When Christ and His Saints Slept

England, 1120–1154. The loss of Henry I’s only legitimate son in the White Ship disaster leaves the succession dependent on his daughter, Empress Matilda. After Henry’s death, her cousin Stephen takes the crown, dividing the nobility and beginning the civil war later called the Anarchy.

The narrative follows Matilda, Stephen, Robert of Gloucester and their families through shifting alliances, sieges, captivity and famine. As neither claimant can secure a decisive victory, the struggle passes to a younger generation and ends with an agreement recognising Matilda’s son Henry as Stephen’s heir, preparing the way for the Angevin dynasty.