History often repeats itself. Sometimes in real life and sometimes on the screen with
big, scary dragons! The House of The Dragons may be a fictitious tale but its origins are
inspired by the very real history of England. They might not have had the dragons to fight
the war but it was surely quite dramatic and savage. Welcome to Nutty History and today
we are learning about the Nutty Historical Medieval Events in England that Inspired House
of Dragons. It was February of 1141, England’s King Stephen was in deep, deep trouble. His
reign contrasted with his predecessor's and uncle’s reign. The era of the Anarchy War
has a misleading label. The era is considered anarchic not because of the civil war itself
but because of Stephen’s misrule. Crime went up significantly across the kingdom as
barons became greedy and ruled their respective lands with an iron fist. Though Stephen had
an affable personality that helped him gain support to ascend to the throne, he couldn’t
make tough decisions and chaos soon prevailed over order. The Church had played a major
part in his appointment as king over his predecessor’s chosen heir and thanks to the stunt, clergy
turned to his rival, Empress Matilda. Meanwhile, Matilda had also found support for her just
cause in her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, an illegitimate child of Henry the First.
He was commanded by Matilda to aid the Castle of Lincoln against the besieging by King Stephen’s
forces. Ranulf de Tailebois seized control of the castle and fortified it against attack.
In return, the commoners of Lincoln who were held inside the castle against their will
pleaded with King Stephen for help. The King’s army was 1250 strong and Robert arrived with
1000 men to break the King’s lines. It would have been a tough battle but as soon as Matilda’s
relief forces arrived, Stephen was shocked to see his lead magnates flee. The citizens
of Lincoln joined Stephen's forces against Gloucester's army, but the royal army was
overwhelmed. One of the Lincoln men handed Stephen a Danish battle-axe, and the king,
to his credit, fought valiantly, but his cause was hopeless. But the real loser of the battle
were the people of Lincoln who paid the price for supporting Stephen. The city was sacked
and many of its inhabitants didn’t live to see the next dawn. As nutty as it may sound,
the Battle of Lincoln was the only proper battle fought over 14 years of civil war that
occurred between Matilda and Stephen. The Battle of Standard between Stephen and King
David the first of Scotland was a much larger battle with ten thousand men fighting for
William of Aumale under King Stephen’s banner and King David’s army being 16,000 strong
wasn’t considered part of the civil war. Despite the fact King David I fought in support
of Matilda, this battle happened before Matilda’s invasion which is considered the beginning
of the Anarchy war. But what was the Anarchy War of England and who were Stephen and Matilda
and how do they connect to the Dance of the Dragons? During the mid-12th century, turmoil
shook the English realm after the demise of King Henry, the first of his name. At the
start of the century, England was considered a peaceful realm, its royal court a seat of
justice. Piety was at its peak and Christianity was thriving until the death of the king.
But according to the history journal ‘Gesta Stephani,’ or The Deeds of King Stephen,
England plunged into obstinacy, strife, and disorder due to a succession crisis. For nearly
20 years, the country suffered from civil war as the privy council of the king rejected
the King's last wish to have his daughter ascend to the throne. Instead, they plotted
to have the next male kin succeed Henry the First. Now if you are wondering, wait a minute
didn’t we just see the same events happen in the House of the Dragons? Well, you are
not wrong because the author George R. R. Martin is a huge History nerd like all of
us. In fact, the entire Ice and Fire saga is based on English history. The events of
the show The Game of Thrones were inspired by The War of The Roses that happened in the
15th century. But in this video, we are discussing how many events of the House of the Dragons
are inspired by the period of English history now known as the Anarchy War. Though England
wasn’t plagued by ice zombies, dragons, and mad regents with silver hair in the Middle
Ages, the events of English history cast a heavy shadow on the fictional world of the
show. Like Viserys, the first of his name, Henry the First also lost his trueborn son
and his first wife tragically. Unlike the show, Henry the First’s family didn’t
die in the birth mishap. Henry the First’s heir William the Aethling, duke of Normandy,
gets to live a lot longer. He was 17 years old when he boarded the White Ship, one of
the finest ships of its age, in 1120 and was partying like crazy with nearly 300 or so
noblemen who all got heavily drunk including the helms-man. Henry the First had worked
hard in his first 20 years of reign to perfect the system of government as much as he could,
sorted all of his realm’s troubles, and was ready to retire and hand the reins over
to his son. But then he got the news that his son drowned as the white ship hit a rock
during the booze cruise, one nautical mile outside Barfleur. Henry is remembered as a
prominent figure of Medieval Europe. Being the fourth-born son of his father, William
the Conqueror, he was supposed to fade out in the past but fate led him to ascend the
throne. For his last 29 years on the throne, he ruled as peacefully as he could have, there
were no rebellions or invasions. The realm prospered and law and order were so well kept
that a young maiden with treasure could walk from one end of the kingdom to the other without
being held up. But all his careful planning to keep England flourishing went out of the
window with William the Aethling’s death. Henry feared for his succession as his wife
had already passed 2 years earlier, he married much younger Adeliza of Louvain in 1121 hoping
to produce another heir but his second marriage remained childless. Desperate, Henry looked
upon his only daughter, Matilda, in 1125 when she returned from Germany after her husband’s
death, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Henry named Matilda his heir and forced a
begrudging court to swear an oath of fealty to her. This was the first time during his
near-perfect reign that his dominion vastly disagreed with him. Now if you are questioning,
how did the civil war occur if there was no step-sibling to challenge Matilda’s claim
to the throne as Aegon the second was pitted against Rhaenyra in the House of the Dragons?
Enter Stephen of Blois, a popular name in the Royal Court, and more importantly, a nephew
of King Henry. In The House of Dragons, the death of King Viserys the First reveals that
his small council was plotting to overthrow Rhaenyra’s claim all along and they never
intend to fulfill their oath. The events of Henry the first’s death also play out in
a similar fashion. The then members of the Privy Council, a formal body of advisors to
the English, or later, British sovereign that perhaps came into existence under the rule
of Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great, never intended to give Matilda the throne. At the
time of Henry’s death, Stephen was a member of this council and managed to convince misogynistic
members of the council, who did not wish to serve a woman, in his favor. Thanks to his
brother, the Bishop of Winchester, Stephen easily secured the support of the church as
well as of Pope Innocent the Second who didn’t favor the biological successor of Henry either
because of her gender. Twenty-Two days after the death of King Henry, Stephen was crowned
the king. Matilda at this time was in Anjou with her second husband Geoffrey, the Count
of Anjou, and their two sons. She was also pregnant with her third child. Rhaenyra in
The House of The Dragons was also away from the capital, King’s Landing, when her father
died, and was also pregnant, but with her fifth child. After Stephen’s defeat at the
Battle of Lincoln, Matilda arrived in London to be crowned but she didn’t get the welcome
she was hoping for. The idea of having a female monarch was too outrageous for Londoners of
that era and they preferred weak and corrupt Stephen over her. She also fumbled up by offering
no tax concessions which angered the public further. Riots broke off and Matilda had to
escape the capital to Oxford before being crowned. Meanwhile, Stephen’s wife took
over Stephen’s forces while he was imprisoned in Bristol and managed to capture Empress
Matilda’s half-brother Robert. Cornered, Matilda had to exchange Stephen to free Robert
and Stephen wasted no time to siege Oxford. Matilda once again fled to Abingdon Abbey
and then Wallingford Castle. For the next 6 years, the battle was pretty much at an
impasse with both sides avoiding taking initiative. But when Robert of Gloucester passed in 1147,
Matilda’s ambition deflated and she abandoned her claim to the throne passing it to her
eldest son, Henry the II. Henry enjoyed military success in Normandy and then managed to capture
most of the country with little resistance. By this point, people were pretty much fed
up with King Stephen’s rule. His reign promoted lawlessness, subjected people to mass extermination
and torment, and failed to prevent famines and depopulation. The barons were not looking
forward to continuing the civil war. When armies on both sides refused to fight at Wallingford
in July 1153, Henry II and Stephen were forced to make peace. With the death of Stephen’s
son, an agreement was made. Stephen would continue to rule, and Henry would be his successor.
This also lines up with GRR Martin’s “Blood and Fire” book, where Rhaenyra’s step
brother Aegon the elder was succeeded by Rhaenyra’s son, Aegon the Younger. But would the show
follow the history and GRR Martin’s book in future seasons? We will find out. Hope
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