After three months besieged in Oxford Castle, Empress Matilda made her legendary escape in December 1142 by crossing the frozen Thames on foot, dressed in white cloaks for camouflage against the snow. She and a handful of companions slipped through the besieging lines in the night and reached Abingdon, then proceeded to Wallingford and safety. Oxford Castle surrendered to Stephen immediately afterward. The escape preserved her cause and prolonged the civil war, and the episode entered medieval legend as the definitive example of royal fortitude in adversity.
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