KING STEPHEN AND THE ANARCHY: Civil War and Military Tactics in Twelfth-Century Britain

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The Anarchy, the protracted struggle between Stephen of Blois and the Empress Matilda for the English crown between 1135 and 1154, is often seen as a disastrous breakdown in one of the best-governed kingdoms of medieval Europe. But perhaps the impact of the conflict has been overstated, and its effect on the common people across the country is hard to judge. Describes each phase of this civil war, in particular the castles and sieges that dominated strategic thinking, and sets the fighting in the context of the changing tactics and military systems of the 12th century.