On the 31st October 1147 occurred death of Robert, Earl of Gloucester the illegitimate son of Henry I and a chief supporter of his half-sister Matilda during the Anarchy.
Robert of Gloucester was a proposed candidate for the throne of England. In the Gesta Stephani it is written:
"Among others came Robert, Earl of Gloucester, son of King Henry, but a bastard, a man of proved talent and admirable wisdom. When he was advised, as the story went, to claim the throne on his father's death, deterred by sounder advice he by no means asserted, saying it was fairer to yield it to his sister's son than presumptuously to arrogate it to himself."
"Among others came Robert, Earl of Gloucester, son of King Henry, but a bastard, a man of proved talent and admirable wisdom. When he was advised, as the story went, to claim the throne on his father's death, deterred by sounder advice he by no means asserted, saying it was fairer to yield it to his sister's son than presumptuously to arrogate it to himself."
But because of his illegitimacy, he was ruled out, however, in 1139 Matilda was heading for England to enforce her right to the throne of England. On the death of her father Matilda was in Anjou with her husband, but on hearing that Stephen had usurped the throne she left there for Normandy. She, along with Gloucester, set out for England.
On the 2nd February 1141 Ranulf, Earl of Chester seized control of Lincoln Castle and fortified it against attack, the people of Lincoln appealed to the King for help. Stephen responded, riding to Lincoln at the head of his army, it is said that he placed his bowmen and siege machines on the west front of Lincoln Cathedral, which faces the castle across Castle Hill, but soon after the arrival of Stephen, Gloucester came to Matilda’s aid. The inhabitants of the city joined Stephen's forces against Gloucester's army, but the royal army was overwhelmed. The city itself suffered for its support of King Stephen many of its inhabitants killed by the victorious army under Gloucester. Eventually, the King was taken prisoner imprisoned at Bristol.
Six months later the tables were turned and Gloucester was himself captured on a bridge in the Hampshire village of Stockbridge following a rout at Winchester and imprisoned. Matilda later escaped from her guards at Devizes by disguising herself as a corpse and being carried out for burial.
Robert of Gloucester died five years later at Bristol Castle, the very castle in which the king was held. He was buried in the St James' Priory, Bristol, which he had founded.
A year later, following Gloucester's death, Matilda and her son Henry, the future Henry II returned to Normandy.
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