When Stephen was king, the great lords built castles everywhere, without the king's permission. Then they seized the men and women who had some money. They tortured them to make them hand over their gold and silver. Some were hung up by their thumbs, and others were put in pits full of snakes. The lords made the peasants pay them taxes as well. When the peasants had no more to give, the lords burned their homes.

From the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This part was written by a monk at Peterborough in about 1155

When Stephen died, Henry II became king. Straight away, he said that lords who had built castles in Stephen's reign had to pull them down. Henry was keen on law and order. He sent judges round England to keep the wicked lords in check, and to see that all men got justice. For this, Henry won the praise and thanks of his people.

From The History of England, written by a monk called William of Newburgh at a monastery in Yorkshire in about 1190

Walter Robson: Medieval Britain; Oxford University Press, 1991/2000, page 14