Stephen of England

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, daughter of King William I of England. 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 Empress Maud, Henry's daughter, and her claim to the throne. However, Stephen of Blois, who claimed descent from William the Conqueror through his mother, Adela, and had been raised at Henry's court, laid claim to the throne. His claim was supported by 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 Maud was forced out of London. With the capture of her most able lieutenant, her illegitimate half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, Maud was obliged to release Stephen from captivity, and he was restored to the throne in November of the same year. In December 1142, Maud 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 Maud 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.

Besides Eustace, Stephen and Matilda had two other sons, Baldwin (d. before 1135), and William, Count of Mortain and Boulogne and Earl of Warenne and Surrey. They also had two daughters, Matilda and Mary.