King Stephen

King Stephen: 1135–1154 by R.H.C. Davis offers a groundbreaking reexamination of King Stephen’s tumultuous reign, challenging the conclusions of J.H. Round's seminal Geoffrey de Mandeville. Drawing on newly available sources, including the final portion of the Gesta Stephani and recently discovered charters, Davis revises the chronology and interpretation of key events, providing fresh insights into the political and administrative complexities of Stephen’s rule. The book benefits from Davis’s collaboration on the Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum and his integration of extensive historical scholarship, resulting in a nuanced account of a monarchy tested by civil war and shifting loyalties. An essential work for understanding 12th-century England, it sheds new light on the challenges of legitimacy and governance during one of the most fraught periods in English history. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1967.