During those four years Henry’s father, Geoffrey of Anjou, had been strengthening his position on the Continent, though apparently making no effort to assist his wife in her struggle with Stephen. By the end of 1143 he had secured control of the greater part of Normandy, and early in 1144 Rouen surrendered and Geoffrey was recognised as Duke of Normandy. Having established himself securely he now sent for his son to join him, and accordingly, late in 1146, or at the beginning of the next year, Earl Robert of Gloucester escorted young Henry to Wareham and there bade farewell to him. Uncle and nephew were destined to meet no more, for on 31st October 1147 Earl Robert died. Immediately the earl’s death was known, Earl Gilbert of Pembroke, whose castle of Pevensey was then undergoing a siege, urged Henry’s return. He considered that the only hope for the empress’s cause, now that its mainstay had departed, lay in the presence of Henry in England. The boy--he was only fourteen--hurriedly crossed with a few companions, landed at one of the western ports, and made feeble attacks on Cricklade and Bourton, in Gloucestershire, from which he was easily driven off. His forces dwindled rather than increased, and his scanty supply of money soon came to an end. An application to his mother for further funds proved ineffectual, as she was in the same straits herself. He then turned to the Earl of Gloucester for assistance; but Earl William was very different from his father; he cared little for war, had no enthusiasm for the cause of his cousin, and saw no reason why he should waste his treasure on a desperate and hopeless enterprise. Unable for lack of funds either to continue his injudicious venture or to leave the country, the humiliated prince had to apply for help to the rival whom he had so rashly attacked. Stephen, always chivalrous and good-natured even to weakness, in spite of the opposition and remonstrances of his advisers, at once supplied Henry with the necessary means of returning to his father’s court, where, in the early spring of 1148, he was joined by his mother, the empress.[2]