Treaty of Wallingford

It effectively ended a civil war known as the Anarchy (1135–54), caused by a dispute over the English crown between King Stephen and Empress Matilda.

The Treaty of Wallingford allowed Stephen to keep the throne until his death (which was to come in October 1154), but ensured that he would be succeeded by Matilda's son Henry II.

In 1153, the Anarchy had dragged on for nearly 15 years of armed combat, in which neither King Stephen nor Empress Matilda could achieve victory in the struggle for the English throne.

This long period was characterised by a breakdown in law and order and allowed rebel barons to acquire ever greater power in northern England and in East Anglia, with widespread devastation in the regions of major fighting.

Stephen lost the towns of Oxford and Stamford to Henry while the king was diverted fighting Hugh Bigod in the east of England, but Nottingham Castle survived an Angevin attempt to capture it.