Siege of Devizes Castle 1141
Who Fought
History & Significance
In the Rout of Winchester (14 September 1141) the army of imprisoned King Stephen of England, led by his wife, Queen Matilda, Stephen's brother Bishop Henry of Winchester, and William of Ypres, faced the army of Stephen's cousin Empress Matilda, whose forces were commanded by her half-brother Earl Robert of Gloucester. After Empress Matilda's army besieged a castle on the edge of Winchester, Queen Matilda's army arrived and blockaded the Angevin army within the city. Cut off from supplies, the Angevin army gave up the siege, then was crushed as it began to retreat. Robert of Gloucester was captured and was subsequently exchanged for Stephen, who was returned to the throne of England. However, the civil war known as The Anarchy dragged on with neither side gaining an advantage.
When William Adelin drowned in the White Ship, King Henry I of England was left with no male heirs. A second marriage to 18-year-old Adeliza of Louvain would produce no children, leaving the widowed Empress Matilda as his only legitimate surviving child. Henry declared Matilda his heir and the English nobility agreed. The first person to swear fealty to Matilda was Stephen of Blois who was the son of Adela of Normandy, the daughter of William the Conqueror. Henry arranged for Matilda to marry the much younger Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, and though the marriage was stormy, it finally produced a son, Henry Plantagenet.
When King Henry died in the Duchy of Normandy he reiterated that Empress Matilda was his heir. Nevertheless, Stephen immediately set out for England. He crossed the English Channel from Wissant to Dover and then made his way to London with a few retainers. The people of London acclaimed him king, followed by the nobility and the dead king's ministers. Stephen was crowned on Christmas Eve 1135. During this time, Empress Matilda was powerless to act because her husband Count Geoffrey was busy trying to put down a rebellion in Anjou. Very soon, Stephen's leadership attracted enemies. A Scottish army under King David I invaded the north but was defeated at the Battle of the Standard in August 1138. Empress Matilda and Robert of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of Henry I, landed at Portsmouth with 140 men.
Empress Matilda and her party took refuge at Arundel Castle where they were welcomed by King Henry's widow Adeliza and her new husband William d'Aubigny. Robert of Gloucester rode to Bristol to rally support for the empress. Stephen quickly assembled an army and surrounded Arundel Castle, demanding that the empress be handed over to him. Though her garrison was weak, Adeliza sent word that she would fight it out. At this point Stephen committed an astonishing blunder by giving Empress Matilda a safe-conduct pass to Bristol and withdrawing his army. When his enemy reached safety, the civil war broke out in full fury. While London and the east remained loyal to Stephen, the west declared for the empress. Stephen hired a body of Flemish mercenaries under William of Ypres, antagonizing his English subjects. The system of justice established under Henry I went to pieces and the common people suffered under the harsh demands of local noblemen and officials.
The ground they fought on
The site of Siege of Devizes Castle 1141 lies on Gault Formation And Upper Greensand Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Cenomanian. The rock here is mudstone, sandstone and limestone.
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- A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 10 - Devizes: Town, castle and estates · Victoria County History / British History Online
- Rout of Winchester · Wikipedia
- Robert Fitzhubert · Wikipedia
- Devizes Castle · Wikipedia