After Empress Matilda released her rival King Stephen, he in turn released Robert of Gloucester, her strongest supporter, thus prolonging the Anglo-Norman civil war known as The Anarchy.

Empress Matilda, also known as Empress Maud or Athelicia, was Holy Roman Empress as the consort of Emperor Henry V from 1110 until 1125, and was subsequently a claimant to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy (1138–1153). Following the death of her father, King Henry I of England, as his only surviving legitimate child and nominated heir, she asserted her right to the English throne. However, her cousin Stephen of Blois usurped the crown.