142.  Summary.

Stephen was the last of the Norman kings.  Their reign had covered nearly a century.  The period began in conquest and usurpation; it ended in gloom.  We are not, however, to judge it by Stephen’s reign alone, but as a whole.

This considered, it shows at least one point of advance over the preceding period,—­the triumph of the moral power of the Church over feudal discord.  But Stephen’s reign was not all loss in other respects, for out of the “war, wickedness, and waste” of his misgovernment came a universal desire for peace through law.  Thus indirectly this weak King’s inefficiency prepared the way for future reforms.

GENERAL REFERENCE SUMMARY OF THE NORMAN PERIOD (1066-1154)

I. Government.  II.  Religion.  III.  Military Affairs.  IV.  Literature, Learning, and Art.  V. General Industry and Commerce.  VI.  Mode of Life, Manners, and Customs

I. Goverment

143.  The King.

We have seen that the Saxons, or Early English rulers, in the case of Egbert and his successors, styled themselves Kings of the West Saxons or of some other division of that race, and that finally they assumed the broader title of “Kings of the English,” or leaders of the entire race or people (S49).  The Norman sovereigns made no immediate change in this title, but as a matter of fact William, toward the close of his reign, claimed the whole of the country as his own by right of conquest.

For this reason he and his Norman successors might properly have called themselves “Kings of England,” that is, supreme owners of the soil and rulers over it; but this title of territorial sovereignty was not formally assumed until about fifty years later, in John’s reign.

144.  The Great Council.

Associated with the King in government was the Great or Central Council, made up of, first, the earls and barons; and secondly, of the archbishops, bishops, and abbots; that is, of all the great landholders holding directly from the Crown.  The Great Council usually met three times a year,—­at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide.  All laws were held to be made by the King, acting with the advice and consent of this Council,—­which in the next century first came to be known as Parliament (1246, 1265, 1295),—­but practically the King alone often enacted such laws as he saw fit (SS213, 217).

When a new sovereign came to the throne, it was with the consent or by the election of the Great Council, but their choice was generally limited to some one of the late King’s sons, and unless therer was good reason for making a different selection, the oldest was chosen.  Finally the right of imposing taxes rested, theoretically at least, in the King and Council, but, in fact, the King himself frequently levied them.  This action of the King was a cause of constant irritation and of frequent insurrection.