For more information on Stephen, visit Britannica.com.
Stephen
Did you mean: Stephen ((c.1097-1154) English king), Saint Stephen (Christian martyr), Stephen (name), Stephen ((1435-1504) prince of Moldavia), Stephen, Stephen, Stephen (MN) More...
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Stephen |
| 5min Related Video: Stephen |
| Biography: Stephen |
Stephen (c. 1096-1154) was king of England from 1135 to 1154. His claim to the throne was contested by his cousin Matilda, and his reign was disturbed by civil war. He eventually accepted Matilda's son Henry as his heir.
Stephen was the third son of Stephen, Count of Blois and Chartres, and Adela, daughter of William I of England. His uncle, King Henry I of England, gave him lands in England and Normandy and in 1125 arranged his marriage to Matilda, heiress of the Count of Boulogne. She brought him not only her rich and strategically important county but also large estates in England; Stephen became one of the most powerful men in England.
In December 1126 King Henry, having no legitimate male heir, made the nobility do homage to his daughter, Matilda, widow of Emperor Henry V, as Lady (Domina) of England and Normandy. Stephen was the first to swear, but on King Henry's death (Dec. 1, 1135) he hurried to England, gained the support of the citizens of London, and at Winchester, where his brother was bishop, won over the heads of the administration, the justiciar and the treasurer. On December 22 Stephen was crowned by the archbishop of Canterbury. Stephen bought, or rewarded, support by issuing a charter of liberties, promising reforms, and confirming to the bishops "justice and power" over the clergy.
At first Stephen appeared secure. His rival, Matilda, seems to have been unpopular, and she was now married to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, a hereditary enemy of the Normans. Stephen marched against Geoffrey in 1137, but his army was demoralized by the defection of the powerful Earl of Gloucester, illegitimate son of King Henry, who soon declared openly for Matilda, his half sister. Stephen left Normandy, and it was conquered piecemeal by Geoffrey.
In 1138 King David I of Scotland, Matilda's uncle, launched an attack on England; though defeated at the Battle of the Standard in August, he remained a rallying point for the opposition. In 1139 Stephen arrested (by trickery) the heads of the royal administration: Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, his son, and his two nephews. The Church was upset by the incident because three of the four were bishops; the nobility, because it made the King seem untrustworthy.
On Sept. 30, 1139, Matilda landed at Arundel, and Stephen quixotically gave her safe conduct to the Earl of Gloucester's castle at Bristol. She had little success until, in February 1141, Stephen was captured by the earl in battle at Lincoln. Matilda was recognized by the Church as Lady of England, but she was driven from Westminster before her intended coronation, and in September the earl was captured. The earl and the King were then exchanged, and from that time a stalemate was established. The southwest was controlled by the earl for Matilda; most of the rest of England was ruled by Stephen. But everywhere new castles were built from which landowners could defend their property and defy authority, and there were pockets of resistance throughout the country which Stephen could not eliminate; Wallingford was held for Matilda during the whole of his reign, and Framlingham from 1141 onward. Though the royal chancery functioned and the Exchequer may have met, orders could not always be enforced or money collected. Traitors could not be punished or violence controlled.
In these circumstances, the decisive factor was the conquest of Normandy by the Count of Anjou, who made over the duchy to his son Henry in 1150. The nobles of England were mostly Normans; they were anxious for a negotiated peace so that they could preserve their Norman properties. At the same time the bishops refused to consecrate Stephen's elder son Eustace as coruler and heir to the throne unless they had permission from the Pope, and the Pope was hostile. After the death of Eustace (Aug. 17, 1153) Stephen met Henry at Winchester and on November 6 recognized his hereditary right to the throne of England, retaining the kingdom for himself for life. He adopted Henry as his "son and heir," thus excluding his younger son from the succession. Stephen died on Oct. 25, 1154, and Henry took peaceful possession of England (as Henry II).
Further Reading
R. H. C. Davis, King Stephen, 1135-1154 (1967), is a short and lucid biography. H. A. Cronne, The Reign of Stephen (1970), is more detailed; for the general reader there is a good account by John Tate Appleby, The Troubled Reign of King Stephen (1970). For general historical background see Austin Lane Poole, From Domesday Book to Magna Carta, 1087-1216 (1951; 2d ed. 1955).
Additional Sources
Davis, R. H. C. (Ralph Henry Carless), King Stephen, 1135-1154, London; New York: Longman, 1990.
Stringer, K. J. (Keith John), The reign of Stephen: kingship, warfare, and government in twelfth-century England, London; New York: Routledge, 1993.
| Archaeology Dictionary: Stephen |
[Na]
English king of the House of Normandy. Born not later than ad 1100, third son of Adela, daughter of William I, and Stephen. Crowned king in 1135. Between February and November 1141 he was held captive by adherents of Matilda, daughter of Henry I, who contested the crown until 1153. Died aged over 53, having reigned 18 years.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Stephen |
Stephen, 1097?-1154, king of England (1135-54). The son of Stephen, count of Blois and Chartres, and Adela, daughter of William I of England, he was brought up by his uncle, Henry I of England, who presented him with estates in England and France and arranged his marriage to Matilda, daughter and heiress of Eustace III, count of Boulogne. Stephen was among the English nobles who in 1127, and again in 1131 and 1133, swore fealty to Henry's daughter, Matilda, as Henry's successor to the throne. On Henry's death (1135), however, Stephen hastened to London, secured support, and was proclaimed king. He secured papal ratification, but his attempt to build up support by unprecedented concessions to the church and barons seriously weakened his authority, and his reign was one long struggle to retain his throne. In 1138, Matilda's half brother Robert, earl of Gloucester, renounced his allegiance to Stephen, and David I of Scotland invaded England. Stephen defeated the Scots in the Battle of the Standard (although the ensuing treaty was entirely favorable to Scotland) and managed to wage an effective campaign against the insurrection in S and W England. However, in 1139 he made a fatal blunder in arresting his justiciar, Roger, bishop of Salisbury, and the latter's nephews, the bishops of Lincoln and Ely. This step not only threw the royal administration into confusion but alienated the church. Within a month Matilda had landed in England, and a long era of internal strife began. While besieging Lincoln Castle in 1141, Stephen was captured, and Matilda reigned for a short time. Her arrogance, however, soon cost her many supporters, and after Robert's capture later in the year she was forced to exchange Stephen for him. Stephen regained his throne and drove Matilda back into the western counties (1142). Virtual anarchy followed for five years; W and central England were devastated, while in France Matilda's husband, Geoffrey IV of Anjou, conquered Normandy. In 1147, however, Robert died, and Matilda soon (1148) left England. In 1149, Henry of Anjou (later Henry II), Matilda's son, crossed to England and attempted unsuccessfully to further his mother's (and his own) cause. Stephen had again offended the clergy by quarreling with Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and the clerics refused to confirm his son, Eustace IV, count of Boulogne, as successor to the throne. When Eustace died (1153), Stephen bowed to the inevitable and concluded a treaty by which Henry was named as his heir. Stephen was a courageous soldier and a generous man, but he had neither the ability nor the strength of character necessary to deal with the turmoil of his reign.
Bibliography
See biographies by R. H. C. Davies (1967) and J. T. Appleby (1969).
| Wikipedia: Stephen of England |
| Stephen of Blois | |
|---|---|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Reign | 22 December 1135 – April 1141 |
| Coronation | 26 December 1135 |
| Predecessor | Henry I Beauclerc |
| Successor | Matilda |
|
|
|
| Reign | November 1141 – 25 October 1154 |
| Predecessor | Matilda |
| Successor | Henry II Curtmantle |
| Consort | Matilda of Boulogne |
| Issue | |
| Eustace IV of Boulogne William of Blois Marie of Boulogne |
|
| House | Norman dynasty |
| Father | Stephen II, Count of Blois |
| Mother | Adela of Normandy |
| Born | c. 1096 Blois, France |
| Died | 25 October 1154 Dover, Kent |
| Burial | Faversham Abbey, Kent |
Stephen (c. 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was the last Norman King of England, from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne jure uxoris. His reign was marked by civil war with his rival the Empress Matilda and general chaos, known as The Anarchy. He was succeeded by Matilda's son, Henry II, the first of the Angevin or Plantagenet kings.
Contents |
Early life
Stephen was born at Blois in France, son of Stephen, Count of Blois, and Adela of England, the daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. One of ten children, his surviving brothers were Count Theobald II of Champagne, Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and William of Sully. He also had four sisters, including Eléonore of Blois.
Stephen was sent to be raised at the English court of his uncle, King Henry I, in 1106. He became Count of Mortain in about 1115, and married Matilda, daughter of the Count of Boulogne, in about 1125, who became Countess of Boulogne. Their marriage was a happy one and his wife was an important supporter during the struggle for the English crown. Stephen became joint ruler of Boulogne in 1128.
Reign
King of England
There were several principal contenders for the succession to Henry I. The least popular was the Empress Matilda, Henry I's only legitimate surviving child, not only because she was a woman, but also because her husband Geoffrey, Count of Anjou was an enemy of the Normans. The other contenders were Robert, Earl of Gloucester, illegitimate son of Henry I; Stephen; and Stephen's older brother, Theobald, Count of Blois. However, Theobald did not want the kingdom, at least not enough to fight for it.[1] Before his death in 1135, Henry I named his daughter Matilda his heir and made the barons of England swear allegiance to her. Stephen was the first baron to do so. However, upon King Henry's death, Stephen claimed the throne, saying Henry had changed his mind on his deathbed and named Stephen as his heir. Once crowned, Stephen gained the support of the majority of the barons as well as Pope Innocent II. The first few years of his reign were peaceful, notwithstanding insurgences by the Welsh, King David I of Scotland, and Baldwin de Redvers.
The Anarchy: War with Matilda
Main article: The Anarchy
By 1139, Stephen had lost much support and the country sank into a civil war, commonly called The Anarchy. Stephen faced the forces of the Empress Matilda at several locations, including Beverston Castle and Lincoln. Bad omens haunted him before the Battle of Lincoln, at which Stephen faced Matilda's illegitimate half-brother Robert and Ranulph, Earl of Chester. According to chroniclers, Stephen fought bravely but was captured by a knight named William de Cahaignes (a relative of Ranulph, ancestor of the Keynes family). Stephen was defeated and brought before his cousin Matilda, and was imprisoned at Bristol.
Stephen's wife rallied support amongst the people of London and the barons. Matilda was, in turn, forced out of London. With the capture of her most able lieutenant, her half-brother the Earl of Gloucester, she was obliged to trade Stephen for him, and Stephen was restored to the throne in November the same year.
In December 1142, the Empress was besieged at Oxford, but managed to escape, dressed in white, across the snow to Wallingford Castle, held by her supporter Brien FitzCount.
In 1147, Empress Matilda's teenage son, the future King Henry II of England, decided to assist in the war effort by raising a small army of mercenaries and invading England. Rumours of this army's size terrified Stephen's retainers, although in truth the force was very small. Having been defeated twice in battle, and with no money to pay his mercenaries, young Henry appealed to his uncle Robert for aid but was turned away. Desperately, and in secret, the boy asked Stephen for help. According to the Gesta Stephani, "On receiving the message, the king...hearkened to the young man..." and bestowed upon him money and other support.
Reconciliation and death
Stephen maintained his precarious hold on the throne for the remainder of his lifetime. However, after a military standoff at Wallingford with Henry, and following the death of his son and heir, Eustace, in 1153, he was persuaded to reach a compromise with Matilda (known as the Treaty of Wallingford or Winchester), whereby Stephen's son William of Blois would be passed over for the English throne, and instead Matilda's son Henry would succeed Stephen.
Stephen died in Dover, at Dover Priory, and was buried in Faversham Abbey, which he had founded with Countess Matilda in 1148.
Besides Eustace, Stephen and Queen 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 Marie of Boulogne. In addition to these children, Stephen fathered at least three illegitimate children, one of whom, Gervase, became Abbot of Westminster.
| English Royalty |
|---|
| House of Normandy |
| Stephen |
| Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne |
| William, Count of Boulogne |
| Marie, Countess of Boulogne |
An unfavourable thumbnail sketch of Stephen is given by Walter Map (who wrote during the reign of Matilda's son Henry II): "A man of a certain age, remarkably hard-working but otherwise a nonentity [idiota] or perhaps rather inclined to evil."[2]
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (the Peterborough Chronicle, second continuation) provides a more favourable picture of Stephen, but depicts a turbulent 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 said, of The Anarchy, "this and more we suffered nineteen winters for our sins."
Ancestors
Ancestors of Stephen of England
Fictional portrayals
Stephen has rarely been portrayed on screen. He was played by Frederick Treves in the BBC TV series The Devil's Crown (1978) and by Michael Grandage in "One Corpse Too Many", the first episode of the television adaptation of the Cadfael novels by Ellis Peters (1994).
He was also portrayed in Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth.
In fiction, he is a prominent character in Sharon Kay Penman's novel When Christ And His Saints Slept, portrayed as a loving husband and good warrior, but an indecisive monarch who cannot control his barons.
King Stephen is often mentioned in all books of the historical detective series "Brother Cadfael", which take place during The Anarchy. He appears onstage in two of them:
- "One Corpse Too Many" (written 1979, set in August 1138), takes place against the background of Stephen's conquest of Shrewsbury and his decision - described as "uncharacteristically harsh" - to execute all members of the former garrison which had held the city for Empress Maud.
- "Brother Cadfael's Penance" (written 1994, set in November 1145), in which much of the plot takes place during and in the immediate aftermath of an abortive peace conference organised by the Church in an effort to reconcile Stephen with Maud and end the civil war.
Cecelia Holland's The Earl, also published as "Hammer for Princes" (1971) depicts the old and quite tragic King Stephen, facing the death of his own son Eustace and the inevitability of recognising Prince Henry, his rival's son, as his heir.
King Stephen is also featured in 1991's Ellen Jones novel The Fatal Crown. There he is depicted not only as Empress Matilda's rival but her primary love interest, despite her marriage, and the true father of Henry II.
Roberta Gellis, a writer of meticulously researched and colorfully presented historical fiction, deals with the turbulent era of the civil war during Stephen's reign in a series of books, beginning with "Bond of Blood" set in the first incursion of Henry into Stephen's kingdom, and continuing with "Knight's Honor". "The Sword and the Swan" deals with the final scenes of the disintegration of Stephen's kingdom and the accession of Henry to the throne.
English royal descendants
Philippa of Hainault, the wife of Edward III, was a descendant of Stephen, and he was thus ancestor of all subsequent kings of England.[3]
Notes
- ^ Davis,R.H.C King Stephen: 1135-1154, 1967, p14-15
- ^ Walter Map, De nugis curialium 5.6.
- ^ That is, of England until 1707 and of Great Britain since.
Bibliography
- Crouch, David. The Reign of King Stephen, 2000
- Davis, R H C. King Stephen, 1135-1154, 1967
External links
- Gesta Stephani, Regis Anglorum et Ducis Normannorum, at Google Books (in Latin).
|
Stephen of England
Born: 1096 Died: 25 October 1154 |
||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Henry I |
King of England 22 December 1135 – April 1141 |
Succeeded by Disputed Claimed by Matilda |
| Preceded by Disputed Claimed by Matilda |
King of England November 1141 – 25 October 1154 |
Succeeded by Henry II |
| French nobility | ||
| Preceded by Henry I |
Duke of Normandy 1135–1144 |
Succeeded by Geoffrey |
| Preceded by William 1190 – 1106 |
Count of Mortain 1113(?) – 1135 |
Succeeded by William of Blois 1154 – 1159 |
| Preceded by Eustace III |
Count of Boulogne 1125 – 1147 with Matilda I |
Succeeded by Eustace IV |
| Family information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Theobald III of Blois
House of Blois
|
Stephen II Count of Blois |
Stephen of England |
| Gersende of Maine
House of Maine
|
||
| William I of England
House of Norman
|
Adela of Normandy | |
| Matilda of Flanders
House of Flanders
|
||
| Notes and references | ||
| 1. Tompsett, Brian, Directory of Royal Genealogical Data (Hull, UK: University of Hull, 2005). 2. Ross, Kelley L., The Proceedings of the Friesian School (Los Angeles, US: Los Angeles Valley College, 2007). |
||
|
|||||||||||||||||
.svg){kind=small}
|
||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Best of the Web: Stephen |
Some good "Stephen" pages on the web:
 Royalty www.genuki.org.uk |
| Shopping: Stephen |
Learn More
 | Daye, Stephen |
| Sveti Stefan |
| Stephens (family name) |
 | Who was Stephen Austin? Read answer... |
| Who is Stephen Danko? Read answer... |
| Who is Stephen Passes? Read answer... |
Help us answer these
 | Is stephen in jail? |
| Who is Stephen Kamifuji? |
| What was Stephen's occupation? |
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
 |
 | Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Biography. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Archaeology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Stephen of England". Read more |
Related answers
- Who is stephen?
- What is stephen?
- Who's alexander stephens?
- Who is Stephen Hunt?
- How is Stephen pronounced?
- Who is stephen fryer?
ADVERTISEMENT
Answer these
- Who is stephen in the song hey stephen?
- Where is Stephen Pitard?
- Who is Stephen Pearcy?
- Who is Stephen Hemsley?
- Who is rachel stephens?
Mentioned in
- Daye, Stephen
- Sveti Stefan
- Stephens (family name)
- Elkins
- Stephen Green (Blogger)
- Stephen (family name)
- Stephenson (family name)
- Punch and Judy (music)
- Study in Blue / Episode Interposed (1979 Visual Arts Film)
- Synthesis (197z Visual Arts Film)
- Nicanor
- War Is Kind (Sources) (poem)
- Breyer, Stephen Gerald (American jurist)
- Wozniak, Stephen (American computer engineer)
