of Blois of England, Stephen I 1 2a

Birth Name of Blois of England, Stephen I
Gender male
Age at Death 57 years, 9 months, 24 days

Narrative

[Pullen010502.FTW]

REF: British Monarchy Official Website: Henry I was succeeded by his nephew Stephen of Blois (reigned 1135-54), his only legitimate son having drowned in the wreck of the White Ship which sank in the English Channel in 1120. Although widely preferred in England and Normandy as Henry's successor, Stephen lacked ruthlessness and failed to inspire loyalty. Henry's daughter, Matilda, invaded England in 1139 to claim the throne and the country was plunged into civil war. Neither side was strong enough to win and the war ended only in 1153 when Matilda's son, Henry, Count of Anjou, was recognised as heir to the throne.

 

Stephen (1096 - October 25, 1154), the last Norman King of England, reigned from 1135 to 1154, when he was succeeded by his cousin (or, as the gossip of the time had it, his natural son) Henry II, the first of the Angevin or Plantagenet Kings.

Stephen was born at Blois in France, the son of Stephen, Count of Blois, and Adela of Normandy daughter of King William I of England, and thus the brother of Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester. He became Count of Mortain in about 1115, and married Matilda, daughter of the Count of Boulogne, in about 1125.

Before the death of King Henry I of England in 1135, the majority of the barons of England swore to support Matilda (Empress Maud), Henry's daughter, and her claim to the throne. Stephen of Blois however, who claimed descent from William the Conqueror through his mother, Adela, and had been raised at Henry's court, laid claim to the throne. Once Stephen was crowned, he gained the support of the majority of the barons as well as Pope Innocent II. The first few years of his reign were peaceful, but by 1139 he was seen as weak and indecisive, setting the country up for a civil war, commonly called The Anarchy.

In April, 1141, Stephen was defeated and imprisoned at Bristol. His wife, Matilda, kept faith, and Empress Matilda was forced out of London. With the capture of her most able lieutenant, her illegitimate half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, Matilda was obliged to release Stephen from captivity, and he was restored to the throne in November of the same year. In December 1142, Empress Matilda was besieged at Oxford, but she managed to escape.

Stephen maintained his precarious hold on the throne for the remainder of his lifetime. However, following the death of his son and heir, Eustace, in 1153, he was persuaded to reach a compromise with Matilda whereby her son, Henry (from her second marriage to Geoffrey of Anjou), would succeed Stephen on the English throne.

Stephen died at Dover, and was buried in Faversham Abbey, which he had founded with Matilda in 1147.

Besides Eustace, Stephen and Matilda had two other sons, Baldwin (d. before 1135), and William of Blois, Count of Mortain and Boulogne and Earl of Surrey or Warenne. They also had two daughters, Matilda and Mary. As well as these children, Stephen fathered at least three bastards, one of whom, Gervase, bacame Abbot of Westminister.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (the Peterborough Chronicle second continuation) provides a moving and succint appraisal of Stephen's reign: "In the days of this King there was nothing but strife, evil, and robbery, for quickly the great men who were traitors rose against him. When the traitors saw that Stephen was a good-humoured, kindly, and easy-going man who inflicted no punishment, then they committed all manner of horrible crimes . . . And so it lasted for nineteen years while Stephen was King, till the land was all undone and darkened with such deeds, and men said openly that Christ and his angels slept".

The monastic author says, of The Anarchy, "this and more we suffered nineteen winters for our sins."

---

Sources:

1. Abbrev: Pullen010502.FTW
Title: Pullen010502.FTW
Note:
Call number:
Text: Date of Import: Jan 5, 2002
2. Abbrev: World Family Tree Volume 2 Tree # 1822
Title: World Family Tree Volume 2 Tree # 1822 (Brøderbund BannerBlue Division)

Events

Event Date Place Description Sources
Birth 1097 Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France   2b
Death 1154-10-25 Dover Castle, Dover, Kent, England   3

Age: 57y

Parents

Relation to main person Name Birth date Death date Relation within this family (if not by birth)
Father of Blois, Stephen Henry II10451102-05-19
Mother of England, Adelidis10621136-03-08
    Brother     of Charters, Guillaume 1080
    Brother     de Champagne, William 1080 1150
    Brother     of Blois, Theobald III 1090 1152
    Brother     of Blois, Henry 1092
    Brother     of Blois, Humbert 1094
         of Blois of England, Stephen I 1097 1154-10-25
    Sister     of Blois, Matilda 1097
    Sister     of Bloise, Lithuise 1098 1118
    Sister     of Blois, Alix 1100
    Sister     of Blois, Eleonore 1102
    Sister     of Blois, Emma
    Sister     of Blois, Agnes
    Brother     of Blois, Philip

Families

Family of of Blois of England, Stephen I and de Boulogne, Matilda
Married Wife de Boulogne, Matilda ( * 1103 + 1152-05-03 )
   
Event Date Place Description Sources
Marriage 1125 Westminster, England   4
  Children
Name Birth Date Death Date
de Boulogne, Eustace IV11221153-08-10
of England, Baldwin1126
of England, Matilda1133
de Blois of Surrey, William1134
de Mortaigne, Marie1136
de Blois, Mary11361180-07-25

Source References

  1. http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdp-fam&id=I6381
  2. RCKarnes: http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=arciek&id=I00958 Carrie's Family Tree
      • Source text:

        ID: I00958
        Name: Stephen II of BLOIS
        Sex: M
        Name: Stephen II HENRY
        Birth: ABT 1045 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France 1
        Death: 19 MAY 1102 in Battle of Ramla, Jerusalem 1
        Occupation: BET 1089 AND 1102 Count of Blois 2
        Occupation: Count of Chartres 2
        Note:
        Stephen inherited Blois, Chartres and Meaux in 1089, son of Theobald III, Count of Blois, and Garsinde du Maine. In about 1080, in Chartres, France, Stephen married Adela of Normandy, a daughter of William the Conqueror. Their eldest son, Guillaume, was disinherited, supposedly for mental weakness; he was made Count of Chartres instead. Blois then passed to the second son, Theobald. Their third son Stephen of Blois became king of England after Henry I of England died without a male heir and the English did not think Henry I's daughter Empress Maud a suitable ruler because of her sex. Stephen and Adela's youngest son was Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester. A daughter, Lucia-Mahaut de Blois, perished in the White Ship disaster. Count Stephen was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, often writing enthusiastic letters to Adela about the crusade's progress. He returned home in 1098 during the lengthy siege of Antioch, without having fulfilled his crusading vow, which would have been completed only if he had made it all the way to Jerusalem. He was pressured by Adela into making a second pilgrimage, and along with others who faced the same pressures after returning home prematurely, he joined the minor crusade of 1101. In 1102, Stephen was killed in battle at the age of 57, during the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem's siege of Ascalon in what is now Israel.
        (Wikipedia)

         

        Father: *Theobald III of BLOIS b: 1012 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
        Mother: *Garsende of MAINE b: 1019 in Le Mans, Sarthe, Maine, Pays-de-la-Loire, France

        Marriage 1 *Adela of NORMANDY b: ABT 1067
        Married: 1080 in Chartres, France 1
        Children
        Agnes of BLOIS b: in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Philip BLOIS b: in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        *Guillaume of CHARTRES b: 1080 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        *Theobald II "the Great" of CHAMPAGNE b: 1090 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
        Henry of BLOIS b: ABT 1092 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Humbert BLOIS b: ABT 1094 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Matilda of BLOIS b: ABT 1097 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        *Stephen of ENGLAND b: 1097 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
        Lithuise of BLOIS b: ABT 1098 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Alix of BLOIS b: ABT 1100 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
        Odo of BLOIS b: 1101 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Eléonore of BLOIS b: 1102 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France

        Sources:
        Title: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
        Title: Wikipedia

         

      • Citation:

        arciek@juno.com

      • Source text:

        ID: I00958
        Name: Stephen II of BLOIS
        Sex: M
        Name: Stephen II HENRY
        Birth: ABT 1045 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France 1
        Death: 19 MAY 1102 in Battle of Ramla, Jerusalem 1
        Occupation: BET 1089 AND 1102 Count of Blois 2
        Occupation: Count of Chartres 2
        Note:
        Stephen inherited Blois, Chartres and Meaux in 1089, son of Theobald III, Count of Blois, and Garsinde du Maine. In about 1080, in Chartres, France, Stephen married Adela of Normandy, a daughter of William the Conqueror. Their eldest son, Guillaume, was disinherited, supposedly for mental weakness; he was made Count of Chartres instead. Blois then passed to the second son, Theobald. Their third son Stephen of Blois became king of England after Henry I of England died without a male heir and the English did not think Henry I's daughter Empress Maud a suitable ruler because of her sex. Stephen and Adela's youngest son was Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester. A daughter, Lucia-Mahaut de Blois, perished in the White Ship disaster. Count Stephen was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, often writing enthusiastic letters to Adela about the crusade's progress. He returned home in 1098 during the lengthy siege of Antioch, without having fulfilled his crusading vow, which would have been completed only if he had made it all the way to Jerusalem. He was pressured by Adela into making a second pilgrimage, and along with others who faced the same pressures after returning home prematurely, he joined the minor crusade of 1101. In 1102, Stephen was killed in battle at the age of 57, during the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem's siege of Ascalon in what is now Israel.
        (Wikipedia)

         

        Father: *Theobald III of BLOIS b: 1012 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
        Mother: *Garsende of MAINE b: 1019 in Le Mans, Sarthe, Maine, Pays-de-la-Loire, France

        Marriage 1 *Adela of NORMANDY b: ABT 1067
        Married: 1080 in Chartres, France 1
        Children
        Agnes of BLOIS b: in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Philip BLOIS b: in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        *Guillaume of CHARTRES b: 1080 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        *Theobald II "the Great" of CHAMPAGNE b: 1090 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
        Henry of BLOIS b: ABT 1092 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Humbert BLOIS b: ABT 1094 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Matilda of BLOIS b: ABT 1097 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        *Stephen of ENGLAND b: 1097 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
        Lithuise of BLOIS b: ABT 1098 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Alix of BLOIS b: ABT 1100 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
        Odo of BLOIS b: 1101 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Orleanais, France
        Eléonore of BLOIS b: 1102 in Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France

        Sources:
        Title: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
        Title: Wikipedia

         

      • Citation:

        arciek@juno.com

  3. http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=jdp-fam&id=I9517&style=TABLE
  4. http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdp-fam&id=I24075