Miles subsequently supported the Empress, and in 1146, Ranulf, the Earl of Chester and temporarily on the side of the king, attacked and took the town of Bedford, but was unable to take the castle, which continued to be controlled by Miles until his death several years later. Towards the end of the war, Bedford Castle may have been attacked again; Henry II, during the final year of the conflict in 1153, marched through Bedford and documentary evidence shows damage to the town at this time. Historians are divided as to whether the castle was besieged at the same time.