Editing Empress Matilda (section)

===Battle of Lincoln===
[[File:Battle of Lincoln 1141.jpg|250px|thumb|alt=Diagram of the Battle of Lincoln|The [[Battle of Lincoln (1141)|Battle of Lincoln]], 1141:
{{image key
|A: Welsh forces
|B: Robert
|C: Alan
|D: Stephen
|E: William
|F: Fosse Dyke
|G: Lincoln Castle
|H: Lincoln Cathedral
|I: City of Lincoln
|J: River Witham
}}
]]
Matilda's fortunes changed dramatically for the better at the start of 1141.<ref>{{harvnb|Bradbury|2009|p=110}}</ref> [[Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester|Ranulf of Chester]], a powerful northern magnate, had fallen out with the King over the winter and Stephen had placed his castle in Lincoln under siege. In response, Robert and Ranulf advanced on Stephen's position with a larger force, resulting in the [[Battle of Lincoln (1141)|Battle of Lincoln]] on 2 February 1141.<ref name=DavisP52>{{harvnb|Davis|1977|p=52}}</ref> The King commanded the centre of his army, with [[Alan, 1st Earl of Richmond|Alan of Brittany]] on his right and [[William of Aumale]] on his left.<ref name=BradburyP105>{{harvnb|Bradbury|2009|p=105}}</ref> Robert and Ranulf's forces had a superiority in cavalry and Stephen dismounted many of his own knights to form a solid infantry block.<ref name=BradburyP105/>{{refn|David Crouch argues that in fact it was the royalist weakness in infantry that caused their failure at Lincoln, proposing the city militia was not as capable as Robert's Welsh infantry.<ref>{{Harvnb|Crouch|2002|p=260}}</ref>|group="nb"}} After an initial success in which William's forces destroyed the Angevins' Welsh infantry, the battle went well for Matilda's forces.<ref name=BradburyP108>{{harvnb|Bradbury|2009|p=108}}</ref> Robert and Ranulf's cavalry encircled Stephen's centre, and the King found himself surrounded by the Angevin army.<ref name=BradburyP108/> After much fighting, Robert's soldiers finally overwhelmed Stephen and he was taken away from the field in custody.<ref>{{harvnb|Bradbury|2009|pp=108–109}}</ref>

Matilda received Stephen in person at her court in Gloucester, before having him moved to [[Bristol Castle]], traditionally used for holding high-status prisoners.<ref name=King2010P154>{{Harvnb|King|2010|p=154}}</ref> Matilda now began to take the necessary steps to have herself crowned queen in his place, which would require the agreement of the Church and her coronation at [[Westminster Abbey|Westminster]].<ref>{{Harvnb|King|2010|p=155}}</ref> Henry of Winchester summoned a council at [[Winchester]] before Easter in his capacity as papal legate to consider the clergy's view. Matilda had made a private deal with Henry that he would deliver the support of the Church in exchange for being granted control over Church affairs.<ref name=King2010P156>{{Harvnb|King|2010|p=156}}</ref> Henry handed over the royal treasury to her, which proved to be rather depleted except for Stephen's crown, and he excommunicated many of her enemies who refused to switch sides.<ref>{{Harvnb|King|2010|p=175}}; {{harvnb|Davis|1977|p=57}}</ref> Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury was unwilling to declare Matilda queen so rapidly, however, and a delegation of clergy and nobles, headed by Theobald, travelled to Bristol to see Stephen, who agreed that, given the situation, he was prepared to release his subjects from their oath of fealty to him.<ref name=King2010P156/><ref name="King 2010 p.158">{{Harvnb|King|2010|p=158}}; {{harvnb|Carpenter|2004|p=171}}</ref>

The clergy gathered again in Winchester after Easter, on 7 April 1141, and the following day they declared that Matilda should be monarch in place of Stephen. She assumed the title "Lady of England and Normandy" ({{Langx|la|domina Anglorum|links=no|lit=Lady of the English}}) as a precursor to her coronation.<ref name="King 2010 p.158"/> Although Matilda's own followers attended the event, few other major nobles seem to have attended and the delegation from London procrastinated.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=98–99}}</ref> Stephen's wife, Queen Matilda, wrote to complain and demand her husband's release.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=98}}</ref> Nonetheless, Matilda then advanced to London to arrange her coronation in June, where her position became precarious.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=102}}</ref> Despite securing the support of [[Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex|Geoffrey, Earl of Essex]], who controlled the [[Tower of London]], forces loyal to King Stephen and Queen Matilda remained close to the city and the citizens were fearful about welcoming the Empress.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|p=103}}</ref> On 24 June, shortly before the planned coronation, the city rose up against the Empress and Geoffrey of Essex; Matilda and her followers fled just in time, making a chaotic retreat back to Oxford.<ref>{{Harvnb|King|2010|p=163}}; {{Harvnb|Chibnall|1991|pp=104–105}}</ref>

Meanwhile, Geoffrey of Anjou invaded Normandy again and, in the absence of [[Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester|Waleran of Beaumont]], who was still fighting in England, Geoffrey took all the Duchy south of the [[River Seine]] and east of the [[Risle]].<ref>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2004|p=173}}; {{harvnb|Davis|1977|p=68}}; {{Harvnb|Crouch|2008b|p=47}}</ref> No help was forthcoming from Stephen's brother Theobald this time either, who appears to have been preoccupied with his own problems with France—the new French king, [[Louis VII]], had rejected his father's regional alliance, improving relations with Anjou and taking a more bellicose line with Theobald, which would result in war the following year.<ref>{{Harvnb|Crouch|2008b|p=52}}</ref> Geoffrey's success in Normandy and Stephen's weakness in England began to influence the loyalty of many Anglo-Norman barons, who feared losing their lands in England to Robert and the Empress, and their possessions in Normandy to Geoffrey.<ref>{{harvnb|Davis|1977|p=67}}</ref> Many started to leave Stephen's faction. His friend and advisor Waleran was one of those who decided to defect in mid-1141, crossing into Normandy to secure his ancestral possessions by allying himself with the Angevins, and bringing Worcestershire into the Empress's camp.<ref>{{harvnb|Davis|1977|pp=67–68}}</ref> Waleran's twin brother, [[Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester|Robert]], effectively withdrew from fighting in the conflict at the same time. Other supporters of the Empress were restored in their former strongholds, such as Nigel of Ely, and still others received new earldoms in the west of England. The royal control over the [[Mint (coin)|minting]] of coins broke down, leading to coins being struck by local barons and bishops across the country.<ref>{{harvnb|Blackburn|1994|p=199}}</ref>