Editing The Anarchy (section)

===New regime (1135–1138)===
Stephen had to intervene in the north of England immediately after his coronation.<ref name=King2010P52/> [[David I of Scotland]], brother of Henry I's first queen and maternal uncle of Matilda, invaded the north on the news of Henry's death, taking [[Carlisle]], [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] and other key strongholds.<ref name=King2010P52/> Northern England was a disputed territory at this time, with the Scottish kings laying a traditional claim to [[Cumberland]], and David also claiming [[Northumbria]] by virtue of his marriage to the daughter of the former Anglo-Saxon earl [[Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria|Waltheof]].<ref name="Carpenter, p.165">Carpenter, p.165.</ref> Stephen rapidly marched north with an army and met David at [[Durham, England|Durham]].<ref name=King2010P53>King (2010), p.53.</ref> An agreement was made under which David would return most of the territory he had taken, with the exception of Carlisle. In return, Stephen confirmed David's son [[Henry, Earl of Northumbria|Prince Henry]]'s possessions in England, including the [[Earldom of Huntingdon]].<ref name=King2010P53/>

Returning south, Stephen held his first royal court at Easter 1136.<ref>King (2010), p.57.</ref> A wide range of nobles gathered at Westminster for the event, including many of the Anglo-Norman barons and most of the higher officials of the church.<ref>King (2010), pp.57–60; Davis, p.22.</ref> Stephen issued a new royal charter, confirming the promises he had made to the church, promising to reverse Henry's policies on the [[royal forest]]s and to reform any abuses of the royal legal system.<ref>Carpenter, p.167.</ref> Stephen portrayed himself as the natural successor to Henry I's policies, and reconfirmed the existing seven earldoms in the kingdom on their existing holders.<ref>White (2000), p.78.</ref> The Easter court was a lavish event, and a large amount of money was spent on the event itself, clothes and gifts.<ref>Crouch (2002), p.250.</ref> Stephen gave out grants of land and favours to those present, and endowed numerous church foundations with land and privileges.<ref>Crouch (2008a), p.29; King (2010), pp.54–55.</ref> Stephen's accession to the throne still needed to be ratified by the Pope, and Henry of Blois appears to have been responsible for ensuring that testimonials of support were sent from Stephen's elder brother Theobald and from the French king Louis VI, to whom Stephen represented a useful balance to Angevin power in the north of France.<ref>Crouch (2008b), pp.46–47.</ref> [[Pope Innocent II]] confirmed Stephen as king by letter later that year, and Stephen's advisers circulated copies widely around England to demonstrate Stephen's legitimacy.<ref>Crouch (2002), pp.248–249.</ref>

[[File:Stephen bird.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A medieval painting of King Stephen holding a hunting bird|14th century depiction of King Stephen with a [[Falconry|hunting bird]]]]
Troubles continued across Stephen's new kingdom. After the Welsh victory at the [[Battle of Llwchwr]] in January 1136 and the successful ambush of [[Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare]] in April, south Wales rose in rebellion, starting in east [[Glamorgan]] and rapidly spreading across the rest of south Wales during 1137.<ref>Carpenter, pp.164–165; Crouch (1998), p.258.</ref> [[Owain Gwynedd]] and [[Gruffydd ap Rhys]] captured considerable territories, including [[Carmarthen Castle]].<ref name="Carpenter, p.165"/> Stephen responded by sending Richard's brother Baldwin and the Marcher Lord Robert Fitz Harold of Ewyas into Wales to pacify the region. Neither mission was particularly successful and by the end of 1137 the king appears to have abandoned attempts to put down the rebellion. Historian [[David Crouch (historian)|David Crouch]] suggests that Stephen effectively "bowed out of Wales" around this time to concentrate on his other problems.<ref>Crouch (1998), pp.260, 262.</ref> Meanwhile, Stephen had put down two revolts in the south-west led by [[Baldwin de Redvers]] and Robert of Bampton; Baldwin was released after his capture and travelled to Normandy, where he became an increasingly vocal critic of the king.<ref>Bradbury, pp.27–32.</ref>

Geoffrey of Anjou attacked Normandy in early 1136 and, after a temporary truce, invaded later the same year, raiding and burning estates rather than trying to hold the territory.<ref name=BarlowP168>Barlow, p.168.</ref> Events in England meant that Stephen was unable to travel to Normandy himself, so [[Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester|Waleran de Beaumont]], appointed by Stephen as the lieutenant of Normandy, and Theobald led the efforts to defend the duchy.<ref>Crouch (2008b), pp.46–47; Crouch (2002), p.252.</ref> Stephen himself only returned to the duchy in 1137, where he met with Louis VI and Theobald to agree to an informal regional alliance, probably brokered by Henry, to counter the growing Angevin power in the region.<ref>Crouch (2008b), p.47.</ref> As part of this deal, Louis recognised Stephen's son Eustace as Duke of Normandy in exchange for Eustace giving fealty to the French king.<ref>Barlow, p.168;</ref> Stephen was less successful in regaining the [[Argentan]] province along the Normandy and Anjou border, which Geoffrey had taken at the end of 1135.<ref>Davis, p.27.</ref> Stephen formed an army to retake it, but the frictions between his Flemish mercenary forces led by William of Ypres and the local Norman barons resulted in a battle between the two halves of his army.<ref>Davis, p.27; Bennett, p.102.</ref> The Norman forces then deserted the king, forcing Stephen to give up his campaign.<ref>Davis, p.28.</ref> Stephen agreed to another truce with Geoffrey, promising to pay him 2,000 [[mark (money)|marks]] a year in exchange for peace along the Norman borders.<ref name=BarlowP168/>{{#tag:ref|[[Geoffrey of Anjou]] appears to have agreed to this at least partially because of the pressure of the combined Anglo-Norman-French regional alliance against him.<ref>Crouch (2008b), p.50; Barlow, p.168.</ref> Medieval financial figures are notoriously hard to convert into modern currency; for comparison, 2,000 marks equated to around £1,333 in a period in which a major castle rebuilding project might cost around £1,115.<ref>Pettifer, p.257.</ref>|group="nb"}}

Stephen's first years as king can be interpreted in different ways. Seen positively, Stephen stabilised the northern border with Scotland, contained Geoffrey's attacks on Normandy, was at peace with Louis VI, enjoyed good relations with the church and had the broad support of his barons.<ref>Barlow, pp.165, 167; Stringer, pp.17–18.</ref> There were significant underlying problems, nonetheless. The north of England was now controlled by David and Prince Henry, Stephen had abandoned Wales, the fighting in Normandy had considerably destabilised the duchy, and an increasing number of barons felt that Stephen had given them neither the lands nor the titles they felt they deserved or were owed.<ref>Barlow, p.168; Crouch (1998), p.264; Carpenter, p.168.</ref> Stephen was also rapidly running out of money: Henry's considerable treasury had been emptied by 1138 due to the costs of running Stephen's more lavish court, and the need to raise and maintain his mercenary armies fighting in England and Normandy.<ref name=CarpenterP169>Carpenter, p.169.</ref>