Wallingford Castle was the most important single fortress in the Anarchy, held continuously for Empress Matilda throughout the civil war. Its lord Brien fitzCount was Matilda's most devoted supporter. Stephen besieged it multiple times but could never take it. The final negotiations that ended the Anarchy — the Treaty of Wallingford/Winchester 1153 — were conducted in its shadow. Henry of Anjou's guarantee of succession was essentially negotiated here.
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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