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And this is what Stephen appeared to be doing, so one by one they rallied to his cause and his triumph seemed complete when he won the support of Robert of Gloucester, one of the most powerful noblemen in the country. Hundreds of miles away in France, Matilda's cause seemed lost. Her third son had been born safely at Argentan. But now and she and her boys were embattled there with little prospect of reclaiming her inheritance. But it was Normandy that came to her rescue. To make his throne secure Stephen needed to control the Anglo Norman realm on both sides of the channel. But while he established his rule in England, it took him more than a year to cross the channel to France. By then Normandy had collapsed into anarchy and so did Stephen's army, as his soldiers began to squabble among themselves. |
