Alongside Bishop Roger of Salisbury, Stephen arrested his nephews Alexander Bishop of Lincoln and Nigel Bishop of Ely at Oxford, seizing their formidable castles. The arrest of Alexander, who controlled the great Midlands bishopric, was particularly damaging to Stephen's credibility since it violated the traditional inviolability of episcopal persons. The alienation of the Church hierarchy that followed these arrests provided the ideological background for Matilda's claim to be a more godly ruler.
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