…Bristol, hoping to raise support for the…

…Bristol, hoping to raise support for the rebellion and to link up with Miles of Gloucester, who takes the opportunity to renounce his fealty to the King and declare for Matilda.

Stephen responds by promptly moving south, besieging Arundel and trapping Matilda inside the castle.

Stephen then agrees to a truce proposed by his brother, Henry of Blois; the full details of the truce are not known, but the results are that Matilda and her household of knights are released from the siege and escorted to the southwest of England, where they are reunited with Robert of Gloucester.

The reasons for Matilda's release remain unclear.

Stephen may have thought it was in his own best interests to release the Empress and concentrate instead on attacking Robert, seeing Robert, rather than Matilda, as his main opponent at this point in the conflict.

Arundel Castle is also considered almost impregnable, and Stephen may have been worried that he risks tying down his army in the south while Robert roams freely in the west.

Another theory is that Stephen released Matilda out of a sense of chivalry; Stephen has a generous, courteous personality and women are not normally expected to be targeted in Anglo-Norman warfare.

After staying for a period in Robert's stronghold of Bristol, …