Again the Penguin Monarchs series provides great interest in a slim volume, in the long run of Henrys and Edwards with its smattering of Richards the name Stephen stands out – yet somehow I had a vague knowledge of the Empress Matilda and “the Anarchy” without setting it in the context of Stephen’s kingship.
The story of Stephen points to the way that the hereditary principle was rarely a straight jacket, and it seems as often as not the English crown passed on beyond the direct line. Also, particularly having just read Maureen Duffy’s England, it is a reminder that the “isolation” of England is a myth, the interplay with Wales and Scotland, but also France and the wider continent had a very intimate influence on the shaping of the “politics” of England.
I also found myself reflecting that the is a echo between Matilda and Mary Tudor – both had the challenge of acceptance as female rulers, but this was not helped by their husbands, the fear that Philip of Spain would naturally control his wife Mary Tudor and through her England is prefigured in the fear that Matilda would be beholden to her husband Geoffrey Plantagenet.
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