AFTER THE DEATH of Henry I, according to the author of the Gesta Stephani,

According to this image, intended perhaps to help justify King Stephen's accession, the troubles following Henry I's death were inextricably linked with the breaking of obligations of friendship and the loosening of bonds of relationship. In this society, as is well known, aristocrats and others were bound to each other by various obligations and relationships. These included, naming just some, those inherent in kinship, lordship, friendship, tenure, service and neighbourhood, all of which might involve expectations of allegiance. Such allegiances could be highly complex in nature and were of fundamental importance in aristocratic conduct and reputation. They could be conditional, multiple, conflicting, limited and shifting, and their complexity was always likely to increase during times of political conflict. But while allegiance is often mentioned by historians of Stephen's reign, it has been less frequently examined in depth and sometimes considerably oversimplified.