1137.
Mean time the Earl of Anjou, who was not in a condition to assert his wife's title to England, hearing Stephen was employed at home, entered Normandy with small force, and found it no difficult matter to seize several towns. The Normans, in the present distraction of affairs, not well knowing what prince to obey, at last sent an invitation to Theobald Earl of Blois, King Stephen's eldest brother, to accept their dukedom upon the condition of protecting them from the present insults of the Earl of Anjou. But before this matter could come to an issue, Stephen, who, upon reduction of the towns already mentioned, had found a short interval of quiet from his English subjects, arrived with unexpected speed into Normandy; where Geoffrey of Anjou soon fled before him, and the whole duchy came over to his obedience; for the further settlement whereof he made peace with the King of France; constituted his son Eustace Duke of Normandy; and made him swear fealty to that Prince, and do him homage. His brother Theobald, who began to expostulate upon this disappointment, he pacified with a pension of two thousand marks:[28] and even the Earl of Anjou himself, who, in right of his wife, made demands of Stephen for the kingdom of England, finding he was no equal match at present, was persuaded to become his pensioner for five thousand more.[29]
[Footnote 28: The mark of Normandy is to be understood here. Such a pension in that age was equivalent to one of £31,000 sterling in the present. [D.S.]
[Footnote 29: Five thousand marks of silver coin was, in this reign, of the same value as the sum of £77,500 modern currency, is now. Here again the Norman mark seems to be used. [D.S.]
Stephen, upon his return to England, met with an account of new troubles from the north; for the King of Scots, under pretence of observing his oath of fealty to the Empress, infested the Borders, and frequently making cruel inroads, plundered and laid waste all before him.
1138.
In order to revenge this base and perfidious treatment, the King, in his march northward, sat down before Bedford, and took it after a siege of twenty days. This town was part of the Earldom of Huntingdon, given by Stephen in the late peace to the eldest son of the Scottish King, for which the young prince did homage to him; and it was upon that account defended by a garrison of Scots. Upon intelligence of this surrender, King David, overcome with fury, entered Northumberland, where, letting loose the rage of his soldiers, he permitted and encouraged them to commit all manner of inhumanities; which they performed in so execrable a manner as would scarce be credible, if it were not attested by almost the universal consent of writers: they ripped up women with child, drew out the infants, and tossed them upon the points of their lances: they murdered priests before the altars; then cutting the heads from off the crucifixes, in their stead put on the heads of those they had murdered: with many other instances of monstrous barbarity too foul to relate: but cruelty being usually attended with cowardice, this perfidious prince, upon the approach of King Stephen, fled into places of security. The King of England, finding no enemy on whom to employ his revenge, marched forward into the country, destroying with fire and sword all the southern parts; and would, in all probability, have made terrible impressions into the heart of Scotland, if he had not been suddenly recalled by a more dangerous fire at home, which had been kindled in his absence, and was now broken out into a flame.
Robert Earl of Gloucester, natural son of the late King, came into England some time after the advancement of Stephen to the crown; and, yielding to the necessity of the time, took the oath of fealty upon the same condition used by the other nobles, to be of force so long as the King should keep his faith with him, and preserve his dignity inviolate: but, being in his heart wholly devoted to the interests of the Empress his sister, and moved by the persuasions of several religious men, he had, with great secrecy and application, so far practised upon the levity or discontents of several lords, as to gain them to his party: for the King had, of late, very much alienated the nobles against him; first, by seizing several of their persons, and dispossessing them of their lands; and, secondly, by taking into his favour William d'Ypres, a Flemish commander, of noble birth, but banished by his prince. This man, with many of his followers, the King employed chiefly both in his councils and his armies, and made him Earl of Kent, to the great envy and displeasure of his English subjects. The Earl of Gloucester, therefore, and his accomplices, having prepared all things necessary for an insurrection, it was agreed among them, that while the King was engaged against the Scots, each of them should secure what towns and castles they could, and openly declare for the Empress. Accordingly Earl Robert suddenly fortified himself in Bristol; the rest followed his example; Hereford, Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Dover,[30] and many other places, were seized by several lords, and the defection grew so formidable, that the King, to his great grief, was forced to leave his Scottish expedition unfinished, and return with all possible speed to suppress the rebellion begun by his subjects; having first left the care of the north to Thurstan Archbishop of York; with orders carefully to observe the motions of the Scots.
[Footnote 30: Robert Earl of Gloucester had been entrusted by Stephen with the custody of Dover Castle: but Robert lying now under heavy suspicion, the King sent Matilda his queen to besiege it, in which she was successful. [D.S.]
Whilst the King was employed in the south in reducing his discontented lords, and their castles, to his obedience, David, presuming upon the distance between them, reentered England with more numerous forces, and greater designs, than before: for, without losing more time than what was necessary to pillage and destroy the country as he marched, he resolved to besiege York, which, if he could force to surrender, would serve as a convenient frontier against the English. To this end, advancing near the city, and having pitched his tents, he sat down before it with his whole army. In the mean time Archbishop Thurstan, having already summoned the nobles and gentry of the shire and parts adjacent, had, by powerful persuasions incited them to defend their country against a treacherous, bloody, and restless enemy: so that before the King of Scotland could make any progress in the siege, the whole power of the north was united against him, under the Earl of Albemarle, and several other nobles. Archbishop Thurstan happening to fall sick, could not go in person to the army, but sent the Bishop of Durham in his stead; by whose encouragements the English, although in number far inferior, advanced boldly towards the enemy, and offered them battle, which was as readily accepted by the Scots, who, sending out a party of horse to secure the rising ground, were immediately attacked by the English, and, after a sharp dispute, entirely defeated. In the heat of the battle the King of Scots, and his son Henry Earl of Huntingdon, gave many proofs of great personal valour. The young prince fell with such fierceness upon a body of the English, that he utterly broke and dispersed them; and was pursuing his victory, when a certain man, bearing aloft the head of an enemy he had cut off, cried out, It was the head of the Scottish King, which being heard and believed on both sides, the English, who had lately fled, rallied again, assaulting their enemies with new vigour; the Scots, on the other side, discouraged by the supposed death of their Prince, began to turn their backs: the King and his son used all endeavours to stop their flight, and made several brave stands against the enemy; but the greatest part of their army being fled, and themselves almost encompassed, they were forced to give way to fortune, and with much difficulty made their escape.