some also had seen, that swords were being drawn around them. Nevertheless, the legate and archbishop Theobald, making a last effort in fulfilment of what they deemed their duty, cast themselves at the king's feet, and implored him to have pity on the Church, on his own soul and reputation, nor suffer dissension between the sovereignty and priesthood. Their attempt was fruitless 1.

It would seem, however, that, to appease the clergy, Stephen submitted to a sort of penance, by divesting himself of the royal habit and expressing his contrition for the violence of which he had been guilty2.

At this time, William of Mohun, a man of noble lineage, raised a powerful opposition to the authority of Stephen, and from the fair and strong castle of Dunster, which he had erected on the coast of the Bristol channel, in Somersetshire, in which he had assembled a considerable body of knights and soldiers, laid waste and plundered the surrounding country far and near, putting to the sword, carrying off, and burning all and everything offering resistance, and inflicting tortures on those who were suspected of possessing wealth; in fact, renewing those horrors, of which so appalling a recital has been already given.

When intelligence of these enormities reached the ears of the king, he speedily raised a large force for their repression; but on arriving before the castle, and viewing its formidable defences, it being on one side washed by the sea, on the others guarded by its walls and towers, by outworks and intrenchments, he despaired of taking it by assault, and, listening to the advice of others, caused a fort to be erected

1 W. Malm. pp. 719, sqq.

2 Gesta Steph. p. 51. "Sed quia ab omni clero juste provisum, et discrete fuit dijudicatum, nulla șatione in christos Domini manus posse immittere, ecclesiastici rigoris duritiam humilitatis subjectione mollivit, habitumque regalem exutus, gemensque animo, et contritus spiritu, commissi sententiam humiliter suscepit."-T.

in face of the fortress, whence he could hold it in check and give greater security to the surrounding country. Being then summoned to other parts, he delegated his authority to Henry of Tracy, a soldier of approved valour and experience, enjoining him vigorously and incessantly to assail the enemy. Nor, in the absence of the king, was Tracy backward in fulfilling the orders he had received, but from his town of Barnstaple carried on the warfare with such energy, that not alone did he repress the predatory excursions of the garrison, but on one occasion captured a hundred and four knights, in an encounter of cavalry, and reduced Mohun himself to such straits, and so humbled him, that he ceased from further hostilities against him, and restored to the land a comparative degree of tranquillity, and immunity from all cause of disquietude'.

But William of Mohun was not the only one whom the vigour of Tracy reduced to obedience; other disturbers also of the public peace, among whom William fitz Odo was especially conspicuous, he forced to submit to the king's authority. After having in various conflicts weakened the power of this turbulent noble, Henry of Tracy received intelligence from his spies that the castle of his adversary was deserted by its defenders, who had sallied forth on a plundering expedition. Proceeding then to the castle in the silence of the night, and eluding the watch, he caused lighted torches to be cast through the windows of a tower, whereby the interior habitations were soon wrapped in flames, and its lord, half burnt, together with all his treasure was carried off by Tracy, who also, on other occasions, gave proofs of his zealous attachment to the cause of Stephen 2.

During this state of disquietude into which the country was plunged, Baldwin of Redvers, who, as we have seen, had been passing his life in exile, landed with a considerable body of followers at Wareham, whence he proceeded to Corfe

castle, where he prepared to oppose a stout resistance to the king, of whose speedy approach he had received reports. These reports were well founded, for the king was no sooner apprized of his landing than, summoning his friends, he at once proceeded to lay siege to the castle, where after passing a considerable time, in expectation of overcoming his enemy, either by means of his military engines or by hunger, he at length, yielding to the advice of his followers, raised the siege, and allowed Baldwin to withdraw unmolested. What prompted Stephen to this apparently imprudent step was the intelligence that the earl of Gloucester and his sister, the countess of Anjou, having united their forces, were on the eve of invading England, against a sudden surprise from whom he commanded the entrance of all the ports to be closely watched, both by day and night, deeming it more prudent and at the same time more desirable to frustrate with all his might the designs of his principal enemies, than, by directing his efforts solely against Baldwin, to run the risk of being circumvented by others1.

While the king's attention was thus distracted, the whole country was plunged into a state of consternation, by the intelligence that, on the 30th Sept., the earl of Gloucester and his sister, accompanied by Guy of Sableuil and a body of a hundred and forty knights, had landed on the coast of Sussex2, and had found an asylum in the castle of Arundel, belonging to William of Aubigny (Albini), who had married Adela, the queen dowager, and step-mother of the empress3.

1 Gesta Stephani, p. 54.

2 Flor. Contin. a. 1139, asserts that she landed at Portsmouth on the 1st Aug., while the king was besieging Marlborough. Robert de Monte also says: mense Augusto transierunt in Angliam. H. Hunt. also says: in autumno, and John of Hexham speaks of the landing at the close of the year 1139.

3 Robert de Monte. Ord. Vital. p. 920. [Arundel castle was possessed by William of Aubigny in right of his wife, on whom, together with the earldom, it had been bestowed, "pro dote" by Henry I. R. Wendover, ii. p. 227.-T.]

At this intelligence, the minds of men were impelled in opposite directions, those who favoured the cause of Matilda appearing more alert, and more eager to embarrass the king, while those of his party were depressed and thunderstricken. The king alone stood unshaken amid all the wars and dissensions in which he was involved, and without a moment's delay, placing himself at the head of a body of tried veterans, unexpectedly appeared before the castle of Arundel, where, on receiving intelligence from his scouts that the earl with his followers had, in the silence of the night, withdrawn from the castle, and was gone in the direction of Bristol, there to place himself at the head of ten thousand Welsh and other adversaries of the king, but that Matilda with her Angevin followers was still in the castle, leaving a portion of his force to prevent her escape, he directed all his efforts to the capture of the earl. In this design, however, he was frustrated, as Robert, avoiding the beaten road and following a devious course, succeeded with his friends in reaching Bristol safely. Stephen thereupon hastened back to resume the siege of the castle. By the chronicler of Stephen's acts we are told, that the bishop of Winchester, on hearing of the arrival of the earl and his sister, caused all the by-ways to be occupied by soldiers, and having by this means met with the earl, he entered into a compact of peace and amity with him, and allowed him to depart without let or injury. Such was the common report, though as the chronicler adds, it must appear not only doubtful but incredible to every thinking person, that a brother should meet with the kiss of peace the invader of his brother's kingdom. The bishop then, as if he had not met with the earl, and accompanied by a numerous body of knights, joined the king. On finding that his brother was resolved on prosecuting the siege with vigour, he pronounced that resolution both useless to the king and not grateful to

Not more than twelve knights. W. Malm. p. 725. 2 Ord. Vital. p. 920.

the kingdom; for if he undertook to besiege the countess in one part of England, her brother would forthwith raise an insurrection in another; it would, consequently, be more advisable, both for himself and the realm, to permit her without molestation to join her brother, so that the forces of both being confined in one spot, he could the more easily direct all his efforts to their destruction, and would be the better enabled to pursue them with his whole power. Stephen imprudently followed this advice, and, pledges being given and received, permitted the countess to join her brother. The shortness of Matilda's sojourn at Arundel may, however, partly at least, have been caused by the unwillingness of her step-mother to afford her longer entertainment, notwithstanding the repeated promises transmitted to her while residing in Normandy. Besides the permission so imprudently granted, Stephen, with equal, if not greater imprudence, assigned to the countess, as an escort, his brother Henry with Waleram count of Meulan2. By the latter she was not attended beyond Calne, but the bishop accompanied her until she was met by her brother with an armed force, who conducted her to Bristol. On reaching Bristol she gave notice of her arrival to all the barons of the realm, imploring their aid, to some promising gifts, to others an augmentation of their lands. All those, therefore, who had only feigned adherence to the royal cause, breaking their oaths of homage and fealty, hastened to her standard. She afterwards withdrew to Gloucester, the castle of which was held, under earl Robert, by Milo the constable, from the time of king Henry3.

To recount all the vicissitudes, as far as any memorials of them have been preserved, of the petty warfare which from

"Noverca fœminea levitate fidem, totiens etiam missis in Normanniam nunciis promissam, fefellerat." W. Malm. p. 725. See also Flor. Contin. p. 117.

2 According to Malmesbury (p. 725), it was not the custom of praiseworthy knights to refuse an escort even to their bitterest enemy.

3 Gesta Stephani, p. 56, and antea p. 323 note.