The defeat of the Scots at the battle of the Standard had cooled the ardor of the malcontents. The Empress Maud and the Earl of Gloucester had not yet appeared in England; but King Stephen committed a grave error. He alienated from himself the attachment of the clergy who, up to that time, had been favorable to him, by suddenly casting into prison the Bishop of Salisbury, one of the partisans who had had the greatest share in his elevation, and whom he had up to then loaded with wealth and honors. "By the Nativity of God!" he exclaimed to one of his attendants, "I would give him one-half of England if he asked it. He should grow weary of asking before I would grow weary of giving, until the day when he should be dumb." That day had apparently arrived, for Roger of Salisbury and his two nephews, Bishops of Lincoln and Ely, were suddenly arrested. The Bishop of Ely succeeded in escaping and taking refuge in a fortress. He defended himself valiantly; but they threatened to starve to death his uncle and his brother if he did not yield. The manners of the time were such that there was reason to fear the execution of the threat. The Bishop of Ely surrendered, and the king took possession of the property of the three prelates; but he had irritated a dangerous enemy. His own brother, the Bishop of Winchester, and the Legate of the Pope in England, summoned him to appear before a Synod of bishops to answer for this breach of the privileges of the Church. It was necessary to appeal to the Pope against the prelates, and to disperse the Synod by force. The Bishop of Salisbury died shortly afterwards--"of chagrin," say the Chronicles. His nephews embraced the cause of the Empress, and a great part of the clergy followed their example. The Synod had just been dispersed (September, 1139) when Maud at length disembarked in England with one hundred knights only. {141} Some Normans went to meet her, but finding her so ill attended they kept back. King Stephen swept down upon Arundel Castle, where resided Queen Adelais, widow of Henry I. He found her engaged in assisting her daughter-in-law, who had just arrived. A chivalrous sentiment restrained Stephen from insulting the two princesses. He left Adelais in peaceable possession of the castle, and the empress was able to proceed and meet her brother the Earl of Gloucester, who was endeavoring to revive the discontent in the counties of the West. Her partisans soon rallied round her, and raising her standard she attacked the king. Sometimes she was defeated, sometimes victorious; and for eighteen months England was afflicted by the horrors of civil war. At last a decisive combat near Lincoln resulted in King Stephen falling into the hands of the Earl of Gloucester. He was cast into confinement in Bristol Castle. The barons who had followed him hastened to the empress, made peace with her, and acknowledged her right to the crown, the Legate and the Bishop of Winchester being foremost.