The desultory war over control of Maine…
December 1135 CE
The desultory war over control of Maine ends on December 1, 1135, with the death of England’s King Henry.
Henry had previously arranged with the barons to have his daughter, Matilda, inherit his throne, as he had feared the appointment of his weak and unreliable nephew, Stephen of Blois, son of Count Stephen of Blois and Chartres and Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror.
The English barons and clergy, who oppose the unpopular Matilda and her bellicose husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou, support the pleasant and congenial Stephen, despite his earlier sworn fealty to Matilda as Henry's successor.
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 has reached the edge of London by December 8 and over the next week he begins to seize power in England.
The crowds in London proclaim Stephen the new monarch, believing that he will grant the city new rights and privileges in return, and his brother, Henry of Blois, the Bishop of Winchester, delivers the support of the Church to Stephen.
Henry convincingly argues that the late King had been wrong to insist that his court take the oath, and suggests that Henry had changed his mind on his deathbed.
Stephen's coronation is held a week later at Westminster Abbey on December 26.
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