Transcriber's Note Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Hyphenation has been rationalised. Inconsistent spelling (including accents and capitals) has been retained. Not all accents display properly in all applications. Small capitals have been replaced by full capitals. Italics are indicated by _underscores_. Text in multiple columns has been rearranged into single columns. The sidenotes in Chapter 4 have been transferred to the text, and are bracketed by ►pointers◄. Genealogical tables in Appendices K and U have been split into two in order to reduce their widh. Some references to years are encased in square brackets, as for example [1136]. To avoid confusion with the numbered footnotes, these references have instead been encased in rounded brackets. GEOFFREY DE MANDEVILLE [Illustration: FACSIMILE OF CHARTER CREATING GEOFFREY DE MANDEVILLE EARL OF ESSEX. _See p._ 51.] GEOFFREY DE MANDEVILLE _A STUDY OF THE ANARCHY_ BY J. H. ROUND, M.A. AUTHOR OF "THE EARLY LIFE OF ANNE BOLEYN: A CRITICAL ESSAY" "Anno incarnationis Dominicæ millesimo centesimo quadragesimo primo inextricabilem labyrinthum rerum et negotiorum quæ acciderunt in Anglia aggredior evolvere."—_William of Malmesbury_ LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO. AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16ᵗʰ STREET 1892 _All rights reserved_ PREFACE "The reign of Stephen," in the words of our greatest living historian, "is one of the most important in our whole history, as exemplifying the working of causes and principles which had no other opportunity of exhibiting their real tendencies." To illustrate in detail the working of those principles to which the Bishop of Oxford thus refers, is the chief object I have set before myself in these pages. For this purpose I have chosen, to form the basis of my narrative, the career of Geoffrey de Mandeville, as the most perfect and typical presentment of the feudal and anarchic spirit that stamps the reign of Stephen. By fixing our glance upon one man, and by tracing his policy and its fruits, it is possible to gain a clearer perception of the true tendencies at work, and to obtain a firmer grasp of the essential principles involved. But, while availing myself of Geoffrey's career to give unity to my theme, I have not scrupled to introduce, from all available sources, any materials bearing on the period known as the Anarchy, or illustrating the points raised by the charters with which I deal.