Siege of Oxford

Background

In June of 1141, Empress Matilda was forced to flee Westminster Palace after an angry mob rose against her in London. She then went to Winchester, where she besieged Stephen's supporters, but was besieged herself by Stephen's wife, Queen Matilda. She left Winchester and went to Oxford, where she set up her mint and made it her base of operations.

Her half-brother, Robert FitzRoy, Robert of Gloucester, was captured during her withdrawal from Winchester and later exchanged for King Stephen, who had been captured at the Battle of Lincoln. Robert then joined her in Oxford.

Matilda knew she did not have the resources to defeat Stephen in her quest to take the crown, so she sent Robert FitzRoy to Anjou to ask her husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, to send his large army in support of her.

Meanwhile, King Stephen had been so ill that people feared he was dying. Matilda may have sent Robert to Anjou and assumed Stephen was too sick to fight while he was away.

But Stephen had recuperated in the north of England and was able to raise a large army, possibly over 1,000 knights, before returning south. He attacked Wareham in Dorset, an important port town from which Matilda could travel to Anjou. Stephen continued taking towns such as Cirencester and the castles of Rampton and Bampton as he returned to the Thames Valley, leaving Matilda isolated at Oxford, apart from Wallingford Castle, held by her supporter Brian Fitz Count.

Battle

On the evening of September 26th, 1142, Stephen and his army arrived at the banks of the River Thames overlooking Oxford. The city and Matilda were not prepared for his arrival. The castellan of Oxford Castle, Robert d'Oilly, had died two weeks earlier, and a successor had not been chosen, making Matilda and her armed imperial household, a small force of foot soldiers, the only military presence in the city.

Despite being heavily outnumbered, Matilda's supporters at Oxford taunted Stephen's forces from the safety of the city walls, raining arrows across the river.

Stephen did not want to engage in open battle. Instead, he aimed to capture Matilda and end the challenge to his crown. To do this, he needed to besiege Oxford Castle and force her to surrender. First, he had to cross the river and take the city.

Stephen's men were able to cross the river at an extremely deep ford; one chronicler believed they may have even swam across the river. They entered Oxford on the same day via a postern gate. Matilda's garrison was again surprised and outnumbered and made a hasty retreat to Oxford Castle. Those who lagged behind were either killed or captured and held for ransom. Stephen's men looted and burned the city and then besieged Oxford Castle, with Matilda trapped inside. But the castle was well provisioned, so the siege would take time.

Stephen then pillaged the surrounding area, preventing the garrison from foraging for more food and supplies. He also brought siege weapons, which he placed on two man-made siege mounts called Jew's Mount and Mount Pelham, keeping the castle under fire.

In December, Robert FitzRoy returned to England from France, but without any support from Matilda's husband, Geoffrey of Anjou. Robert did have a force of 300-400 men. Robert laid siege to Wareham, hoping this would prompt Stephen to lift his siege of Oxford to relieve it, but Stephen was aware of his advantage at Oxford and did not respond to what was happening at Wareham.

After almost three months of siege at Oxford, Matilda's garrison was low on provisions, cold, starving, and losing hope.

One snowy night, Matilda, accompanied by four knights, escaped St. George's Tower of Oxford Castle. Taking advantage of some besiegers deserting Stephen or losing focus, she dressed in white cloaks to camouflage against the snow; they slipped past Stephen's guards, crossed the river, and reached Abingdon Abbey. From there, they went to Wallingford Castle, held by her supporter Brian Fitz Count. The next day, Oxford Castle surrendered to Stephen.

Aftermath

Stephen took Oxford, but failed to capture Matilda, so the Civil War over the crown continued.

Wallingford was now the last Angevin possession outside of the West Country as Stephen expanded his control over England.

Matilda's reputation for resilience and luck grew as she escaped Stephen's grasp again. Chronicler Gesta Stephani wrote:

"I have never read of another woman so luckily rescued from so many mortal foes and from the threat of dangers so great; the truth being that she went from the castle of Arundel uninjured through the midst of her enemies; she escaped unscathed from the midst of the Londoners when they were assailing her, and her only, in mighty wrath; then stole away alone, in wondrous fashion, from the rout of Winchester, when almost all her men were cut off; and then, when she left besieged Oxford, she came away safe and sound?"