King Stephen of England - A Short Biography

If you are familiar with Ken Follett's best-selling novel "Pillars of the Earth," you should remember King Stephen, who served as the royal villain of this novel. Stephen's reputation has suffered from his position in the series of English sovereigns between two much greater men. He lacked the gifts of character and intellect which specially fitted both Henry I, his predecessor, and Henry II, his successor, for the task of governing a country in the transitional stage of development which England was passing through in the twelfth century.