King Stephen besieged Bedford Castle early in the Anarchy, held by Miles de Beauchamp who refused to yield it despite pressure. The siege was prolonged and costly, demonstrating how even secondary castles could absorb royal resources disproportionate to their strategic value. Bedford's resistance encouraged other magnates to hold out against Stephen, contributing to the erosion of royal authority in the Midlands.
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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