themselves with Henry, and Stephen's mother decided to place him in Henry's court. Henry fought his next military campaign in Normandy, from 1111 onwards, where rebels led by Robert of Bellême were opposing his rule. Stephen

2988-452: A port to receive the Empress Matilda's invading army, but Stephen's forces forced him to retreat into the south-west. The following month, however, Henry I's widow, Adeliza, invited the Empress to land at Arundel instead, and on 30 September the Empress and Robert of Gloucester arrived in England with 140 knights. The Empress stayed at Arundel Castle , whilst Robert marched north-west to Wallingford and Bristol, hoping to raise support for

3154-472: A powerful family of bishops. When the Empress and Robert invaded in 1139, Stephen was unable to crush the revolt rapidly, and it took hold in the south-west of England. Captured at the battle of Lincoln in 1141, he was abandoned by many of his followers and lost control of Normandy . He was freed only after his wife and William of Ypres , one of his military commanders, captured Robert at the Rout of Winchester , but

3320-454: A preternaturally long-lived man, about his career in the previous century as recorded in the Historia , but the poem nevertheless gives the impression that two different legends have been with some difficulty yoked together, a south Welsh one and a north British one. The Celticist A. O. H. Jarman proposed in the 1950s that the south Welsh legend concerned a prophet called Myrddin , associated with

3486-431: A priestly figure, a kind of druid or medicine man who "in complete independence and solitude, opens up a direct and personal approach to the collective unconscious for himself and tries to live the predictions of his guardian spirit, i.e. of his unconscious". Nikolai Tolstoy found him to be delicately balanced between insanity and prophetic genius. Carol Harding compared Merlin to a Christian saint, learned, withdrawn from

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3652-476: A prophetic description of the battle of Arfderydd, but does not otherwise contain much legendary material. The figure of Lailoken appears in three Latin sources: a Life of St. Kentigern written by Jocelin of Furness at some point between 1175 and 1199 but containing material that may derive from a lost 11th century Life , and two short narratives, not easily dateable, called Lailoken A and Lailoken B . The Life of St. Kentigern includes an episode in which

3818-443: A regional ally, yet not sufficiently wealthy or powerful in his own right to represent a threat to either the King or his son and heir, William Adelin . As a third surviving son, even of an influential regional family, Stephen still needed the support of a powerful patron to progress in life. With Henry's support, Stephen rapidly began to accumulate lands and possessions. Following the battle of Tinchebray in 1106, Henry confiscated

3984-612: A renunciation by Merlin of his own prophetic gift. Geoffrey of Monmouth ( c . 1100 – c . 1155) was a churchman and writer of uncertain ancestry (Welsh, Breton and Norman have all been suggested) who from 1129 to 1152 lived in Oxford . During the 1130s he wrote his first two works, the Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain) or De Gestis Britonum (Of the Deeds of

4150-461: A result, slow sieges to starve defenders out, or mining operations to undermine walls, tended to be preferred by commanders over direct assaults. Occasionally pitched battles were fought between armies but these were considered highly risky endeavours and were usually avoided by prudent commanders. The cost of warfare had risen considerably in the first part of the 12th century, and adequate supplies of ready cash were increasingly proving important in

4316-464: A similar language, albeit with regional dialects; followed the same religion; and were closely interrelated. They were also highly competitive and frequently in conflict with one another for valuable territory and the castles that controlled those territories. Stephen had at least four brothers and one sister, along with two probable half-sisters. His eldest brother was William , who under normal circumstances would have ruled Blois and Chartres. William

4482-457: A solid infantry block; he joined them himself, fighting on foot in the battle. Stephen was not a gifted public speaker, and delegated the pre-battle speech to Baldwin of Clare , who delivered a rousing declaration. After an initial success in which William's forces destroyed the Angevins' Welsh infantry, the battle went badly for Stephen. Robert and Ranulf's cavalry encircled Stephen's centre, and

4648-494: A south Welsh prophet who gives advice to the 5th-century kings Vortigern , Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon , but the Merlin of the Vita seems to be a significantly different figure, still a prophet but also a warrior-king turned madman active in the 6th-century Hen Ogledd (Old North). Geoffrey explicitly identified the two Merlins by making the hero of the Vita a king of Dyfed in south Wales and by having him reminisce, as

4814-399: A survey of the world's islands, including the island of apples where Morgen tends King Arthur . Merlin prophesies a little more, then reminisces about the history of Britain from Constans 's reign to Arthur's. A new spring of water miraculously appears, and when Merlin drinks from it his madness lifts and he gives thanks to God for his cure. Taliesin discourses on notable springs around

4980-595: A thirteen-page detailed synopsis of the Vita in his Specimens of Early English Metrical Romances (1805). The published editions are as follows: Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury . The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The bishop's seat ( cathedra )

5146-477: A trilogy narrated by Merlin , took material from many sources; the Vita Merlini contributed to it Merlin's delirious retreat to the forest and the incident of the doomed boy whose shoes need patching. The New Age writer John Matthews has retold the Vita as "The Life of Merlin". Finally, the American academic Jerry Hunter 's Welsh-language novel Gwenddydd (2010) takes the story of Gwenddydd and Myrddin from

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5312-409: A woman she was at a substantial political disadvantage. Shortly after the death of his son, the King took a second wife, Adeliza of Louvain , but it became increasingly clear that he would not have another legitimate son, and he instead looked to Matilda as his intended heir. Matilda claimed the title of Holy Roman Empress through her marriage to Emperor Henry V , but her husband died in 1125, and she

5478-439: A work of vigour, grace and poetic feeling. Basil Clarke found such vitality in its characters as provoked him to wonder what Geoffrey could have achieved as a novelist. Praise for the versification of the Vita has been qualified. John Jay Parry conceded that it "is good, by medieval standards, and in places rises to poetry", and likewise Peter Goodrich thought it "better than average Latin hexameter verse". Tatlock wrote that it

5644-460: Is "a favourable specimen of mediaeval metrical verse", with few false quantities , no elision or hiatus , and a moderate use of verbal jingles, though he preferred the poetic form and style of the two short poems in Geoffrey's Historia . The figure of Merlin in the poem is hard to pin down, and has been interpreted variously by different critics. Emma Jung and Marie-Louise von Franz saw him as

5810-508: Is defeated, but three brothers of Peredur (or possibly of Merlin – the poem is ambiguous on this point) are among the slain, and Merlin so grieves at their deaths that he goes mad and runs off into the Caledonian Forest , where he lives on grass and fruit. News of Merlin's whereabouts eventually reaches his sister Gwenddydd (Ganieda), wife of Rhydderch, and she sends an emissary into the woods to find her brother. He finds Merlin lamenting

5976-535: Is evident in his Vita Merlini , even in his choice of meter, the classical hexameter . Merlin and Taliesin's conversations together on cosmology, natural history and geography largely derive from medieval Latin writers associated with the Chartres School and from Isidore of Seville 's Etymologiae , a 7th-century encyclopedia which was hugely popular through the Middle Ages. The theme of Merlin's laughter at

6142-522: Is indeed yours for once he sang of your battles and those of your chiefs, and he wrote a book called The Deeds of the Britons which are celebrated throughout the world. In the only complete manuscript of the poem these lines are followed by a note in a later hand identifying the author of the poem as Geoffrey of Monmouth. There is also the evidence of the Vita ' s dedication to a Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, usually identified as Robert de Chesney , in which

6308-655: Is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the city of Lincoln . The cathedral was originally a minster church founded around 653 and refounded as a cathedral in 1072. Until the 1530s the bishops were in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church . The historic medieval Bishop's Palace lies immediately to the south of the cathedral in Palace Yard; managed by English Heritage, it

6474-430: Is open to visitors. A later residence (first used by Bishop Edward King in 1885) on the same site was converted from office accommodation to reopen in 2009 as a 16-bedroom conference centre and wedding venue. It is now known as Edward King House and provides offices for the bishops, archdeacons and diocesan staff. A 14-bedroom house (Bishop's House) on Eastgate was the official residence in use from 1948 until 2011, when

6640-420: Is written according to medieval ideas as to the proper structure and purpose of a poem, and is widely seen as presenting problems to the modern reader. Geoffrey invoked the musa jocosa , the playful muse, in the first lines of the Vita , and this has led most critics to see it as being intended as a light, entertaining poem, written, as F. J. E. Raby said, solely for the delight of the reader. However, some take

6806-568: The Vita Merlini for a small number of friends rather than a general readership, and since only seven manuscripts of it survive, as against the 217 manuscripts of the Historia Regum Britanniae , there is every reason to think that it neither reached the same wide audience as the Historia nor exercised any remotely comparable influence. Nevertheless, it did not pass unnoticed. A library catalogue written in Le Bec , Normandy , perhaps in

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6972-635: The British Library . The only complete text is in Cotton Vespasian E iv, a manuscript of the late 13th century. Three manuscripts of Ranulf Higden 's Polychronicon include a truncated version of the Vita , inserted between the years 525 and 533; these are Harley 655 (late 14th century), Royal 13 E i ( c . 1380), and Cotton Julius E viii ( c . 1400). Another truncated version, in Cotton Titus A xix (15th century), seems to have been copied from

7138-585: The Count of Flanders ; the King sent Stephen on a mission to prevent this, and in the aftermath of his successful election, William attacked Stephen's lands in neighbouring Boulogne in retaliation. Eventually, a truce was declared, and William died the following year. Henry attempted to build up a base of political support for Matilda in both England and Normandy, demanding that his court take oaths first in 1127, and then again in 1128 and 1131, to recognise Matilda as his immediate successor and recognise her descendants as

7304-658: The County of Mortain from his cousin William and the Honour of Eye from Robert Malet . In 1113, Stephen was granted both the title and the honour, although without the lands previously held by William in England. The gift of the Honour of Lancaster also followed after it was confiscated by Henry from Roger the Poitevin . Stephen was also given lands in Alençon in southern Normandy by Henry, but

7470-613: The Danish Viking invasions and establishment of the Danelaw in the 9th century. The see of Leicester was transferred to Dorchester, now in Oxfordshire, sometime between 869 and 888. After an interruption, the see of Lindsey was resumed until it was united with the bishopric of Dorchester in the early 11th century. The diocese was the largest in England, extending from the River Thames to

7636-512: The Diocese of Lincoln . The county of Leicestershire was transferred from Lincoln to Peterborough in 1837. Among those who have served as assistant bishops of the diocese have been: Honorary assistant bishops , serving after their retirements, have included: Stephen, King of England Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He

7802-515: The Historia , but it is uncertain whether he took them from the Vita or from oral tradition. Much the same can be said of Layamon , whose Brut ( c.  1200 ) shows knowledge not only of Morgan's role in Arthur's survival but also of Merlin as a man living in the wilds, and of Hartmann von Aue 's Erec (1190), the anonymous early-13th century Mort Artu (part of the Vulgate Cycle ), and

7968-538: The Historia , pointing out that some late 12th-century commentators on the Merlin legend do not mention the Vita , and interpreting the poem as alluding to events that happened after Geoffrey's death. However, Geoffrey's authorship is now widely accepted. Assuming that this view is correct the date of the poem can be estimated, since Robert de Chesney became bishop of Lincoln in December 1148, while Geoffrey died in 1155. Moreover, it has been urged that Geoffrey's election to

8134-620: The Humber Estuary . In 1072, Remigius de Fécamp moved the see of Dorchester to Lincoln, but the bishops of Lincoln retained significant landholdings within Oxfordshire. Because of this historic link, for a long time Banbury remained a " peculiar " of the Bishop of Lincoln. Until the 1530s the bishops were in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church . During the English Reformation they changed their allegiance back and forth between

8300-524: The Norman conquest of England in 1066, followed by the Norman expansion into south Wales over the coming years. Both the kingdom and duchy were dominated by a small number of major barons who owned lands on both sides of the English Channel , with the lesser barons beneath them usually having more localised holdings. The extent to which lands and positions should be passed down through hereditary right or by

8466-408: The Vita was merely "a typical production of a literary dilettante". Ferdinand Lot wrote of the elegance of its style and the facetious bizarrerie of some of its episodes, Nikolai Tolstoy noted that there were incongruities of plot and character, but admired the poem's drama and vividness, the feeling for nature and the lively and convincing character-drawing. Robert Huntington Fletcher thought it

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8632-479: The bishopric of St Asaph in 1151 would probably have freed him from the necessity of finding patrons like Robert de Chesney, and that one of the Vita ' s prophecies includes a likely reference to the battle of Coleshill in 1150. If both of these arguments are accepted then the poem was completed in late 1150 or early 1151. In the Historia Regum Britanniae Geoffrey presented Merlin as

8798-533: The crown and the papacy . Under Henry VIII and Edward VI , the bishops conformed to the Church of England , but under Mary I they adhered to the Roman Catholic Church. Since the English Reformation , the bishops and diocese of Lincoln have been part of the reformed Church of England, and the Anglican Communion . The dioceses of Oxford and Peterborough were created in 1541, out of parts of

8964-487: The royal forests and to reform any abuses of the royal legal system. He portrayed himself as the natural successor to Henry's policies, and reconfirmed the existing seven earldoms in the kingdom on their existing holders. The Easter court was a lavish event, and a large amount of money was spent on the event itself, clothes and gifts. Stephen gave out grants of land and favours to those present and endowed numerous church foundations with land and privileges. His accession to

9130-420: The threefold death story without the adultery, and also presents him as a wild man of the woods whose misfortunes are a punishment for his having caused a battle easily identifiable as the battle of Arfderydd; he is also explicitly identified with Merlin ( Merlynum ). An Irish analogue to the Vita exists in the tale of Buile Shuibhne . In this work, written in the 12th century but based on earlier stories,

9296-459: The treaty of Durham ; Northumbria and Cumbria would effectively be granted to David and his son Henry, in exchange for their fealty and future peace along the border. The powerful Ranulf II, Earl of Chester , considered himself to hold the traditional rights to Carlisle and Cumberland and was extremely displeased to see them being given to the Scots. Nonetheless, Stephen could now focus his attention on

9462-540: The 1150s, draws a distinction between Merlinus Silvester and Merlinus Ambrosius , showing that the compiler had read both the Historia and the Vita and could not reconcile the Merlins depicted in them. Gerald of Wales , in his Itinerarium Cambriae (1191), made the same point, demonstrating a similar knowledge of Geoffrey's two works. Étienne de Rouen 's Draco Normannicus ( c.  1168 ) gives details of King Arthur's removal to Avalon which do not appear in

9628-461: The 660s the seat at Dorchester-on-Thames was abandoned, but briefly in the late 670s it was once more a bishop's seat under Ætla , under Mercian control. The town of Dorchester again became the seat of a bishop in around 875, when the Mercian Bishop of Leicester transferred his seat there. The diocese merged with that of Lindsey in 971; the bishop's seat was moved to Lincoln in 1072 and thus

9794-457: The Angevins, and bringing Worcestershire into the Empress's camp. Waleran's twin brother, Robert of Leicester, effectively withdrew from fighting in the conflict at the same time. Other supporters of the Empress were restored in their former strongholds, such as Bishop Nigel of Ely, or received new earldoms in the west of England. The royal control over the minting of coins broke down, leading to coins being struck by local barons and bishops across

9960-613: The Britons), a largely fictional history of Britain from the time of the Trojans down to the 7th century, featuring significant appearances by Merlin and King Arthur, and the Prophetiae Merlini (Prophecies of Merlin). Both works were sensationally successful and had the effect of turning Merlin and Arthur into internationally known figures of legend. Both were written in prose, though the Historia included two short poems which John Milton

10126-487: The Conqueror . His father died while Stephen was still young, and he was brought up by his mother. Placed into the court of his uncle Henry I of England , Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands. He married Matilda of Boulogne , inheriting additional estates in Kent and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I's son, William Adelin , in

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10292-458: The Empress "Lady of England and Normandy" as a precursor to her coronation. When Matilda advanced to London in an effort to stage her coronation in June, though, she faced an uprising by the local citizens in support of Stephen that forced her to flee to Oxford, uncrowned. Once news of Stephen's capture reached him, Geoffrey of Anjou invaded Normandy again and, in the absence of Waleran of Beaumont, who

10458-509: The Empress Matilda to invade England herself. Dover finally surrendered to the Queen's forces later in the year. Stephen's military campaign in England had progressed well, and historian David Crouch describes it as "a military achievement of the first rank". The King took the opportunity of his military advantage to forge a peace agreement with Scotland. Stephen's wife Matilda was sent to negotiate another agreement between Stephen and David, called

10624-529: The Empress besieged Henry in the city of Winchester in July. Queen Matilda and William of Ypres then encircled the Angevin forces with their own army, reinforced with fresh troops from London. In the subsequent battle the Empress's forces were defeated and Robert of Gloucester himself was taken prisoner. Further negotiations attempted to deliver a general peace agreement but the Queen was unwilling to offer any compromise to

10790-414: The Empress's childhood friend Brien FitzCount , only to find it too well defended. He then left behind some forces to blockade the castle and continued west into Wiltshire to attack Trowbridge Castle , taking the castles of South Cerney and Malmesbury en route. Meanwhile, Miles of Gloucester marched east, attacking Stephen's rearguard forces at Wallingford and threatening an advance on London. Stephen

10956-578: The Empress's son Henry invaded England and built an alliance of powerful regional barons to support his claim for the throne. The two armies met at Wallingford , but neither side's barons were keen to fight another pitched battle. Stephen began to examine a negotiated peace, a process hastened by the sudden death of Eustace. Later in the year Stephen and Henry agreed to the Treaty of Winchester , in which Stephen recognised Henry as his heir in exchange for peace, passing over William , Stephen's second son. Stephen died

11122-470: The Empress, Stephen focused on pacifying the south-west of England. Although there had been few new defections to the Empress, his enemies now controlled a compact block of territory stretching out from Gloucester and Bristol south-west into Devon and Cornwall, west into the Welsh Marches and east as far as Oxford and Wallingford, threatening London. Stephen started by attacking Wallingford Castle , held by

11288-569: The Empress, as his main opponent at this point in the conflict. He also faced a military dilemma at Arundel—the castle was considered almost impregnable, and he may have been worried that he was tying down his army in the south whilst Robert roamed freely in the west. Another theory is that Stephen released Matilda out of a sense of chivalry ; he was certainly known for having a generous, courteous personality and women were not normally expected to be targeted in Anglo-Norman warfare. Having released

11454-540: The English possessions of David's son Henry , including the Earldom of Huntingdon . Returning south, Stephen held his first royal court at Easter 1136. A wide range of nobles gathered at Westminster for the event, including many of the Anglo-Norman barons and most of the higher officials of the church. Stephen issued a new royal charter, confirming the promises he had made to the church, promising to reverse Henry I's policies on

11620-604: The First Crusade, however, continued to circulate, and a desire to avoid the same reputation may have influenced some of Stephen's rasher military actions. His wife, Matilda, played a major role in running their vast English estates, which contributed to the couple being the second-richest lay household in the country after the King and Queen. The landless Flemish nobleman William of Ypres had joined Stephen's household in 1133. Stephen's younger brother, Henry of Blois, had also risen to power under Henry I. Henry of Blois had become

11786-530: The French King. Stephen was less successful, however, in regaining the Argentan province along the Normandy and Anjou border, which Geoffrey had taken at the end of 1135. Stephen formed an army to retake it, but the frictions between his Flemish mercenary forces led by William of Ypres and the local Norman barons resulted in a battle between the two halves of his army. The Norman forces then deserted Stephen, forcing

11952-417: The King found himself surrounded by the enemy army. Many of his supporters, including Waleran de Beaumont and William of Ypres, fled from the field at this point but Stephen fought on, defending himself first with his sword and then, when that broke, with a borrowed battle axe. Finally, he was overwhelmed by Robert's men and taken away from the field in custody. Robert took Stephen back to Gloucester, where

12118-462: The King met with the Empress Matilda, and was then moved to Bristol Castle , traditionally used for holding high-status prisoners. He was initially left confined in relatively good conditions, but his security was later tightened and he was kept in chains. The Empress now began to take the necessary steps to have herself crowned queen in his place, which would require the agreement of the church and her coronation at Westminster . Bishop Henry summoned

12284-802: The King to give up his campaign. He agreed to another truce with Geoffrey, promising to pay him 2,000 marks a year in exchange for peace along the Norman borders. In the years following his succession, Stephen's relationship with the church became gradually more complex. The royal charter of 1136 had promised to review the ownership of all the lands that had been taken by the crown from the church since 1087, but these estates were now typically owned by nobles. Henry of Blois's claims, in his role as Abbot of Glastonbury, to extensive lands in Devon resulted in considerable local unrest. In 1136, Archbishop of Canterbury William de Corbeil died. Stephen responded by seizing his personal wealth, which caused some discontent amongst

12450-536: The King's position with a somewhat larger force. When the news reached Stephen, he held a council to decide whether to give battle or to withdraw and gather additional soldiers: Stephen decided to fight, resulting in the Battle of Lincoln on 2 February 1141. The King commanded the centre of his army, with Alan of Brittany on his right and William of Aumale on his left. Robert and Ranulf's forces had superiority in cavalry and Stephen dismounted many of his own knights to form

12616-543: The Marcher Lord Robert Fitz Harold of Ewyas into Wales to pacify the region. Neither mission was particularly successful, and by the end of 1137, the King appears to have abandoned attempts to put down the rebellion. Historian David Crouch suggests that Stephen effectively "bowed out of Wales" around this time to concentrate on his other problems. Meanwhile, he had put down two revolts in the south-west led by Baldwin de Redvers and Robert of Bampton; Baldwin

12782-563: The Mercian Bishops of Dorchester were succeeded by the Bishops of Lincoln. The first bishops of Leicester were originally prelates who administered an Anglo-Saxon diocese between the 7th and 9th centuries. The bishopric fell victim to the invasion by the Danes and the episcopal see was transferred to Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. The dioceses of Lindsey and Leicester continued until

12948-698: The Norman barons and Robert of Gloucester at Lisieux on 21 December. Their discussions were interrupted by the sudden news from England that Stephen's coronation was to occur the next day. Theobald then agreed to the Normans' proposal that he be made king, only to find that his former support immediately ebbed away: the barons were not prepared to support the division of England and Normandy by opposing Stephen, who subsequently financially compensated Theobald, who in return remained in Blois and supported his brother's succession. Stephen's new Anglo-Norman kingdom had been shaped by

13114-473: The Norman kings on the rights of the church. English kings had traditionally exercised a great deal of power and autonomy over the church within their territories. From the 1040s onwards, however, successive popes had put forward a reforming message that emphasised the importance of the church being "governed more coherently and more hierarchically from the centre" and established "its own sphere of authority and jurisdiction, separate from and independent of that of

13280-634: The Welsh victory at the battle of Llwchwr in January 1136 and the successful ambush of Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare in April, south Wales rose in rebellion, starting in east Glamorgan and rapidly spreading across the rest of south Wales during 1137. Owain Gwynedd and Gruffydd ap Rhys successfully captured considerable territories, including Carmarthen Castle . Stephen responded by sending Richard's brother Baldwin and

13446-452: The anticipated invasion of England by Robert and Matilda's forces. Stephen prepared for the Angevin invasion by creating a number of additional earldoms . Only a handful of earldoms had existed under Henry I and these had been largely symbolic in nature. Stephen created many more, filling them with men he considered to be loyal, capable military commanders, and in the more vulnerable parts of

13612-583: The beggar and at the man buying leather has analogues in Greek and Jewish literature that can be traced back to the Talmud . Other writers who have been suggested as minor sources of the Vita include Solinus , Rabanus Maurus , Bede , Pomponius Mela , Ovid , Virgil , Horace , Apuleius , Boethius , Bernardus Silvestris , Adelard of Bath , Lambert of Saint-Omer , and the author of the De imagine mundi . The Vita Merlini

13778-424: The bishop's office staff and home were separated, allowing the incoming bishop, Christopher Lowson , to live in a modern five-bedroom house. A further residence of the mediaeval Bishops of Lincoln was Banbury Castle , built in 1135 by Alexander of Lincoln , Bishop of Lincoln and retained by the see until 1547. The Anglo-Saxon dioceses of Lindsey and Leicester were established when the large Diocese of Mercia

13944-419: The church and had the broad support of his barons. There were significant underlying problems, nonetheless. The north of England was now controlled by David and Prince Henry, Stephen had abandoned Wales, the fighting in Normandy had considerably destabilised the duchy, and an increasing number of barons felt that Stephen had given them neither the lands nor the titles they felt they deserved or were owed. Stephen

14110-532: The claim of Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda. The early years of Stephen's reign were largely successful, despite a series of attacks on his possessions in England and Normandy by David I of Scotland , Welsh rebels, and the Empress Matilda's husband Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou . In 1138, the Empress's half-brother Robert of Gloucester rebelled against Stephen, threatening civil war. Together with his close advisor, Waleran de Beaumont , Stephen took firm steps to defend his rule, including arresting

14276-458: The clergy. Stephen sent Aubrey de Vere II as his spokesman to the council, who argued that Roger of Salisbury had been arrested not as a bishop, but rather in his role as a baron who had been preparing to change his support to the Empress Matilda. The King was supported by Hugh of Amiens , Archbishop of Rouen , who challenged the bishops to show how canon law entitled them to build or hold castles. Aubrey threatened that Stephen would complain to

14442-457: The country assigning them new lands and additional executive powers. He appears to have had several objectives in mind, including both ensuring the loyalty of his key supporters by granting them these honours, and improving his defences in key parts of the kingdom. Stephen was heavily influenced by his principal advisor, Waleran de Beaumont , the twin brother of Robert of Leicester . The Beaumont twins and their younger brother and cousins received

14608-586: The country. Stephen's wife, Matilda, played a critical part in keeping the King's cause alive during his captivity. Queen Matilda gathered Stephen's remaining lieutenants around her and the royal family in the south-east, advancing into London when the population rejected the Empress. Stephen's long-standing commander William of Ypres remained with the Queen in London; William Martel, the royal steward, commanded operations from Sherborne in Dorset, and Faramus of Boulogne ran

14774-492: The death of his elder brother William Rufus . In 1106 he invaded and captured the Duchy of Normandy , controlled by his eldest brother, Robert Curthose , defeating Robert's army at the battle of Tinchebray . Henry then found himself in conflict with Louis VI of France , who took the opportunity to declare Robert's son, William Clito , the Duke of Normandy . Henry responded by forming

14940-519: The earliest Welsh poems and the Vita Merlini , and transposes it to the Second World War, Myrddin becoming a soldier suffering from PTSD who escapes from a military hospital and reunites with his sister Gwen in the family's home village. It won the Prose Medal  [ cy ] at the 2010 National Eisteddfod of Wales . The Vita Merlini survives in seven manuscripts, all now held by

15106-463: The edge of London by 8 December and over the next week he began to seize power in England. The crowds in London traditionally claimed a right to elect the king, and they proclaimed Stephen the new monarch, believing that he would grant the city new rights and privileges in return. Henry of Blois delivered the support of the church to Stephen: Stephen was able to advance to Winchester , where Roger, Bishop of Salisbury and Lord Chancellor , instructed

15272-442: The established nobility. In the process he had been able to maximise revenues and contain expenditures, resulting in a healthy surplus and a famously large treasury, but also increasing political tensions. Stephen had to intervene in the north of England immediately after his coronation. David I of Scotland invaded the north on the news of Henry's death, taking Carlisle , Newcastle and other key strongholds. Northern England

15438-481: The fens and using boats lashed together to form a causeway that allowed him to make a surprise attack on the isle. Nigel escaped to Gloucester, but his men and castle were captured, and order was temporarily restored in the east. Robert of Gloucester's men retook some of the territory that Stephen had taken in his 1139 campaign. In an effort to negotiate a truce, Henry of Blois held a peace conference at Bath , to which Stephen sent his wife. The conference collapsed over

15604-576: The final straw for Ranulf. Ranulf had previously claimed that he had the rights to Lincoln Castle , held by Stephen, and under the guise of a social visit, Ranulf seized the fortification in a surprise attack. Stephen marched north to Lincoln and agreed to a truce with Ranulf, probably to keep him from joining the Empress's faction, under which Ranulf would be allowed to keep the castle. Stephen returned to London but received news that Ranulf, his brother and their family were relaxing in Lincoln Castle with

15770-561: The first finding and capture of Merlin shows close resemblances to an episode in the Vita Gurthierni , a life of St Gurthiern of Quimperlé . The name Morgen appears in the Vita Merlini as the eldest of nine sisters who tend King Arthur in Avalon . Though this is the first explicit appearance of Morgan le Fay in literature there have been many attempts to trace her origins in various earlier Celtic goddesses. The Vita names Barinthus as

15936-468: The following year. Geoffrey's success in Normandy and Stephen's weakness in England began to influence the loyalty of many Anglo-Norman barons, who feared losing their lands in England to Robert and the Empress, and their possessions in Normandy to Geoffrey. Many started to leave Stephen's faction. His friend and advisor Waleran was one of those who decided to defect in mid-1141, crossing into Normandy to secure his ancestral possessions by allying himself with

16102-458: The following year. Modern historians have extensively debated the extent to which his personality, external events, or the weaknesses in the Norman state contributed to this prolonged period of civil war. Stephen was born in Blois , France , in either 1092 or 1096. His father was Stephen-Henry , Count of Blois and Chartres , an important French nobleman and an active crusader who died when Stephen

16268-458: The forest and the forces of nature. Laurence Binyon 's The Madness of Merlin (1947) is another posthumously published fragment, based primarily on the Vita but also on the Myrddin and Lailoken traditions, and with new characters of Binyon's own invention. He described this work as a "dialogue arranged as story rather than drama". Mary Stewart 's novel The Last Enchantment (1979), the last of

16434-412: The friends of his youth, Maeldinus, who had been sent mad by eating poisoned apples that had been intended for Merlin himself. Maeldinus is cured by drinking from the new spring, and it is resolved that he, Taliesin, Merlin, and Gwenddydd will remain together in the woods, in retirement from the secular world. The poem ends with a prophecy from Gwenddydd detailing events in the reign of King Stephen , and

16600-451: The gift of the King was still uncertain, and tensions concerning this issue had grown during the reign of Henry I. Certainly lands in Normandy, passed by hereditary right, were usually considered more important to major barons than those in England, where their possession was less certain. Henry had increased the authority and capabilities of the central royal administration, often bringing in " new men " to fulfil key positions rather than using

16766-530: The half-brother of the Empress Matilda, Robert was one of the most powerful Anglo-Norman barons, controlling estates in Normandy. He was known for his qualities as a statesman, his military experience, and leadership ability. Robert had tried to convince Theobald to take the throne in 1135; he did not attend Stephen's first court in 1136 and it took several summonses to convince him to attend court at Oxford later that year. In 1138, Robert renounced his fealty to Stephen and declared his support for Matilda, triggering

16932-402: The harshness of the winter, and responds by singing about the grief of Gwenddydd and Merlin's wife Gwendolen (Guendoloena). The sweetness of this song soothes Merlin so effectively as to bring him back to lucidity, and he is persuaded to visit his sister at Rhydderch's court. Once he is there the strain of facing crowds brings on a relapse, and Merlin has to be chained to prevent him returning to

17098-424: The heir to the throne, William Adelin, and many other senior nobles. Stephen had intended to sail on the same ship but changed his mind at the last moment and got off to await another vessel, either out of concern for overcrowding on board the ship, or because he was suffering from diarrhoea . The ship foundered en route, and all but one of the passengers died, including William Adelin. With William Adelin dead,

17264-567: The helmsman of the ship that took Arthur to Avalon, and he has been identified as the Barrintus who told Saint Brendan of a wonderful island in the western ocean, but it is uncertain which version of the Brendan story Geoffrey came across. Geoffrey was not entirely dependent on Celtic sources for his poem. As a humanist writer of the 12th-century Renaissance he had a knowledge of much classical and medieval Latin literature at his command, and this fact

17430-429: The inheritance to the English throne was thrown into doubt. Rules of succession in western Europe at the time were uncertain; in some parts of France, male primogeniture , in which the eldest son would inherit a title, was becoming increasingly popular. It was also traditional for the king of France to crown his successor whilst he himself was still alive, making the intended line of succession relatively clear, but this

17596-481: The insistence by Henry and the clergy that they should set the terms of any peace deal, which Stephen found unacceptable. Ranulf of Chester remained upset over Stephen's gift of the north of England to Prince Henry. Ranulf devised a plan for dealing with the problem by ambushing Henry whilst the prince was travelling back from Stephen's court to Scotland after Christmas. Stephen responded to rumours of this plan by escorting Henry himself north, but this gesture proved

17762-544: The late King was properly buried, which prevented them from returning to England. Stephen's brother Theobald was further south still, in Blois. Stephen, however, was in Boulogne, and when news reached him of Henry's death he left for England, accompanied by his military household. Robert of Gloucester had garrisoned the ports of Dover and Canterbury and some accounts suggest that they refused Stephen access when he first arrived. Nonetheless, Stephen probably reached his own estate on

17928-474: The late king had been wrong to insist that his court take the oath. Furthermore, the late king had only insisted on that oath to protect the stability of the kingdom, and in light of the chaos that might now ensue, Stephen would be justified in ignoring it. Henry was also able to persuade Hugh Bigod , the late king's royal steward, to swear that King Henry had changed his mind about the succession on his deathbed, nominating Stephen instead. Stephen's coronation

18094-496: The lay ruler", in the words of historian Richard Huscroft. When news began to spread of Henry I's death, many of the potential claimants to the throne were not well placed to respond. Geoffrey and Matilda were in Anjou, rather awkwardly supporting the rebels in their campaign against the royal army, which included a number of Matilda's supporters such as Robert of Gloucester. Many of these barons had taken an oath to stay in Normandy until

18260-416: The lieutenant of Normandy, and Theobald led the efforts to defend the duchy. Stephen himself only returned to the duchy in 1137, where he met with Louis VI and Theobald to agree to an informal regional alliance, probably brokered by Henry, to counter the growing Angevin power in the region. As part of this deal, Louis recognised Stephen's son Eustace as Duke of Normandy in exchange for Eustace giving fealty to

18426-539: The local Normans rebelled, seeking assistance from Fulk IV, Count of Anjou . Stephen and his older brother Theobald were comprehensively beaten in the subsequent campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Alençon, and the territories were not recovered. In 1120, the English political landscape changed dramatically. Three hundred passengers embarked on the White Ship to travel from Barfleur in Normandy to England, including

18592-485: The majority of these new earldoms. From 1138 onwards, Stephen gave them the earldoms of Worcester , Leicester , Hereford , Warwick and Pembroke , which – especially when combined with the possessions of Stephen's new ally, Prince Henry, in Cumberland and Northumbria – created a wide block of territory to act as a buffer zone between the troubled south-west, Chester , and the rest of the kingdom. With their new lands,

18758-404: The mysterious into harmony with nature, with no reference to Christian morality. There is no agreement as to which category of poem the Vita falls into. Mark Walker has written that as a Latin poem with a British subject, an epic which deals with personal problems and domestic situations rather than warlike deeds, it cannot be placed in any genre, Peter Goodrich saw it as a comedy remarkable for

18924-536: The north. Stephen himself went west in an attempt to regain control of Gloucestershire , first striking north into the Welsh Marches , taking Hereford and Shrewsbury , before heading south to Bath . The town of Bristol itself proved too strong for him, and Stephen contented himself with raiding and pillaging the surrounding area. The rebels appear to have expected Robert to intervene with support that year, but he remained in Normandy throughout, trying to persuade

19090-505: The number of medieval modes of literature it includes: "Celtic folklore, political prophecies, pseudo-scientific learning, catalogues of information, and set-pieces of medieval oratory"; altogether, "a crazy quilt of styles and subjects rather than a tightly plotted narrative". Carol Harding thought it a "secular saint's life", a blending of hagiographical and more secular traditions. J. S. P. Tatlock argued that, with its disjointedness, innovation, irresponsibility and stress on entertaining

19256-462: The other bishops surrender all of their castles in England. This threat was backed up by the arrest of the bishops, with the exception of Nigel who had taken refuge in Devizes Castle ; the bishop only surrendered after Stephen besieged the castle and threatened to execute Roger le Poer . The remaining castles were then surrendered to the King. Stephen's brother Henry was alarmed by this, both as

19422-439: The poet says that he had formerly dedicated another work to the previous bishop of Lincoln. Since Geoffrey did indeed dedicate his Prophetiae Merlini to Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln , Robert de Chesney's immediate predecessor, the case for Geoffrey's authorship of the Vita is strengthened. Some 19th and early 20th-century critics doubted or denied that Geoffrey was the author, alleging differences in style between that poem and

19588-525: The pope that he was being harassed by the English church, and the council let the matter rest following an unsuccessful appeal to Rome. The incident successfully removed any military threat from the bishops, but it may have damaged Stephen's relationship with the senior clergy, and in particular with his brother Henry. The Angevin invasion finally arrived in 1139. Baldwin de Redvers crossed over from Normandy to Wareham in August in an initial attempt to capture

19754-649: The power of the Beamounts grew to the point where David Crouch suggests that it became "dangerous to be anything other than a friend of Waleran" at Stephen's court. Stephen took steps to remove a group of bishops he regarded as a threat to his rule. The royal administration under Henry I had been headed by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, who was supported by his nephews, Bishops Alexander of Lincoln and Nigel of Ely , and his son, Lord Chancellor Roger le Poer . These bishops were powerful landowners as well as ecclesiastical rulers, and they had begun to build new castles and increase

19920-484: The previous sixty years – William the Conqueror had gained England by force; two of his sons, Robert Curthose and William Rufus, had fought a war amongst themselves for the throne, with Rufus, who was younger, emerging victorious; and Henry had likewise acquired control of Normandy only by force. There had been no peaceful, uncontested successions. Henry had only one other legitimate child, the Empress Matilda , but as

20086-418: The reader, it constituted "a fumbling step toward medieval romance", but had to concede that unlike most romances it has "no characterization, no love, little feeling and instinctive human truth". He also, while acknowledging that the poem has no unity, praised Geoffrey's skill in organization, alternating description with exposition, picturesque detail with swift narrative. For Nora and Hector Munro Chadwick

20252-404: The rebellion and to link up with Miles of Gloucester , a capable military leader who took the opportunity to renounce his fealty to the King. Stephen promptly moved south, besieging Arundel and trapping Matilda inside the castle. Stephen then agreed to a truce proposed by his brother Henry; the full details of the truce are not known, but the results were that Stephen first released Matilda from

20418-479: The rebels. In the middle of this confrontation, Henry unexpectedly fell ill and died near Lyons-la-Forêt . Stephen was a well established figure in Anglo-Norman society by 1135. He was extremely wealthy, well-mannered and liked by his peers; he was also considered a man capable of firm action. Chroniclers recorded that despite his wealth and power he was a modest and easy-going leader, happy to sit with his men and servants, casually laughing and eating with them. He

20584-436: The reign of Stephen was characterised by attritional military campaigns, in which commanders tried to seize key enemy castles in order to allow them to take control of their adversaries' territory and ultimately win a slow, strategic victory. The armies of the period centred on bodies of mounted, armoured knights , supported by infantry and crossbowmen . These forces were either feudal levies, drawn up by local nobles for

20750-402: The rich province of Île-de-France , just to the east of Stephen's home county of Blois. To the west lay the three counties of Maine , Anjou and Touraine , and to the north of Blois was the Duchy of Normandy , from which William the Conqueror had conquered England in 1066. William's children were still fighting over the collective Anglo-Norman inheritance. The rulers across this region spoke

20916-399: The rightful rulers after her. Stephen was amongst those who took this oath in 1127. Nonetheless, relations between Henry, Matilda, and Geoffrey became increasingly strained towards the end of the King's life. Matilda and Geoffrey suspected that they lacked genuine support in England, and proposed to Henry in 1135 that the King should hand over the royal castles in Normandy to Matilda whilst he

21082-446: The royal household. The Queen appears to have generated genuine sympathy and support from Stephen's more loyal followers. Henry's alliance with the Empress proved short-lived, as they soon fell out over political patronage and ecclesiastical policy; the bishop met the Queen at Guildford and transferred his support to her. The King's eventual release resulted from the Angevin defeat at the Rout of Winchester . Robert of Gloucester and

21248-531: The royal treasury to be handed over to Stephen. On 15 December, Henry delivered an agreement under which Stephen would grant extensive freedoms and liberties to the church, in exchange for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Papal Legate supporting his succession to the throne. There was the slight problem of the religious oath that Stephen had taken to support the Empress Matilda, but Henry convincingly argued that

21414-450: The senior clergy. Henry wanted to succeed to the post, but Stephen instead supported Theobald of Bec , who was eventually appointed. The papacy named Henry papal legate , possibly as consolation for not receiving Canterbury. Stephen's first few years as king can be interpreted in different ways. He stabilised the northern border with Scotland, contained Geoffrey's attacks on Normandy, was at peace with Louis VI, enjoyed good relations with

21580-468: The siege and then allowed her and her household of knights to be escorted to the south-west, where they were reunited with Robert. The reasoning behind Stephen's decision to release his rival remains unclear. Contemporary chroniclers suggested that Henry argued that it would be in Stephen's own best interests to release the Empress and concentrate instead on attacking Robert, and Stephen may have seen Robert, not

21746-405: The sinking of the White Ship in 1120; William's death left the succession of the English throne open to challenge. When Henry died in 1135, Stephen quickly crossed the English Channel and, with the help of his brother Henry, Bishop of Winchester and Abbot of Glastonbury , took the throne, arguing that the preservation of order across the kingdom took priority over his earlier oaths to support

21912-496: The size of their military forces, leading Stephen to suspect that they were about to defect to the Empress Matilda. Bishop Roger and his family were also enemies of Waleran, who disliked their control of the royal administration. In June 1139, Stephen held his court in Oxford, where a fight between Alan of Brittany and Roger's men broke out, an incident probably deliberately created by Stephen. Stephen responded by demanding that Roger and

22078-403: The success of campaigns. Stephen's personal qualities as a military leader focused on his skill in personal combat, his capabilities in siege warfare and a remarkable ability to move military forces quickly over relatively long distances. In response to the revolts and invasions, he rapidly undertook several military campaigns, focusing primarily on England rather than Normandy. His wife Matilda

22244-639: The throne still needed to be ratified by the Pope, however, and Henry of Blois appears to have been responsible for ensuring that testimonials of support were sent both from Stephen's brother Theobald and from the French king Louis VI, to whom Stephen represented a useful balance to Angevin power in the north of France. Pope Innocent II confirmed Stephen as king by letter later that year, and Stephen's advisers circulated copies widely around England to demonstrate his legitimacy. Troubles continued across Stephen's kingdom. After

22410-465: The town of Carmarthen (in Welsh Caerfyrddin) and named after it, while the northern legend was about a wild man called Lailoken who took part in the battle of Arfderydd in 573. These two stories, argued Jarman, became fused into one composite legend long before the Vita Merlini was written, and Geoffrey simply used different parts of the story in the Historia and the Vita . This theory

22576-403: The war dragged on for many years with neither side able to win an advantage. Stephen became increasingly concerned with ensuring that his son Eustace would inherit his throne. The King tried to convince the church to agree to crown Eustace to reinforce his claim; Pope Eugene III refused, and Stephen found himself in a sequence of increasingly bitter arguments with his senior clergy. In 1153,

22742-409: The warrior Suibne goes mad during the battle of Moira and escapes into the wilderness. Though he is cured and re-enters society he relapses and returns to the wilds, and his wife remarries. Some details of the Vita may be taken from other Celtic sources. One of Merlin's prophecies, it has been argued, includes a reminiscence of the 10th-century prophetic poem Armes Prydein . The description of

22908-417: The woods Merlin watches the stars in an observatory Gwenddydd has made for him, and prophesies the future history of Britain as far as the Norman kings. Rhydderch dies and Gwenddydd grieves for him. Rhydderch's visitor Taliesin (Telgesinus) goes to the woods to see Merlin, and there he talks to him at length on a variety of learned subjects: cosmogony , cosmology , the natural history of fishes, and finally

23074-551: The woods. When Merlin sees a leaf in Gwenddydd's hair he laughs, but refuses to explain his laughter unless he is freed. When this is done he tells Rhydderch that the leaf got into Gwenddydd's hair when she lay outdoors with her lover. Gwenddydd then seeks to discredit Merlin by a trick. She produces a boy on three different occasions, dressed in different costume every time to disguise his identity, and asks her brother each time how he will die. The first time Merlin says he will die in

23240-430: The world, a worker of healing miracles, a hermit who becomes an example to others, resists worldly temptations and possesses supernatural knowledge and powers of prophecy; the end of Merlin's life, she wrote, is "a holy one in the sense any monk's is". For Jan Ziolkowski his nature alternates between shaman and political prophet through the poem, ending up "as ascetic and holy as a biblical prophet". Stephen Knight 's view

23406-468: The world. On hearing that Merlin has been cured a number of princes and chieftains visit him in the woods and try to persuade him to resume the governance of his kingdom, but Merlin pleads his advanced age and the delight he takes in nature as reasons for refusing. A flock of cranes appears in the sky, prompting Merlin to teach them about the habits of the crane, and then those of many other kinds of bird. A lunatic appears, and Merlin recognizes him as one of

23572-447: Was Count of Boulogne jure uxoris from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 until 1144. His reign was marked by the Anarchy , a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda , whose son, Henry II , succeeded Stephen as the first of the Angevin kings of England . Stephen was born in the County of Blois in central France as the fourth son of Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois , and Adela , daughter of William

23738-495: Was a disputed territory at this time, with the Scottish kings laying a traditional claim to Cumberland , and David also claiming Northumbria by virtue of his marriage to the daughter of Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria . Stephen rapidly marched north with an army and met David at Durham . An agreement was made under which David would return most of the territory he had taken, with the exception of Carlisle. In return, Stephen confirmed

23904-473: Was a major reason for Stephen-Henry's return to the Levant. She had a strong formative influence on Stephen during his growing years; she would live to see her son take her father's throne of England, but would die within a year after that. In the 12th century, France was a loose collection of counties and smaller polities under the minimal control of the king of France. The king's power was linked to his control of

24070-401: Was accepted by most late-20th century scholars, but has been challenged by Rachel Bromwich and Oliver Padel , who have each proposed the possibility that Geoffrey himself was responsible for uniting the southern legend of Myrddin and the northern legend of the wild man . Among the most important analogues of the Vita Merlini are a small number of Middle Welsh poems. Cyfoesi Myrddin

24236-442: Was also rapidly running out of money: Henry's considerable treasury had been emptied by 1138 due to the costs of running Stephen's more lavish court and the need to raise and maintain his mercenary armies fighting in England and Normandy. Stephen was attacked on several fronts during 1138. First, Robert, Earl of Gloucester , rebelled against the King, starting the descent into civil war in England. An illegitimate son of Henry I and

24402-430: Was also suggested by Tatlock that the various romances which show Lancelot , Tristan and Yvain as love-maddened forest-dwellers take that idea from the Vita , but this theory, John Jay Parry wrote, "rests on general and unimpressive similarities". The publication by George Ellis in 1805 of a précis of the Vita (see below ) made the work available to 19th-century creative writers. One who took advantage of this

24568-525: Was at most ten years old. During the First Crusade , Stephen-Henry had acquired a reputation for cowardice, and he returned to the Levant again in 1101 to rebuild his reputation; there he was killed at the battle of Ramlah . Stephen's mother, Adela , was the daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders . She was famous among her contemporaries for her piety and strong personality. Indeed, Adela

24734-431: Was caught in the branches of a tree beneath it, and being entangled there upside down with his head in a river he drowned. Back in the woods Merlin reads in the stars that Gwendolen is remarrying, so he attends her wedding mounted on a stag. Wrenching the antlers off his stag he throws them at the groom and kills him, but failing to make good his escape he is captured and taken back to Rhydderch's court. There he sees first

24900-437: Was curtailed, however, by the power of the King's personality and reputation. Meanwhile, the King arranged for Stephen to marry in 1125 to Matilda , the daughter and only heiress of Eustace III , Count of Boulogne , who owned both the important continental port of Boulogne and vast estates in the north-west and south-east of England. In 1127, William Clito, a potential claimant to the English throne, seemed likely to become

25066-811: Was divided in the late 7th century into the bishoprics of Lichfield and Leicester (for Mercia itself), Worcester (for the Hwicce ), Hereford (for the Magonsæte ) and Lindsey (for the Lindisfaras ). The historic Bishop of Dorchester was a prelate who administered the Diocese of Dorchester in the Anglo-Saxon period. The bishop's seat, or cathedra , was at the cathedral in Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire . In

25232-480: Was forced to give up his western campaign, returning east to stabilise the situation and protect his capital. At the start of 1140, Nigel, Bishop of Ely, whose castles Stephen had confiscated the previous year, rebelled against Stephen as well. Nigel hoped to seize East Anglia and established his base of operations in the Isle of Ely , then surrounded by protective fenland . Stephen responded quickly, taking an army into

25398-445: Was held a week later at Westminster Abbey on 22 December 1135. Meanwhile, the Norman nobility gathered at Le Neubourg to discuss declaring Theobald king, probably following the news that Stephen was gathering support in England. The Normans argued that Theobald, as the more senior grandson of William the Conqueror, had the most valid claim over the kingdom and the duchy, and was certainly preferable to Matilda. Theobald met with

25564-444: Was not the case in England. In other parts of Europe, including Normandy and England, the tradition was for lands to be divided up, with the eldest son taking patrimonial lands—usually considered to be the most valuable—and younger sons being given smaller, or more recently acquired, partitions or estates. There was no precedent of a woman ruler. The problem was further complicated by the sequence of unstable Anglo-Norman successions over

25730-402: Was probably intellectually disabled , and Adela instead had the counties pass to her second son, Theobald , later also Count of Champagne . Stephen's other older brother, Odo, died young, probably in his early teens. Stephen's younger brother, Henry , was probably born four years after him. The brothers formed a close-knit family group, and Adela encouraged Stephen to take up the role of

25896-469: Was probably with Henry during the military campaign of 1112, when he was knighted by the King. He was present at court during the King's visit to the Abbey of Saint-Evroul in 1113. Stephen probably first visited England in either 1113 or 1115, almost certainly as part of Henry's court. Henry became a powerful patron of Stephen, and probably chose to support him because Stephen was part of his extended family and

26062-462: Was released after his capture and travelled to Normandy, where he became an increasingly vocal critic of the King. The security of Normandy was also a concern. Geoffrey of Anjou invaded in early 1136 and, after a temporary truce, invaded later the same year, raiding and burning estates rather than trying to hold the territory. Events in England meant that Stephen was unable to travel to Normandy himself, so Waleran de Beaumont , appointed by Stephen as

26228-457: Was remarried in 1128 to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou , whose lands bordered the Duchy of Normandy. Geoffrey was unpopular with the Anglo-Norman elite: as an Angevin ruler, he was a traditional enemy of the Normans. At the same time, tensions continued to grow as a result of Henry's domestic policies, in particular the high level of revenue he was raising to pay for his various wars. Conflict

26394-543: Was sent to Kent with ships and resources from Boulogne, with the task of retaking the key port of Dover , under Robert's control. A small number of Stephen's household knights were sent north to help the fight against the Scots, where David's forces were defeated later that year at the battle of the Standard in August by the forces of Thurstan , the Archbishop of York . Despite this victory, however, David still occupied most of

26560-418: Was still alive and insist on the Norman nobility swearing immediate allegiance to her, thereby giving the couple a much more powerful position after Henry's death. Henry angrily declined to do so, probably out of a concern that Geoffrey would try to seize power in Normandy somewhat earlier than intended. A fresh rebellion broke out in southern Normandy, and Geoffrey and Matilda intervened militarily on behalf of

26726-446: Was still fighting in England, Geoffrey took all the duchy south of the river Seine and east of the river Risle . No help was forthcoming from Stephen's brother Theobald this time either, who appears to have been preoccupied with his own problems with France—the new French king, Louis VII , had rejected his father's regional alliance, improving relations with Anjou and taking a more bellicose line with Theobald, which would result in war

26892-620: Was that Geoffrey makes Merlin a figure relevant to medieval churchmen, a voice "asserting the challenge that knowledge should advise and admonish power rather than serve it". Mark Walker has written of the Vita ' s Merlin as a figure at home in the romantic and humanist atmosphere of 12th-century thought, so sensitive that the death of his companions can bring on a mental breakdown, who eventually becomes "a kind of Celtic Socrates ", so enamoured of scientific learning that he sets up an academic community where he can discourse with scholars of his own (and Geoffrey's) turn of mind. Geoffrey intended

27058-541: Was the poet and hymn-writer Reginald Heber , whose Fragments of the Masque of Gwendolen (written in 1816, published posthumously in 1830) drew on several medieval Arthurian sources, and took the character of Gwendolen from the Vita . Another was Ludwig Uhland , a figure in the German Romantic movement . He retold the Vita ' s story in his ballad Merlin der Wilde (1829), portraying Merlin as deriving his power from

27224-403: Was to praise for their smoothness, and which both Milton and Alexander Pope translated into English verse. The last work generally attributed to Geoffrey was a much longer poem, the Vita Merlini . The attribution rests partly on the last lines of the poem, which have been translated thus: I have brought this song to an end. Therefore, ye Britons, give a wreath to Geoffrey of Monmouth. He

27390-536: Was unwilling to declare Matilda queen so rapidly, however, and a delegation of clergy and nobles, headed by Theobald, travelled to see Stephen in Bristol and consult about their moral dilemma: should they abandon their oaths of fealty to the King? Stephen agreed that, given the situation, he was prepared to release his subjects from their oath of fealty to him, and the clergy gathered again in Winchester after Easter to declare

27556-443: Was very pious, both in terms of his observance of religious rituals and his personal generosity to the church. Stephen also had a personal Augustinian confessor appointed to him by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who implemented a penitential regime for him, and Stephen encouraged the new order of Cistercians to form abbeys on his estates, winning him additional allies within the church. Rumours about his father's cowardice during

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