Battlefields›Arundel - Siege and Release of Empress Matilda 1139
Medieval

Arundel - Siege and Release of Empress Matilda 1139

1139
England
Era
Medieval
Battle Type
Siege
Location
England
Status
Unregistered
Outcome
Stephen besieged Matilda at Arundel Castle but, on the advice of his brother Henry of Blois, agreed a truce and released her under safe conduct; she was escorted to Bristol and then established her court at Gloucester, securing a western Angevin power base. Chroniclers and later historians regard the release as a major strategic error by Stephen that prolonged the civil war (the Anarchy).
The Battle

History & Significance

Arundel - Siege and Release of Empress Matilda 1139 was a medieval siege, the investment of a fortified position, fought in England in 1139. Stephen besieged Matilda at Arundel Castle but, on the advice of his brother Henry of Blois, agreed a truce and released her under safe conduct; she was escorted to Bristol and then established her court at Gloucester, securing a western Angevin power base. Chroniclers and later historians regard the release as a major strategic error by Stephen that prolonged the civil war (the Anarchy).

Confirmed battlefield location
The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Arundel - Siege and Release of Empress Matilda 1139 lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

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Everything a full report reveals about Arundel - Siege and Release of Empress Matilda 1139

This page covers Arundel - Siege and Release of Empress Matilda 1139. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
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Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Arundel - Siege and Release of Empress Matilda 1139

Maison Dieu
Maison Dieu
Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

Maison Dieu is a medieval hospice and charitable institution located in Winchelsea, Sussex, founded in the thirteenth century to provide shelter and care for pilgrims and poor travellers. The surviving structure comprises a substantial stone building that reflects the architectural character typi…

Nilfanion / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Arundel Castle
Arundel Castle
Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Arundel Castle is a fortified residence in West Sussex that originated as a Norman motte-and-bailey castle founded in the late eleventh century, likely established shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The castle's keep, constructed on its substantial earthwork mound, dates from the late ele…

Egjoni98 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Tortington Augustinian priory and ponds, including part of priory precinct
Tortington Augustinian priory and ponds, including part of priory precinct
Scheduled monument · ~0.9 mi

Tortington Augustinian priory is a religious community founded in the twelfth century in the parish of Tortington in West Sussex, established as a house of Augustinian canons. The surviving remains include substantial elements of the priory precinct, notably the ponds which formed part of the mon…

User:JohnArmagh / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
A 19th century artillery fort known as Littlehampton Fort, 317m south west of the Windmill Theatre
A 19th century artillery fort known as Littlehampton Fort, 317m south west of the Windmill Theatre
Scheduled monument · ~3.8 mi

Littlehampton Fort is a nineteenth-century coastal defence fortification constructed during the period of Victorian military modernisation. Built as part of Britain's comprehensive scheme to strengthen vulnerable points along the south coast against potential invasion threats, the fort exemplifie…

Charlesdrakew / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons
Amberley Castle
Amberley Castle
Scheduled monument · ~3.8 mi

Amberley Castle is a 14th-century fortified residence located in the parish of Amberley in West Sussex, constructed by Bishop Rede of Chichester as a defensive stronghold and episcopal retreat. The castle comprises a substantial gatehouse, curtain walls, and rounded bastions that reflect its peri…

Jonathan Day from Brighton, UK / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Rackham Banks: A cross dyke and Itford Hill style settlement on Rackham Hill, 900m SSE of Oldbottom Barn
Rackham Banks: A cross dyke and Itford Hill style settlement on Rackham Hill, 900m SSE of Oldbottom Barn
Scheduled monument · ~4 mi

Rackham Banks is a cross dyke and associated settlement of Iron Age date located on Rackham Hill in Sussex, approximately 900 metres south-south-east of Oldbottom Barn. The site comprises defensive earthworks in the form of a cross dyke, characteristic of Iron Age fortification practices in south…

Simon Burchell / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Ringwork 400m NNW of Batworthpark House
Scheduled monument · ~0.9 miles
Burpham camp
Scheduled monument · ~1.7 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Arundel - Siege and Release of Empress Matilda 1139

Siege of Arundel
1643
~0.2 miles away
Siege of Arundel Castle (1643-44)
1643
~0.2 miles away
Siege of Arundel Castle (Civil War of 1173-74)
1173
~0.4 miles away
Siege of Arundel (1102)
1102
~2.5 miles away
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