Stephen Henry (in French, ''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. Making his way to Jerusalem, he fought in the Second Battle of Ramla, where he was captured and later executed.

Life

Stephen was the son of Theobald III, count of Blois, 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. 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, 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 in the company of others who had also returned home prematurely. He participated in the disastrous campaign in Anatolia to free Bohemond 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 of Jerusalem to fight in the Second Battle of Ramla 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 on 19 May.

Family

Stephen married Adela of Normandy, 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 # 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. Both drowned on 25 November 1120 in the '' White Ship'' disaster. # Agnes, married Hugh III of Le Puiset #

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; 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 and mother of William of York,

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