Places: St. George's Tower, Oxford Castle

In a scene worthy of Game of Thrones, the Empress Matilda, mother of Henry II and acknowledged Queen Cersei of her day, is besieged in Oxford Castle, which is about to fall to the forces of her cousin and rival for the English crown, Stephen of Blois in 1141.  As his forces close in, Matilda makes a dramatic escape, being let down by ropes from the window of St. George's tower and escaping across the frozen river in a driving snow.  For greater dramatic effect as well as camouflage, she and her retinue of knights were dressed in white to blend in better with the weather.

Well, not quite.

The above story presumes that Oxford Castle, complete with its tower, high walls and fortified battlements, was the same in Matilda's time as it is now.  Disappointingly, it wasn't.  What is now the site of Oxford castle was claimed in 1071 by a Norman baron named Robert D'Oyly.  D'Oyly was part of William the Conqueror's invasion fleet.  He saw the site, which was already home to a Saxon ring fort and a chapel, and decided to take it for himself.  He began to build a stone church, with a proper castle along the motte and bailey format.  Only he didn't have his fortress built of solid stone, like the Castle today.  The battlements were constructed of gravel mixed with clay to make a rude cement.  The keep was made of wood.  It was this castle which Matilda holed up in during the period in English history known as the Anarchy, while she and Stephen fought for the crown to a lawless stalemate.  And, yes, she was besieged in the castle and had to make a run for it.  But it's likely that she left by one of the gates in the dead of night, not being lowered down the wall.  And, as for the white clothing and all that, probably not.

The present St. George's tower, built from coral rag stone, dates from about 1270, during the reign of Matilda's descendants, the Plantagenet Kings of England.  Over time, the clay and gravel battlements and wooden keep of the castle gave way to stone as successive lords and kings continued to bring the castle up to date with then-existing military understanding about defensive works.  In time, the castle fell into disuse and disrepair, being used off and on as a jail.  By the time of the English Civil War, the castle was almost a ruin.  But it became the Royalist capital and, in 1642, withstood another siege from Puritan forces.  It's re-use as a fortress was short-lived and it reverted to its role as a prison, one of the worst in England and frequently cited by reformers as an example of the need for prison reform. 

Finally, in 1954, the site was taken over by the National Trust to be preserved as an historical site.  The prison closed down in 1996.  A hotel now operates on part of the former prison site. 

Beginnings: the White Ship Disaster of 1120

Sometimes one person's misfortune is another's unexpected gain.  The Plantagenet family wouldn't have gained their rights to England without this misfortune, the Titanic of its day.

The White Ship was a refitted vessel considered one of the largest and fastest vessel afloat.  The family who owned it were experienced enough.  Thomas FitzStephen was the son of Stephen Fitzairard, who had captained a ship that was part of William the Conqueror's invasion fleet.  Evidently, this family and their vessels were known to the royal family, who patronized their services for decades.  Henry I (1068-1135) was the son of William the Conqueror.  He had several out-of-wedlock children, but only one legitimate heir, William Adelin and his sister Matilda, who married the Holy Roman Emperor.   William Adelin had married another Matilda, the daughter of Count Fulk V of Anjou, we'll get to him soon enough.  Because Henry I was also Duke of Normandy, he traveled between England and Normandy, administering the two parts of his kingdom.  It was on the return of one such journey on November 25, 1120, that tragedy struck.

Thomas FitzStephen offered Henry the use of the White Ship to make the return to England.  Henry declined, as he'd already made other arrangements, but allowed other members of his retinue to board the ship if they wished.  Those so inclined included his son and heir, William Adelin, one of Henry's out-of-wedlock daughters, yet another Matilda, and another illegitimate child of the King's named Richard.  For some reason, William Adelin's wife was already embarked on the same ship carrying her father-in-law and that would be her salvation.  The King's vessel took off without waiting for the White Ship.  Before embarking, the passengers of the White Ship decided to celebrate and many were already inebriated.  This caused others to decide last minute to make other arrangements and disembark.  Still, over three hundred people were crowded on board the vessel and the partying continued.  They urged Captain FitzStephen to make all speed and catch up with the King's ship.  Despite the treachery of the coastal waters and it already being nightfall, he obliged.  The ship struck a rock off Barfleur, Normandy and began to go down.

William Adelin found a smaller boat, but turned back when he heard cries for help.  Drowning victims swamped his small vessel, taking it down.  He and his wife were childless, meaning that William's claim to the crown drowned with him.  FitzStephen survived the sinking, but drowned rather than face the King's wrath.  The loss of his son left Henry I with no heir and the Norman dynasty of England at a standstill.  Henry turned to his only legitimate daughter, Matilda, Holy Roman Empress, ordering his barons to swear fealty to her as his heir.  At his death, Normandy passed to a male heir, as females couldn't inherit that realm in their own right.  Then, the barons had second thoughts about a woman inheriting the crown of England.  The clergy backed Henry I's nephew Stephen, but Matilda wasn't the mother of England's most rambunctious dynasty for nothing.  She and Stephen engaged in an on and off civil war with the crown of England at stake.  It was a war Matilda's son and heir, Henry II would finish, and put his own progeny on the throne. 

The White Ship wouldn't be the last shipwreck to alter the fates of the Plantagenet dynasty, but we'll get to the others in future posts.