King of England :
Stephen 1135-54
Henry II 1154-89
Background information :
The continuing state of civil war in England was finally settled after 1153 when Eustace, the only son of Stephen died. With no heir and facing defeat Stephen reached an agreement with the Angevins that Henry, son of Matilda and Geoffrey Plantagenet would take the Throne after Stephens death. He did not have long to wait. Prior to and following his accession a process of reconcilement or duress began with the supporters of Stephen. As early as 1148 an agreement had been made with William Braose, for which the latter received more lands and castles, and he changed sides to the Angevin cause. The Welsh kings who had helped the Angevins at Lincoln in 1141 retained their lands.

In 1155 Hugh Mortimer was beseiged in his castles again but this time by Henry II. Considering the fact that Henry controlled vast tracts of territory and resources from Scotland to the Pyrenees (by the inheritance of his parents estates and through his marriage as well as the English Crown) Hugh subdued. Surprisingly Henry gave him back his former estates in Normandy and Gilbert Foliat, the Bishop of Hereford, got the lands back that Hugh had seized in 1148. Earl Roger of Hereford and Hugh even became allies and made plans to invade Wales once again, but were faced by overwhelming odds and shelved the idea. Earl Roger died soon after. In 1157 Henry II was back in the area after his campaign of that year in the SW of Wales.