Founded by Stephen, the future King of England, Furness Abbey was built near Barrow in Furness. Initially the order was Savigniac but were later converted to Cistercians in 1147 when the orders were merged. ¹

King Henry I arranged the marriage between his nephew, Stephen of Blois and Matilda, the daughter and heiress of Eustace III, the Count of Boulogne. This gave Stephen control of the county of Boulogne and also lands in England that had belonged to Count Eustace II. Matilda was descended from both Malcolm III of Scotland and Edmund Ironside. ¹

King Henry I died. He was in Normandy at one of his hunting lodges and had eaten lampreys, a food that he knew was not good for him. He felt unwell for several days and the illness got worse and he passed away. Before he died he gave instructions that he should be buried at Reading Abbey. It is not clear who Henry nominated to be the next ruler of England just before his death.  ¹

In Normandy, was Henry's nephew Stephen, a Norman like the barons. Matilda, on the other hand, was considered English by the barons because her mother was an English woman. Matilda was also married to a Frenchman, Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, and enemy of Normandy. If Matilda became Queen it was possible that Geoffrey would become King of England after her death. Once Stephen heard the news of his uncle's death he swiftly set out for England accompanied by a small band of supporters. After failed attempts to land on the south coast he came ashore in London where he was warmly welcomed. ¹

Stephen of Blois was crowned King Stephen of England at Westminster Abbey.

The Earl of Devon, Baldwin de Redvers took refuge in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight after a defeat at the hands of King Stephen.

The site of an early Benedictine abbey was taken over by the Cistercians with the permission of King Stephen. Monks from Savigny colonised the abbey. ¹

Bampton Castle in Devon captured by King Stephen.

The funeral of King Henry I of England took place at Reading Abbey, a Clunic house that he had founded in 1121 and where he had specified he wanted to be buried. King Stephen attended the proceedings.

A peace treaty signed by King David of Scotland and King Stephen. The Scottish King had invaded northern England in January and had captured many of the major towns including Carlisle and Newcastle. In response, Stephen had raised a large army and marched north to Durham. King David agreed to talk rather than fight and an arrangement was agreed allowing the Scots to keep Carlisle in return for stopping their advance. David refused to do homage to the English King as his loyalties rested with Matilda, King Henry's daughter. King David's son did pay homage to Stephen and received the Earldom of Huntingdon in return.

Queen Matilda, the wife of King Stephen, was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

King Stephen held a magnificent court at Oxford attended by large numbers of important barons and members of the Church. No expense was spared. ¹

Stephen visits Hereford Cathedral for his royal proclamation on Whitsunday. The chair reputed to have been used by Stephen still exists at Hereford. ¹

Geoffrey Talbot had captured Hereford Castle, so King Stephen raised an army to take back control. The king was welcomed by the townsfolk and spent several weeks attacking the castle. Talbot had escaped to Weobley Castle which Stephen then captured. Talbot evaded capture and turned back to Hereford which he set fire to in mid June.

Adela, the mother of King Stephen, died at Marcigny Convent where she had retired to become a nun,

King Stephen sailed to Normandy to confront Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou and the Angevins who were attacking the southern areas of Normandy. Although Stephen had some success he was not able to deal fully with the count. Stephen did come to an agreement with the French King Louis VI and Eustace, Stephen's son, paid homage to the French king for Normandy. ¹

King Stephen and his court spent Christmas at the palace at Dunstable that had been built by Henry I. ¹

This wealthy manor was given to the Knights Templar by Matilda, wife of King Stephen for their help getting Stephen to the throne. Later, the site was given to the Hospitallers when the Templars were suppressed. ¹

Robert, the Earl of Gloucester and half brother to Matilda (daughter of Henry I) rebels against King Stephen, supporting Matilda's claim to the throne of England.

Matilda was given refuge by William de Albini at Arundel Castle. King Stephen built siege works around the castle in response but was unable to break the castle's defences. Matilda escaped but was later captured. ¹

King Stephen captured the castle at Shrewsbury. Henry (II) would capture back the castle before the end of Stephen's reign. ¹

The Castle and lands around Dudley were attacked by King Stephen during the early part of his war against Matilda. ¹

Ludlow Castle was captured on behalf of Matilda in 1138 and King Stephen besieged the castle in an attempt to regain it. During the siege the King bravely saved Prince Henry of Scotland from being injured by a grappling hook thrown from the castle. ¹

In support of King David of Scotland, Milo de Beauchamp captured Bedford Castle. But after a siege, King Stephen took it back. ¹

King David of Scotland took an army across the border and attacked Northumbria. He wanted Northumbria for his son Henry. ¹

In response to the Scottish attack in the north, King Stephen took an army into Scotland but the two kings did not meet and Stephen returned to England. ¹

King Stephen held a Great Council (Magnum Concilium) at Northampton. ¹

Led by their king, David I, the Scots invade and destroy Northumberland. The Scots moved south into Lancashire and North Yorkshire. This prompted Steven to mobilize an army to counter the invasion. The Scots captured and destroyed the important castle at Norham.

After Brian fitz Count the owner of the castle at Wallingford sided with Matilda, King Stephen built two siege castles to force him out. ¹

In 1139 Baldwin de Redvers captured Corfe Castle for Matilda. King Stephen besieged the castle but was unable to take it back. ¹

King Stephen besieged Leeds Castle which was being held against him by supporters of Matilda. The castle fell to the King and he took control of it. ¹

King Stephen arrested Roger, the Bishop of Salisbury. Bishop Roger was a powerful landowner and had several castles. Stephen also arrested Alexander, the bishop of Lincoln and had him imprisoned. Stephen wanted to take control to bishop Roger's castles and the bishop was taken to his castle at Devizes where he was held captive outside the walls and starved until the castle surrendered. Roger's son was also captured and tortured until the castle finally fell to the King. Roger's castle at Sherborne was also captured by Stephen. The castles at Newark and Sleaford in Lincolnshire belonging to bishop Alexander were forced to surrender to the King using the same underhand tactics.

The city of Worcester was attacked by forces supporting Matilda (Empress Maude). The citizens of the city moved their posessions into the cathedral for safe keeping. The attackers failed to gain access from the south but managed to enter the city from the north. Parts of the city were ransacked and burnt.

King Stephen and Matilda his wife founded Coggeshall Abbey. This was to be the last of the Savigny abbeys to be founded before the order merged with the Cistercians in 1147. ¹

Lincoln, held by Matilda's supporters, was besieged by King Stephen. The siege would continue until February the next year. ¹

Matilda's forces defeated and captured King Stephen at the battle of Lincoln. Stephen was held captive until September when Matilda's forces were defeated at Winchester.

After King Stephen had been captured at Lincoln, Matilda was elected as Queen of England at Winchester. Her new position as ruler of England was not to last for long

Matilda's forces were besieging a royalist held castle at Wolvesey near Winchester and were attacked and defeated by a royalist relief army. King Stephen who was being held captive at the time was exchanged for Robert, earl of Gloucester one of Matilda's supporters who was captured in the defeat.

Robert, Earl of Gloucester was held captive at Rochester Castle before being exchanged for King Stephen who had been captured earlier in the year at Lincoln.

After his release Stephen insisted on a second coronation so that the barons would swear their loyalty to him. The coronation took place at Canterbury Cathedral.

Oxford was besieged by King Stephen trapping Matilda inside the city. But just before Christmas Matilda managed to escape across the snow and ice of the frozen Thames dressed in white so that she would not be seen. Matilda escaped to Wallingford Castle and Oxford fell to the King. ¹

King Stephen arrested Geoffrey de Mandeville at a meeting of the Royal Court. Mandeville had tried Stephen's patience with his disloyalty and the king did not want the Tower of London (which Mandeville controlled) fall into the hands of Matilda. Mandevilles castles and title of Earl of Essex were taken from him, and he became an outlaw. ¹

Built by Robert, Earl of Gloucester. The castle soon came under siege by King Stephen who after four days took the castle and destroyed it. ¹

After several years of conflict between the Angevins and the Barons of Normandy Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou, captured Rouen and took control of the whole of the duchy of Normandy. Geoffrey also took the title of Duke of Normandy. ¹

King Stephen captures the castle at Farringdon from Matilda.

Built by King Stephen (or the Earl of Chester). The castle had a moat and was situated on the site of current manor house. ¹

King Stephen's 'crown wearing' ceremony was held in Lincoln at Christmas. ¹

King Stephen leys siege to Pevensey castle and has to wait for the castle's reserves to run out before the castle falls.

Henry landed in England with a small army intent on attacking King Stephen. Unfortunately, Henry's army of mercenaries was small and they were not being paid enough. Stephen gave Henry money to pay the mercenaries and for Henry to return to Normandy. Henry left England.

The death of Robert was a blow to Matilda's attempts to fight for the English throne. Matilda was to leave England shortly afterwards.

Without the support of the Earl of Gloucester, who had died the previous year, Matilda left England for Normandy leaving King Stephen to rule. His control over the country was limited due to his inability to subdue the lawless barons.

King Stephen besieged then plundered the city of Worcester but was unable to capture the castle due to its strong defences. He expelled the Lord of the city William de Beauchamp. Stephen built two forts near the castle to assist in the attack. One was on Red Hill near Digly and the other was at Henwicks Hill. ¹

Henry of Anjou landed in England in a second attempt to take the English throne from King Stephen. he travelled up via Salisbury and Gloucester north to Carlisle.

Henry the future king of England (Henry II) was knighted at Carlisle by David, King of the Scots. ¹

At the age of five or six, William Marshal was handed over to King Stephen as a hostage. Instead of being killed, which was possible, William began a new life that would make him a knight.  ¹

Newbury Castle was besieged and captured by King Stephen in 1152 (or 1153). ¹

King Stephen had several lords swear to have Eustace, his son, as the next king of England. Theobald the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had to accept as well, refused to crown Eustace favouring Henry II's claim to the throne instead.

After marrying Eleanor Henry came under attack by Louis, Eleanor's previous husband, who did not recognise Henry as the new Duke of Aquitaine. Stephen sent troops and his son Eustace to help Louis against Henry. Henry's younger brother, Geoffrey, was also not happy with the situation and joined the quarrels. Henry moved quickly attacking Louis and capturing Geoffrey to secure his position as Duke.

Richard de Lucy was appointed the title of Constable at the Tower of London, an extremely important position, by King Stephen.

Henry, the son of Matilda, and a fleet of 30 to 40 ships landed on the south coast of England. Henry chose to attack Malmesbury, one of King Stephen's outposts. The winter weather took its toll on Stephen's troops and a truce was agreed. The truce agreement was to have the castle at Malmesbury destroyed but this was not carried out and Henry took control of the fortress. Henry then went in search of supporters. In the Midlands, the Earl of Leicester took Henry's side and this gave Henry control of large number of castles.

Henry had besieged a fort that King Stephen had built at Crowmarsh on the banks of the Thames opposite Wallingford Castle. An agreement of succession of King Henry II after Stephen was concluded and witnessed by the English Knights Templars. King Stephen accepted Henry of Normandy, Anjou and Aquitaine as heir to the throne and in turn Henry recognised Stephen as King. Stephen made his barons do homage to Henry in January of 1154. ¹

At a meeting at Oxford the barons accepted Henry as the rightful heir to the English throne and paid homage to him. Henry was displeased because in the terms of the treaty of Wallingford many of the castles that had been built during the civil war were supposed to have been destroyed but were still standing. ¹

Confident in his right to rule the country, King Stephen toured his kingdom. One of the pressing issues he faced were the numerous illegal castles that had been built during the Anarchy. In North Yorkshire a rebel held out against the king at Drax Castle. Stephen raised an army locally and captured the fortification. ¹

While staying in Dover, King Stephen suddenly became ill and died. He had agreed that Matilda's son Henry should become King upon his death. Henry was in Normandy at the time.

Henry became king of England upon the death of King Stephen. ¹