Stephen Henry (in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, ''Étienne Henri'', in

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

, ''Estienne Henri''; – 19 May 1102) was the count of Blois and County of Chartres, Chartres. He led an army during the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

, was at the siege of Nicaea, surrender of the city of Nicaea, and directed the siege of Antioch. Returning home without fulfilling his crusader vows, Stephen joined the

crusade of 1101 The Crusade of 1101, also known as the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted, was launched in the aftermath of the First Crusade with calls for reinforcements from the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem and to rescue the famous Bohemond of Taranto fr ...

. Making his way to Jerusalem, he fought in the

Second Battle of Ramla The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

, where he was captured and later executed.

Life

Stephen was the son of Theobald III, count of

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the mos ...

, and Gersent of Le Mans. He is first mentioned as approaching

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

to ask for and receive the hand of his daughter

Adela of Normandy Adela of Normandy, of Blois, or of England (c. 1067 – 8 March 1137),LoPrete, Kimberly. "Adela of Blois". ''Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia''. Ed. Margaret Schaus. New York: Routledge, 2006. 6–7. also known as in the C ...

. In 1089, upon the death of his father, Stephen became the Count of Blois and Chartres, although Theobald had given him the administration of those holdings in 1074. Stephen was one of the leaders of the

, leading one of the major armies of the crusade and often writing enthusiastic letters to his wife about the crusade's progress. Present at the

Siege of Nicaea The siege of Nicaea was the first major battle of the First Crusade, taking place from 14 May to 19 June 1097. The city was under the control of the Seljuk Turks who opted to surrender to the Byzantines in fear of the crusaders breaking into the ...

, he wrote that the defenders surrendered out of fear of the siege towers. At some point either before or at the beginning of the

Siege of Antioch The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria (region), Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Sel ...

in October 1098, he was chosen as 'leader' of the army, a function that seems to not have gone much beyond presiding over the assemblies of the leaders as well as provisioning and housekeeping duties for the armies. Stephen retreated from the siege on 2 June 1098, the day before the capture of the city, leaving his comrades behind in a difficult situation, as a superior Turkish army under

Kerbogha Qiwam al-Dawla Kerbogha (), known as Kerbogha or Karbughā, was the Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman List of rulers of Mosul#Seljuk Atabegs, atabeg of Mosul during the First Crusade and was renowned as a soldier. Early life Kerbogha was a Selju ...

was approaching. Critically, on the way back to the West he met the Byzantine emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

, who was marching with an army to assist the crusaders, and persuaded him of the futility of his expedition. Alexios's consequent decision to turn around contributed to the ongoing suspicion of the crusaders that the Byzantines were not to be trusted and to the later conflicts between crusaders and Byzantium. Having returned with unfulfilled vows and the ignominy of abandoning his comrades, Stephen was in disgrace. His wife Adela pleaded with him to make a second pilgrimage, and he joined the subsequent

Crusade of 1101 The Crusade of 1101, also known as the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted, was launched in the aftermath of the First Crusade with calls for reinforcements from the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem and to rescue the famous Bohemond of Taranto fr ...

in the company of others who had also returned home prematurely. He participated in the disastrous campaign in Anatolia to free

Bohemond Bohemond or Bohemund, rarely Boamund, can refer to: *Bohemond I of Antioch (1058–1111) *Bohemond II of Antioch (1108–1130) *Bohemond III of Antioch (1144–1201) *Bohemond IV of Antioch & I of Tripoli (1172–1233) *Bohemond V of Antioch & II o ...

from prison, then sailed from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

to St Simeon and thence

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, finally fulfilling his vows. In 1102, already on his way back home, he was persuaded by King

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

of Jerusalem to fight in the

against the

Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

. He was taken prisoner and executed, probably in

Ascalon Ascalon or Ashkelon was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical and archaeological significance. Its remains are located in the archaeological site of Tel Ashkelon, within the city limi ...

on 19 May.

Family

Stephen married

, a daughter of

, around 1090 in

Chartres Chartres () is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 1 ...

. Their children were: #

William, Count of Sully William the Simple ( – c. 1150) was Count of Blois and Count of Chartres from 1102 to 1107, and jure uxoris Count of Sully. Biography William was the eldest son of Stephen, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy, daughter of William the Con ...

# Theobald II, Count of Blois # Odo, who died young #

Stephen, King of England Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne ''jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 ...

# Matilda, married

Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester (1094 – 25 November 1120) was the son of Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, and his wife, Ermentrude of Clermont. Early life Born in 1094, Richard was the son of Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chest ...

. Both drowned on 25 November 1120 in the ''

White Ship The ''White Ship'' (; Medieval Latin: ''Candida navis'') was a vessel transporting many nobles, including the heir to the English throne, that sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur during a trip from France to Engla ...

'' disaster. # Agnes, married

Hugh III of Le Puiset Hugh III, Seigneur of Le Puiset ( French: ''Hugues III du Puiset'') (d. 1132 in Palestine), son of Éverard III, Seigneur of Puiset and Viscount of Chartres, and Adelaide, Countess of Corbeil, was Count of Jaffa, Lord of Puiset and later Count of ...

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

(died 1147) married

Ralph I, Count of Vermandois Ralph I of Vermandois (French language, French: ''Raoul Ier'') (d. 14 October 1152) was Count of Vermandois. He was a son of Hugh, Count of Vermandois and his wife, Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois. Ralph was a grandson of Henry I of France, whil ...

; they were divorced in 1142. # Alix (c. 1095 – 1145) married Renaud III of Joigni (d. 1134) and had issue # Adelaide, married Milo II of Montlhéry, Viscount of Troyes (divorced 1115) # Henry, Bishop of Winchester (c. 1096 – 1171) # Humbert, died young A late 14th century source gives Stephen an illegitimate daughter Emma, wife of

Herbert of Winchester Herbert may refer to: People * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbert, Northern Territor ...

and mother of

William of York William of York (late 11th century – 8 June 1154) was an English priest and twice Archbishop of York, before and after a rival, Henry Murdac. He was thought to be related to King Stephen of England, who helped to secure his election to the p ...

archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

, but recent research suggests a different parentage for her.Burton
William of York (d. 1154)
''"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography"''

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * , - , width="30%" align="center", Preceded by:
Theobald III , width="40%" align="center",

Count of Blois Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

1089–1102 , width="30%" align="center", Succeeded by:
William the Simple {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen, Count of Blois 1040s births 1102 deaths Year of birth uncertain Counts of Blois Counts of Chartres Christians of the First Crusade Christians of the Crusade of 1101 Military personnel killed in action House of Blois