Stephen trapped Empress Matilda in Oxford Castle in September 1142 and besieged it for three months. In December, with the garrison starving and winter extreme, Matilda escaped across the frozen River Thames wrapped in a white cloak (some accounts say she was carried on a litter), making her way to Abingdon and safety. It is one of the most dramatic episodes of the Anarchy. The castle then surrendered to Stephen.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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