Individual Details

Étienne-Henri "Count of Champagne Chartres and Meaux de Blois, the Wise, the Coward" Blois

(Abt 1052 - 19 May 1102)

[[Category:First Crusade]] }
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'''Stephen of Blois''' or Etienne-Henry (Stephen-Henry) is the father of Stephen I, King of England.

==Vitals==:nicknames: "the Coward"came from the fact that he abandoned the First Crusade at a critical moment, although he later returned and died in the Holy Land. See Rodney Stark, God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades (2009).; le sage (the wise)
:b. 01 JAN 1045 Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France:d. 27 MAY 1102 Battle of Ramleh, Jerusalem (prisoner of Saracens in Ramleh, Palestine)

==Titles==
* Count of Champagne, Chartres and Meaux de Blois

==Marriage==
: m. Adela dau. of William the Conqueror. Issue:
* William, Count of Sully (d.1150), Count of Chartres married Agnes of Sulli (d. aft 1104) and had issue.

* Theobald II, Count of Champagne

* Odo, died young.

* Stephen, King of England
* Lucia-Mahaut m. Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester. Both drowned 25 Nov 1120.

* Agnes m. Hugh III of Le Puiset

* Eléonore (d.1147) m. Raoul I of Vermandois (d.1152) divorced 1142.

* Alix (d. 1145) m. Renaud III of Joigni (d.1134)
* Lithuise (d. 1118) m. Milo de Brai, Viscount of Troyes divorced 1115Lithuise m. Milon of Troyes, viscount of Troyes (possibly his sister and not his daughter, judging from dates of her children).

* Henry, Bishop of Winchester

* Humbert, d.young

==Illegitimate Children==
* (disputed) Emma (mother of William, archbishop of YorkEmma could be dau. Hunger fitz Odin ([[Wikipedia: William of York]])[[Wikipedia: William of York]]
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== The First Crusade ==
[https://archive.org/stream/historyofcrusade01mich#page/80/mode/2up The History of the Crusades, by, Joseph Fr. Michaud, William Robson, and Hamilton W Mabie]

"The men of the Vermandois marched with the subjects of [[Capet-120|Philip]] under the colours of their count [[Capet-160|Hugh]], a young prince whose brilliant qualities had been much admired by the court."
"[[Normandie-122|Robert]], surnamed Courte-heuse, duke of Normandy, who led his vassals to the holy war, was the eldest son of [[Normandie-32|William the Conqueror]]."
"Another [[Flandre-30|Robert]], count of Flanders, placed himself at the head of the Frisons and the Flemings."
"[[Blois-12|Stephen]], count of Blois and Chartres, had also taken up the cross. [[Blois-12|Stephen]], count of Blois and Chartres, had also taken up the cross. He passed for the richest noble of his times. The number of his castles was said to be equal to that of the days of the year. What might be really considered a phenomenon in the eleventh century, this prince loved and cultivated letters. He proved to be the soul of the councils by his eloquence and his intelligence ; but he could not long together support the fatigues of war, and he sometimes was but timid in the field of battle."
"These four chiefs were accompanied by a crowd of knights and nobles, among whom history names Robert of Paris, Evrard of Prusaiè, [[Montemerle-1|Achard de Montmerle]], Isouard de Muson, [[Champagne-166|Stephen]], count d'Albermarle, [[St_Valéry-17|Walter de St. Valery]], [[Barneville-1|Roger de Barneville]], Fergant and Conan, two illustrious Bretons, Guis de Trusselle, Miles de Braiës, [[Beaugency-24|Raoul de Baugency]], [[Perche-2|Rotrou]], son of the [[Perche-3|count de Perche]]; [[Bayeux-54|Odo, bishop of Bayeux]], uncle of the [[Normandie-122|duke of Normandy]]; [[Gael-2|Raoul de Gader]], [[Grandmesnil-3|Yve]] and [[Grantmesnil-5|Albéric]], sons of [[Grentemesnil-3|Hugh de Grandménil]]. The greater part of the counts and barons took with them their wives and children, and all their war equipages. They crossed the Alps, and directed their march towards the cities of Italy, with the intention of embarking for Greece. They found in the neighbourhood of Lucca [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Urban_II Pope Urban], who gave them his benediction, praised their zeal, and offered up prayers for the success of their enterprize. The [[Capet-160|count de Vermandois]], after having received the standard of the Church from the hands of the sovereign pontiff, repaired to Rome, with the other princes, to visit the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul."
"The passage of the French Crusaders, however, had awakened the zeal of the Italians. [[Hauteville-5|Bohemond]], prince of Tarentum, was the first who resolved to associate himself with their fortunes, and to partake of the glory of the holy expedition."

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== Sources ==
* '''Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson Vol. I page 389'''

* The History of the Crusades, by, Joseph Fr. Michaud, William Robson, and Hamilton W Mabie, pg 83 [https://archive.org/stream/historyofcrusade01mich#page/82/mode/2up]
*The Royal Lines of Succession, A16A225, p. 8

*Burke's Peerage, Eng. P, 1949, pref. p. 252

*Kings of Eng., Eng. 176, p. 10-12, 38-44

*The Royal Daughters of Eng., Eng. 120, v. 1, p. 3, 10-11

*Tab. Souv. Gen., France 22, Tab. 32, 48

*Dict. of Nat'l Biog., Eng. Pub. A, v. 54, p. 151-56

*The Complete Peerage, G.E.C., Eng. V, v. 3, p. 165-66

*[[:Wikipedia: Stephen, Count of Blois]]

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    Events

    BirthAbt 1052Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
    Marriage1081Breteuil, France - Adele "Comtesse de Blois" Normandie
    Death19 May 1102Ramleh, Palestine, Holy Land, Israel
    MarriageLiving
    Alt namede Champagne de Chartres, de Meaux
    Reference No986208
    Reference No
    Reference No60

    Families

    SpouseAdele "Comtesse de Blois" Normandie (1062 - 1137)
    ChildThibault Blois (1093 - 1152)
    ChildGillette DeChampagne (1080 - )
    ChildGuillaume "the Simple, Count of Sully, Count of Chartres" Blois (1085 - 1150)
    ChildAgnes Blois (1086 - )
    ChildMargaret Navarre (1088 - )
    ChildÉtienne "King of the English, Duke of Normandy" Blois (1092 - 1154)
    ChildPhilippe "Bishop of Chalons" Blois (1092 - )
    ChildHumbert Blois (1094 - )
    ChildHenri "Henry" Blois (1096 - 1171)
    ChildLucia "Mahaut, Mathilda" Blois (1097 - 1120)
    ChildLithuise "Adela" Champagne (1098 - 1118)
    ChildAlix Blois (1100 - 1145)
    ChildEleanor Blois (1104 - 1147)
    SpouseLiving
    ChildEmma Blois (1073 - )
    FatherThibault Blois (1010 - 1089)
    MotherGersende Maine (1019 - 1057)