It’s no secret that George R.R. Martin often uses real history to inspire events in Westeros. From William the Conqueror being the template for Aegon Targaryen’s conquest of the Seven Kingdoms to the Wars of the Roses serving as an influence on the conflict between the Starks and Lannisters, Martin’s work is filled with allusions to medieval history. And House of the Dragon, which brings Martin’s Fire & Blood book is no exception. The political and familial turmoil in Westeros parallels to a 12th-century English civil war known evocatively as “The Anarchy.” Just as the Targaryen civil war sprung from a succession crisis, The Anarchy came about the same way. (All of this without dragons, of course.) Let’s dive into the real life history that inspired the Dance of the Dragons war in House of the Dragon.
What Happened During The Anarchy and How Does It Compare to House of the Dragon‘s Dance of the Dragons?
King Henry I, King of England and Viserys Targaryean’s historical counterpart, had two legitimate children. His son and heir, William, and his daughter Matilda, named after Henry’s wife Matilda of Scotland. On November 25, 1120, Henry, William, and the rest of the English court were in Normandy across the English Channel. William the Conqueror originally held the Duchy of Normandy in France before conquering England. Therefore the lands remained under the control of his family. It’s not a perfect analogy, but think of Normandy like Dragonstone in House of the Dragon: ancestral holdings of the ruling dynasty separated from the rest of the kingdom by the sea.
Henry’s daughter, Matilda, was not present as she was in Germany fulfilling her duties as Holy Roman Empress. She married to Henry V (yes, there are a great deal of Henrys in this story) several years earlier. When it came time to return across the channel, William and his friends and hangers on decided to drink (a lot). They were aboard a beautiful, sleek, new ship—simply known as the White Ship—that was the fastest in the entire English fleet.
The drunken revelry continued and, that night, the crew and patrons decided they would head to England. That captain confident that they would beat the old king back to the English coast, despite his head start. Unfortunately for all aboard, disaster struck shortly after casting off. The ship hit a rock formation in the harbor and it was overtaken by the sea. Like a medieval Titanic, the flower of the English nobility drowned in the freezing water. We guess the real life history parallels go beyond House of the Dragon.
When word reached Henry about his son William’s death, his grief was unbearable. Chroniclers claimed that he never smiled again after that night. In addition to his personal loss, the shipwreck presented an immense political problem for Henry. Without a legitimate son to pass the crown to, who would succeed him? An unclear answer to that question would rip the unstable realm apart between rival claimants as male relatives came out of the woodwork to press their claims.
The King Chooses His Daughter as His Successor
Like Viserys choosing Rhaenyra to succeed him, Henry designated his daughter Matilda as his heir. But, wasn’t Matilda the Holy Roman Empress? Well, she was, but the marriage had not produced any children. When her husband Henry V died unexpectedly in 1125, Empress Matilda returned to England.
This decision did not sit well with the English barons, but Henry would not be swayed from his choice. In fact, he brought the great lords of England before him three separate times to swear sacred oaths that they would obey Matilda as their queen when he died. And each of those times, the lords swore their oaths.
So, when Henry I suddenly died in 1135, the succession seemed secure for his daughter. Unfortunately, a rival claimant saw his opportunity and pounced. Matilda was out of the country when Henry died, and as House of the Dragon showed us, that is the most dangerous time for the heir to the throne to be absent from the center of power.
A Man Steps in to Take a Woman’s Claim to the Throne
Matilda’s cousin Stephen heard the news of Henry’s death and raced to London. He was acclaimed as king by the common people there. Stephen quickly moved on to Winchester, where his brother was the Archbishop, to secure the royal treasury. With the gold of the realm under his control, and the powerful symbol of being chosen as king by the people of the capitol, Stephen was officially crowned mere weeks after Henry’s death.
The fact that he had sworn a sacred oath before God and King to recognize his cousin as the heir did not concern him or those who supported him overmuch. The truth was that a woman succeeding Henry did not sit well with many in the Kingdom. They were more than happy to throw their support behind a man with a weaker claim, especially if it meant quickly crowning a new monarch to ensure the stability and security of the realm. It was even rumored that on his deathbed Henry, wracked with guilt over appointing Matilda as his heir, absolved the barons of their oaths.
The parallels to Aegon II and the seizure of power by the Greens immediately following Viserys’ death are clear. It must be said, being a son of the previous king made Aegon’s claim to the throne infinitely stronger than Stephen’s. When news reached Matilda that Stephen had been crowned, she could choose to accept that she had been robbed of her promised inheritance, or she could choose to fight.
Matilda Chooses to Fight for Her Crown, Just as Rhaenyra Does in House of the Dragon
Like Rhaenyra did on House of the Dragon, Matilda chose to fight in real life, sparking a conflict that changed history. The war was brutal. There were many swings between Stephen and Matilda, with lords and the Church switching sides to support whoever seemed to be winning. As the Anglo-Saxon chronicle evocatively put it: “It was as if Christ and his saints were asleep.”
After 15 years of brutal fighting, an agreement was reached when it was clear that neither side would fully win. Stephen would continue to sit the throne, but he would be succeeded not by his own son, but by Matilda’s son Henry. When Stephen died of stomach issues in 1154, Matilda’s son became Henry II.
She wasn’t able to sit the throne, but her direct descendants would rule England for the next 300 years. Though lacking in dragons, real medieval history can be just as dramatic and shocking as the tales weaved by George R.R. Martin. House of the Dragon brilliantly brings the real life history of The Anarchy to life.
Will the conflict between the Greens and the Blacks end the same way as the struggle between Stephen and Matilda? We’ll have to keep watching to find out.
Editor’s Note: The author’s primary source for the information in this article is from The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens who Made England by Dan Jones.