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Bastards and The Anarchy

By James Turner

Family was of the utmost importance in shaping the identity, political affinity and horizons of twelfth century aristocrats. This was no less true for royals with the Norman and Angevin kings of England finding both their greatest supporters and ardent foes emerging from the ranks of their own family throughout the 12th century. This series looks at the lives and relationships of a category of people who due to the circumstances of their birth sat on the periphery of this vast and interconnected dynastic systems – the royal bastards.

An idea that we’ve touched upon previously is just how blurry and ill-defined the line between the personal and the political truly was within twelfth century aristocratic families. Far from the comforting refuge of the nuclear family complete with white picket fence and two and a half kids, the medieval noble family was a connective node between an individual and the sprawling and tangled network of wider familial, political and regional affinities in which they operated. In this world business was always personal and warfare was more often than not a family enterprise.

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Aside from personal affinity and native affection, which much like today can be somewhat variable to say the least, the centre of gravity which held aristocratic families together as political units was a portfolio of land and resources in which they all shared a theoretical and inheritable interest. The family could therefore usually be relied upon to rally around to oppose anything that threatened to remove a portion of this portfolio from the family’s control simply because it further alienated individuals from the possibility of gaining that land through regularly dynastic processes.

The inevitable flip side of this, of course, is that the history of the period is rife with examples of people who either on their own or in concert with outside allies attempted to use force to realise or expand their claim to these territories at the expense of their family members. The Anglo-Norman and Angevin royal families were no exception to this trend, operating as they did in many ways as the first amongst equals amidst the political aristocracies of their patchwork hegemonies. Following his death and the division of the Anglo-Norman realm the Conqueror’s sons, the eldest of whom Robert had already engaged in open rebellion against his father, fought a stuttering and spiralling array of wars against one another, shedding treaties and protestations of fraternal friendship as opportunities presented themselves. Generations later, the sons of Henry II would at various times individually or in league make war upon their father as a means of disputing the details of the planned division of the family’s extensive holdings.

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In contrast royal bastards tended to display a high degree of loyalty to their legitimate benefactors, actively participating in royal service during the intermittent bouts of instability and the aggressive renegotiation of status and position which characterised aristocratic politics. This general adherence was the result of a mutually shared interests informed by the natural confluence of political and dynastic interests, stemming from participation in a shared familial identity. While royal bastards could and often did  pursue their own interests and agendas as circumstances dictated, the social and legal limitations of illegitimacy made them largely reliant upon the support and patronage of their legitimate relatives which contextualised their position within the court and wider aristocratic networks of power.

Stephen vs Matilda

Taking advantage of the confusion and division created by the inheritance crisis following the death of Henry I, his nephew Stephen seized the throne. While historians debate just how applicable the traditional designation of  “The Anarchy” is, the period of intense factionalism and civil war that beset Stephen’s reign was, it’s fair to say, less than completely peaceful, contributing to his centuries long PR problem. The king fought a long sequence of campaigns throughout his reign against both rebellious nobles seeking to distance themselves from royal authority and oversight and also his cousin, and King Henry’s designated heir, Empress Matilda.

Matilda was a direct and serious competitor for the throne and was able to foster enough support amongst the Anglo-Norman aristocracy that her armies could directly, confront, stalemate and occasionally best royalist forces. Her party, however, struggled to formulate an ideological or practical approach to removing Stephen and negate his status as an anointed king; even during his period in Angevin captivity, the king’s person and to a lesser extent this status remained inviolate.

In addition to this, much like her rival, substantial elements of Matilda’s support base were at times undermined by the factionalism and opportunism of her aristocratic supporters, occasionally exacerbated by her Angevin husband’s otherness and rapacious behaviour within Normandy. In addition to her own resourcefulness and formidable force of will, one of the reasons that Matilda was able to sustain her claim within England and contest the throne for so long was through the committed support of a number of her illegitimate half-brothers, most notable Earl Robert of Gloucester and Earl Reginald of Cornwall.

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As we’ve previously discussed, Earl Robert of Gloucester’s initial prevarication following his father’s death and acquiescence to Stephen’s seizure of the throne should probably be viewed not only as a reluctance to jeopardise his own extensive political interest in pursuit of his half-sister’s claim but also as a reflection of the context of tangled and overlapping familiar obligations and political concerns. However, after a period of cooperation with Stephen, the new king’s reluctance to intervene directly during the Welsh uprisings fuelled the Earl’s growing conviction that Stephen did not intend to integrate him into his inner circle.

Isolated from the access and royal favour which he had enjoyed under Henry I and upon which his powerbase was largely constructed, the royal bastard instead elected to align himself with his half-sister. Robert’s soon to be proven loyalty to Matilda and commitment to enforcing her claim to the throne was also certainly influenced by his comparative status and power to Matilda within the Angevin faction. Heavily entrenched within royal familial identity and as one of the most powerful aristocrats within the Anglo-Norman hegemony, in many ways, Robert was more Matilda’s confederate than subordinate, acting as a key member in the leadership of the Angevin party and their foremost military commander within England.  Stepping into Robert’s shoes it’s easy to see how a sister who relied upon your help was a far more attractive and potential beneficial prospect that a cousin who was determined to marginalise you and go his own way.

Robert and Matilda

This led Robert into an alliance with his half-sister, Matilda, and her husband Geoffrey of Anjou in 1138. This newly found alliance began with an inauspicious start, Robert’s first military interventions on behalf of his sister were almost unmitigated disasters; his campaign in Normandy stalling even as his allies in England were badly mauled by royalist forces. However, the siblings persisted in the face of these initial military setbacks, arriving in England in 1139 and taking shelter at Arundel castle with their step-mother, Henry I’s widowed second wife.  Interestingly, the earl left Empress Matilda at Arundel, content to leave it under siege by Stephen, while he departed to gather his own forces, an act which alongside his handling of the Angevin war effort within England over the succeeding years, concentrating mainly on the defence of his territories in the west country, suggests that while Robert adopted the Empress’ cause, effectively blending his political interests and fortunes with those of his half-sister, he was willing and perhaps even desired to act unilaterally from her in the pursuit of their shared goal.

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As Matilda’s close relative and most powerful supporter amongst the magnates, Robert was naturally present at Empress Matilda’s failed coronation and humiliating flight from London, taking command of the confused Angevin forces during the subsequent siege of Winchester. It was during this sudden reversal of fortunes that Robert was captured. Robert’s singular importance as a military proxy for Matilda and the degree of his association with royal family identity proved to be a double-edged sword for his half-sister. Without Robert’s prestige amongst the aristocracy, the resources of his own extensive affinities and his energetic, if perhaps unimaginative, military leadership, Matilda was unable to effectively counter Stephen’s resurgent supporters and she was swiftly compelled to exchange the imprisoned king for her half-brother.

Following his release, Robert continued to defend their shared political and territorial interests, operating from both his powerbase in the Welsh Marches and Empress Matilda’s court at Oxford. In 1142, Robert once again acted as his sister’s envoy, travelling to Normandy and participated in his brother-in-law, Geoffrey of Anjou’s successful campaign to pacify the south of the duchy.  In 1143, in one of the conflicts last decisive battles, Robert effectively checked the Angevin’s decline in England by soundly defeating Stephen and his allies at Wilton, capturing the castle and ransacking the town.

An incident, occurring shortly before his sudden illness and death in 1147, which highlights Robert’s conception of himself as a senior member of the Anglo-Norman royal, was the arrival in England of Matilda’s son Henry. Eager to establish himself, the teenage Henry travelled to England with a company of mercenaries in a bold and poorly thought out scheme. Upon arrival within England, Matilda and Robert closed ranks, refusing to accept or cooperate with the young adventurer, who the siblings likely viewed as an unwanted complication and potential usurper whose own claim to the throne could potentially divide Angevin loyalties and support. When the politically isolated and overwhelmed Henry failed to make any headway in England, he was taken hostage by his disgruntled escort when it became clear he was unable to pay them, with both his Mother and Uncle refusing to give him aid.

Deliverance instead came from a most unlikely source. King Stephen perpetually mindful of his obligations to family members (when not stealing their crowns) and the duty of care inherent in kingship paid off the mercenaries and arranged for the young Henry to return home safe but humiliated.  It seems that both the Empress Matilda and Earl Robert still envisaged that Matilda could claim the throne in her own right and then presumably rule in concert with Robert, whose political and dynastical interests cleaved so closely to her own. Henry on the other hand was an unknown quantity, raised primarily by his father in Anjou and possessing a rival claim without the complications introduced by Matilda’s gender.

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Earl Reginald of Cornwall

Reginald as one of Henry I’s youngest illegitimate sons whose mother came from a tightly knit but middling aristocratic affinity and he had little in the way of personal resources or influence during his father’s lifetime. Instead Reginald’s rise to political and economic prominence by the end of Stephen’s reign and the dynastic struggle between rival factions of the Anglo-Norman royal house, can be firmly sourced to his support for his half-sister, the Empress Matilda; a close political alignment predicated upon participation in a shared familial identity.

Following the death of his father in 1135 and Stephen’s seizure of the throne, Reginald quickly defected to his half-sister, departing Winchester sometime after Easter and emerging later that year as part of the Empress’ household. Reginald quickly became involved in the Angevin’s military efforts to destabilise Stephen’s hold over Normandy and he can be found at the end of 1136 in the company of Stephen de Mandeville and his long-term friend and ally Baldwin de Redvers by raiding and pillaging the Cotentin. In addition to disrupting Stephen’s attempts to establish control over Normandy, the three had a vested interest within the area since it contained the lands and castle of Baldwin’s brother, William de Vernon.

In 1140 his elder half-siblings raised him to the Earldom of Cornwall. To aid Reginald in securing the Earldom he was furnished with a marriage to Beatrice, the daughter of William Fitz Richard of Cardan and a member of one of the region’s foremost political affinities. By consolidating his own power and authority within the earldom with the help of his newly acquired marital connections and siblings within the Angevin party’s leadership, Reginald was advancing their mutual dynastic interests by securing Angevin control in the south-west of England. Correspondingly as a now active and empowered member of the Angevin faction, Reginald was now even more heavily invested in his half-sister’s success and incentivised to engage in further service on her behalf.

Earl Reginald and his new father-in-law, William Fitz Richard, quickly began a campaign to consolidate their power on the peninsula. However, Reginald was soon excommunicated – according to Robert of Torigni, apparently the result of his attempt to impose a levy upon the Cornish churches. Reginald was dealt a more serious blow later that year when King Stephen and his supporter, Alan of Richmond, moved to intervene in Cornwall directly which drastically reversed all of Reginald’s previous gains within the County, forcing him to take refuge in Launceston castle while Alan, whose dubious heritage claim to the earldom Stephen had chosen to recognise out of political expediency, took over the earldom’s administration. Reginald’s position as earl and quite possibly his life where saved in 1141 when both Stephen and Alan were captured at the Battle of Lincoln, after which Reginald was able to swiftly restore his authority within the earldom bringing it completely under Angevin control in short order.

Later that year, Reginald accompanied Empress Matilda to London and her planned coronation and was present during the flight to Winchester, John of Worcester recording that while Earl Robert led the rear-guard, Earl Reginald was entrusted with escorting the Empress to safety. Reginald often acted as envoy and representative of his half-sister with whose interests he was so closely aligned. In a fun little incident that showed how tangled medieval familial politics can become, in 1146 while en-route to negotiate with the king, Reginald was captured by Robert’s youngest son Philip of Cricklade who had aligned himself with Stephen. However, such of a breach of accepted diplomatic and aristocratic codes was potentially extremely damaging to both Philip and the king’s reputation and the young castellan was quickly compelled to release his uncle.

Reginald continued to be a leading member of the Empress’ faction even when magnate apathy cooled the war into a stalemate. His bastion in the south west was able to contribute to keeping his sister’s claim alive even after her retreat to Normandy and the death of Robert of Gloucester.  In 1149, the Angevin cause saw a renewal as Matilda’s son, Henry, arrived at Devizes and sheltered by Reginald’s powerbase in Wiltshire, summoned to himself a number of powerful magnates, including the earls of Cornwall, Gloucester and Hereford. Reginald was highly influential during this period, which saw the renewing of ties and the cultivation of affinity between the new Angevin candidate and his mother’s supporters, although interestingly in Prince Henry’s witness lists, Reginald was placed behind Earl William of Gloucester which probably indicates a period of transition and reorientation within the Angevin affinity following the death of Earl Robert.

While this conclave of Angevin magnates, under his nephew did not result in any immediate shift in the balance of power, it did represent a transference of ambitions of an Angevin victory as well as Reginald’s personal loyalty to a new generation. In 1152 Reginald travelled to Normandy in order to persuade Duke Henry to invade England.  When Henry returned to England in 1153 in a bid to secure his grandfather’s throne, Earl Reginald was already in his retinue and would in the reign to come profit from his close familial connection and personal affinity with Henry.

This is the fifth in a series of articles known as A Bastard’s Lot: The Illegitimate Royal Children of 12th Century England, by James Turner. 

James Turner has recently completed his doctoral studies at Durham University before which he attended the University of Glasgow. Deeply afraid of numbers and distrustful of counting, his main research interests surround medieval aristocratic culture and identity.

Top Image: Marginal drawing of the Battle of Lincoln, in Henry of Huntingdon’s Historia Anglorum. The crowned figure is King Stephen. British Library MS Arundel 48   f. 168v

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