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 and, though the Yorkshiremen gave him a sound thrashing at the ‘Battle of the Standard’ near Northallerton, 1138, he stuck to Cumberland, and Stephen soon tried to bribe him by giving him Northumberland also. So, as the old chronicler says, ‘it seemed to Englishmen as if God slept and all His saints.’ The Church alone remained a refuge for the oppressed, and, naturally enough, the Church came out at the end of it all, not only much richer, but with much more power over the hearts of men.

At last in 1152 young Henry, the son of Matilda and Geoffrey, made peace at Wallingford with Stephen, who was now an old and worn-out man. Henry was to govern England as chief minister, while Stephen lived, and then to succeed to the crown. And in two years Stephen died and Henry Il became King of England.