Stephen, king of England (1135-54), was the third son of Stephen, Count of Blois, by Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror, and was therefore nephew of Henry I. and cousin of Matilda, daughter of Henry. He was born in 1105, came over to England at an early age, and became a favourite with his uncle, who gave him the county of Mortain in Normandy, while he gained that of Boulogne by marriage with its heiress, a niece of the famous Godfrey of Bouillon, and granddaughter of Malcolm and Margaret of Scotland. When his uncle Henry I. resolved to settle the crown on his daughter Matilda, whose first husband was Henry V., emperor of Germany—whence she is often styled the 'Empress Maud'—he held a council in London early in 1127, where Stephen with the rest took the oath of fealty to Maud. A few months later the widowed empress married Geoffrey Plantagenet. On the death of Henry I. (December 1, 1135) Stephen hurried over to England from Normandy, was hailed with enthusiasm by the Londoners and the citizens of Winchester, and was crowned on the 22d of the same month. He promised many reforms, but though really a merciful and generous man he never received, or deserved to receive, confidence from his people. He attempted to strengthen his position by the unpopular policy of bringing into England bands of Fleming mercenaries, and he made enemies as fast as friends by the lavish favours he heaped upon certain of the great lords. King David of Scotland invaded the North on Maud's behalf, but suffered a severe defeat near Northallerton (1138), yet Stephen was not strong enough to do more than compromise with him by way of peace, David's son Henry being allowed to hold all Northumberland save Bamborough and Newcastle as a fief, while David kept
Cumberland without homage. The first powerful enemy that the king made within England was Robert, Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of Henry I., who held the strong fortress of Bristol; and next he arrayed against himself the whole power of the clergy by his quarrel with the Justiciar, Roger, bishop of Salisbury, his nephews the bishops of Ely and Lincoln, and his illegitimate son Roger the Chancellor. The realm now fell into sheer anarchy; the barons plundered and burned at their pleasure; 'men said openly that Christ and His saints were asleep.' In 1139 Matilda arrived in England, and in 1141 took Stephen prisoner at Lincoln. Matilda was now acknowledged as queen, but her harshness and greed soon disgusted Englishmen. The men of London rose, and she fled to Winchester before them. On the 1st November 1141 Stephen obtained his liberty in exchange for the Earl of Gloucester, who had fallen into the hands of his friends at Winchester, and the year 1142 saw him again in the ascendant. Earl Robert died in 1147, and the year after Matilda finally left England. Her son Henry was given the duchy of Normandy in 1149, and next year he became on his father Geoffrey's death Count of Anjou also. He married Eleanor the Duchess of Aquitaine in 1152, and now crossed over to England to pursue his ambition further. The death of his son Eustace took from Stephen all heart for prolonging the struggle, and by the peace of Wallingford and Westminster he agreed to acknowledge Henry as his successor, his continental property being secured to his remaining children, and all the 'adulterine' or unlicensed castles that had sprung up during the civil war, to the number of 1115, to be destroyed. Stephen died at Dover in October 1154.