King Stephen (died 1154)

Stephen, Count of Mortain, seized the throne of England in 1135 on the death of Henry I. He was the second son of Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror and married Matilda, daughter of the Count of Boulogne. His younger brother was the ambitious Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester. The contemporary chronicler Walter Map wrote of Stephen: ‘A fine knight, but in other respects almost a fool’. He was never able to gain full control over his new realm and was never recognised as Duke of Normandy. From 1139 - 1148 he had to contend with the supporters of Henry I’s daughter Matilda - the ‘Empress’ - led by her half brother Robert of Gloucester. At the battle of Lincoln in 1141 Stephen was defeated and captured, but later freed in exchange for Robert of Gloucester, himself captured after Matilda’s forces were defeated at Winchester. In 1143-6 Stephen faced a number of rebellious barons in a period of serious unrest in England, sometimes known as ‘the anarchy’. Once Stephen’s son Eustace had died he recognised the future Henry II as his heir. Stephen died in October 1154 and was buried at Faversham abbey in Kent.