[498] William of Malmesbury writes: "In ipsis Paschalibus feriis regem quædam (ut aiunt) dura meditantem gravis incommodum morbi apud Northamptunam detinuit, adeo ut in tota propemodum Angliâ sicut mortuus conclamaretur" (p. 763). There is a discrepancy of date between this statement and that of John of Hexham, who states that Stephen did not reach York till "post Pascha." William's chronology seems the more probable. [499] "Præventus vero infirmitate copias militum quas contraxerat remisit ad propria" (_Sym. Dun._, ii. 312). [500] _Supra_, p. 158. [501] "Dirigitur enim in Ely a rege Stephano cum militari manu in armis strenuus Comes Gaufridus de Mannavillâ, associante ei Comite Gileberto, ut homines episcopi, qui tunc latenter affugerent, inde abigeret, aut gladiis truncaret" (_Anglia Sacra_, i. 621). Earl Gilbert was uncle to Earl Geoffrey's wife. [502] "Qui festinus adveniens, hostilem turbam fugavit; milites vero teneri jussit; et equis impositos pedes eorum sub equis ligatos spectante populo usque in Ely perduxit" (_ibid._). [503] See Appendix Z: "Bishop Nigel at Rome." CHAPTER VIII. THE SECOND CHARTER OF THE EMPRESS. We left, it may be remembered, the Empress and her supporters assembled at Bristol, apparently towards the close of the year 1141. Their movements are now somewhat obscure, and the hopes of the Empress had been so rudely shattered, that for a time her party were stunned by the blow. We gather, however, from William of Malmesbury that Oxford became her head-quarters,[504] and it was at Oxford that she granted the charter which forms the subject of this chapter. From internal evidence it is absolutely certain that this charter is subsequent to that dealt with in the last chapter. That is to say, it must be dated subsequent to Christmas, 1141. But it is also certain, from the fact that the Earl of Gloucester is a witness, that it must have passed previous to his departure from England at the end of June, 1142.[505] It may, at first sight, excite surprise that, after having extorted such concessions from Stephen, Geoffrey should so quickly turn to his rival, more especially when Stephen appeared triumphant, and the chances of his rival desperate. But, on the one hand, in accordance with his persistent policy, he hoped, by the offer of a fresh treason, to secure from the Empress an even higher bid than that which he had wrung from Stephen; and, on the other, the very weakness of the Empress, he must have seen, would place her more completely at his mercy. In short, he now virtually aspired to the _rôle_ of "the king-maker" himself.[506]