By the early 1150s, most barons and the Church were war weary so favoured negotiating a long-term peace. In 1152, Stephen attempted to have his eldest son, Eustace, as the next king of England recognised by the Catholic Church, but the Church refused to do so. In 1148, the Empress returned to Normandy, leaving the campaigning in England to her young son Henry FitzEmpress. Rebel barons began to acquire ever greater power in Northern England and in East Anglia, with widespread devastation in the regions of major fighting. Empress Matilda's husband, Count Geoffrey V of Anjou, conquered Normandy in her name during 1143, but in England neither side could achieve victory. Stephen then almost captured Matilda in 1142 during the siege of Oxford, but the Empress escaped from Oxford Castle across the frozen River Thames to safety.
The two sides agreed to a prisoner exchange, swapping the captives Stephen and Robert. When Empress Matilda attempted to be crowned queen, she was forced instead to retreat from London by hostile crowds shortly afterwards, Robert of Gloucester was captured at the rout of Winchester. In 1141, Stephen was captured following the Battle of Lincoln, causing a collapse in his authority over most of the country. Armies mostly consisted of armoured knights and footsoldiers, many of them mercenaries. The castles of the period were easily defensible, so the fighting was mostly attrition warfare comprising sieges, raiding and skirmishing. Much of the rest of the country was held by barons who refused to support either side. In the initial years of civil war, neither side was able to achieve a decisive advantage the Empress came to control the south-west of England and much of the Thames Valley, while Stephen remained in control of the south-east.
Following a major rebellion in the south-west of England, Matilda invaded in 1139 with the help of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester. Stephen's early reign saw fierce fighting with disloyal English barons, rebellious Welsh leaders, and Scottish invaders. On Henry's death in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois seized the throne, with the help of Stephen's brother Henry of Blois, who was the Bishop of Winchester. Henry sought to be succeeded by his daughter, known as Empress Matilda, but was only partially successful in convincing the nobility to support her. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legitimate son of King Henry I, who drowned in the sinking of the White Ship in 1120. The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 11, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order.
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