230 ANNALS OF EOGEE DE HOTEDEN. A.D. 1138. many nobles besides, crossed over with him ; and there, the king, who was well versed in martial enterprises, enjoyed brilliant success in all his enterprises ; thwarted the stratagems of the enemy, reduced the fortresses of the foe, and proved himself the most distinguished among the greatest of men. He made a treaty with the king of the Franks, and hi9 son Eustace did homage to the king of the Franks, for Normandy, which is subject to the superior lordship of the Franks. This became known to the earl of Anjou, who was his most inveterate enemy, inasmuch as he had married the empress of Germany, the daughter of king Henry, who had received the oaths of Stephen with reference to England, and in consequence, the husband and wife demanded possession of England, but, in the end, consented to a treaty with king Stephen. For the earl saw that, at present, he could not possibly cope with the king's strength, both by reason of his great military renown, and the money, of which an abundance was still left from the treasures of the deceased king. In the same year, Louis the Fat, king of the Franks, departed this life, and was succeeded by his son Louis. These two years, in fact, were the most prosperous ones of king Stephen's reign ; but the third, of which we shall now make mention,was of a doubtful and varied character, while the two succeeding ones were replete with loss and calamity. In the year of grace 1138, being the third year of the reign of king Stephen, the king, immediately on his return to England, flew to Bedford, on the vigil of the Nativity of our Lord, and besieged it throughout the whole festival of the Nativity ; and, indeed, it was the opinion of many that he incurred the displeasure of God, because the festival of festivals he paid little or no attention to. In the same year, Peter de Levés, the anti-pope, departed this life. Bedford having surrendered to king Stephen, he immediately moved his army onwards to Scotland. For king David, having sworn fealty to the daughter of king Henry, as though under the veil of respect for his oath, by means of his troops, was perpetrating the most execrable deeds. Pregnant women they ripped asunder, and tore the offspring prematurely from the mother's womb, tossed children on the points of their lances, beheaded the priests upon the altars, and then placed the heads which they had cut off from the