In the troubles of the reign of Stephen, Ripon took no small share. When
the Scots descended into Yorkshire, nominally to aid the Empress Maud,
Thurstan sent against them all the levies which an archbishop, as a
feudal baron, could muster, including doubtless the men of his manor of
Ripon, and the victory which they won near Northallerton in 1138 is
known as the Battle of the Standard, from the banners of the three
mother-churches--Ripon, York, and Beverley--which waved over the English
army. Ripon was soon to experience the anarchy which prevailed toward
the end of the war. In 1140 Alan, Earl of Richmond, entrenched himself
on a neighbouring hill and grievously oppressed the town and its
inhabitants. Led by him, the large landholders in the neighbourhood
broke open the storehouses and granaries of the archbishop, and in 1143
Earl Alan himself burst into the church with an armed band and attacked
Archbishop William Fitzherbert (afterwards St. William of York), who was
standing by St. Wilfrid's shrine. The Archbishop's offence may have been
that he was the king's nephew. At any rate he was detested by the
Cistercians, who were strongly represented here by Fountains Abbey, and
Ripon seems to have sided with them, for in 1148, when Archbishop
William was temporarily deprived of his office, it was to Ripon that his
supplanter, Archbishop Murdac, retired when he durst not enter York.
Stephen confirmed to the College all the privileges granted by his
predecessors.

=Building of the Present Church.=--The reign of Henry II. is marked by
another rebuilding of the church. William was succeeded in 1154 (the
year of the king's accession) by =Archbishop Roger de Pont l'Eveque=
(1154-1181). This prelate is known in politics for his opposition to
Thomas a Becket, and in art for his prominent share in the development
of our national architecture. There is perhaps no more important example
of the transition from the Norman to the Early English style than his
work at Ripon. With the exception of the crypt under the present
crossing, and of some Norman work south of the present choir, he rebuilt
the whole church, and history has recorded the wording of a deed in
which he gives "L1000 of the old coinage for the building of the
basilica ... which we have begun afresh."[12] Roger's church was a
cruciform building, and its nave had no aisles. A great portion of his
work remains--the two transepts, half of the central tower, and
portions of