The King, by this charter, acknowledged Henry for lawful successor to the crown; in which capacity all the nobles paid him homage:  and Henry himself, with his party, paid homage to Stephen.  There is likewise a reservation for William, the King’s son, of all the honours possessed by his father before he came to the crown.  The King likewise acknowledges the obedience of his subjects to be no longer due to him than he shall observe the conditions of this charter.  And for the performance of these articles, the archbishops and bishops were appointed guarantees.  There were some other articles agreed on, which are not mentioned in the charter; as, a general pardon; a restitution, to the right owners, of those lands and possessions, which had been usurped in the time of the troubles; that all castles built during the war should be razed to the ground, which are said to have been above eleven hundred; that the rights of the Church should be preserved; with other matters of less moment.

Thus, by the prudence of Archbishop Theobald, the moderation of the two princes engaged, and the universal inclination of the people, a happy period was put to this tedious and troublesome war:  men began to have the prospect of a long peace; nor was it easy to foresee what could possibly arise to disturb it; when discovery was made, by accident, of a most horrible piece of treachery, which, if it had met with success, would have once more set the whole nation in a flame.  The Duke, after the peace, attended the King to London, to be shewn to the people as the undoubted successor to the crown; and having made a progress together through some other parts of the kingdom, they came to Canterbury; where Henry received private notice of a design upon his life.  It hath been already observed, that the King employed in his wars a body of Flemings, to the great discontent of his own subjects, with whom they were very ungracious.  These foreigners were much discontented at the peace, whereby they were likely to become useless and burthensome to the present King, and hateful to the successor.  To prevent which, the commanders among them began to practise upon the levity and ambition of William the King’s son.  They urged the indignity he had received in being deprived of his birthright; offered to support his title by their valour, as they had done that of his father; and, as an earnest of their intentions, to remove the chief impediment by dispatching his rival out of the world, The young prince was easily wrought upon to be at the head of this conspiracy; time and place were fixed; when, upon the day appointed, William broke his leg by a fall from his horse; and the conspirators wanting their leader immediately dispersed.  This disappointment and delay, as it usually happens among conspirators, were soon followed by a discovery of the whole plot, whereof the Duke, with great discretion, made no other use than to consult his own safety; therefore, without any shew of suspicion or displeasure, he took leave of the King, and returned to Normandy.