BLOIS Étienne

Abt 1092 - 1154  (62 years)

• Name	BLOIS Étienne
  Birth	Abt 1092	Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
  Gender	Male
  Death	25 Oct 1154	St. Martin's Priory, Dover, Kent, England
  Notes	b. c.1092-1096 d. 25 Oct 1154 Blois, Berri, France. Parents Stephen VI (FR: Étienne), Count of Blois-Chartres and Adela of England (p. William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders). Issue: 5 sons, 4 dau. Eléonore of Blois Count Thibaud (Theobald) II of Champagne; Henry of Blois (monk at Cluny); Henry, Bishop of Winchester; Guillaume (William) of Sully; Marriage m. Matilda of Boulogne circa 1125. Issue: 3 sons, 2 dau.[1] Eustace (c. 1130 – 1153) or Eustace, who succeeded his parents as Count Eustace IV of Boulogne; Matilda (Maud) (d. before 1141) m. Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester; Marie (1133–1182), Countess Marie I of Boulogne, (Benedictine nun, abbess of Romsey, d.1182; Baldwin (d. before 1135); Adela (d. before 1146); William (c. 1137 – 1159), Count William I of Boulogne, Count of Mortain, and Earl of Surrey or Warenne; Mistress and Issue mistress. Damette. Issue: Gervase, Abbot of Westminster Ralph Americ Other children currently linked to this profile but without documentation are: Sybilla Death and burial (Royal Tombs of Medieval England) Stephen died on 25 October 1154 at the priory of St. Martin in Dover, and was buried in the abbey church at Faversham, a Cluniac house which he had founded with his wife, Matilda, in 1148. Matilda was buried there in 1151, and their eldest son, Eustache, in 1153. The large retrochoir contained a relic of the Holy Cross presented to Stephen by Godfrey de Bouillon, and the royal tombs were probably installed beside it. There is no record of the tombs, which were most likely demolished following the surrender of the abbey in 1538. Leland makes no mention of them. Speed claims Stephen's remains were scattered following the Dissolution (of the monasteries), a claim repeated by Sanford. Later the abbey church was converted into stables and the other buildings demolished; only the gatehouse survives. King Stephen and Faversham Abbey Faversham Abbey, located near the town of Faversham in Kent, was founded in 1148 by King Stephen and Queen Matilda. The site was just to the north-east of the town, about where the playing fields of the Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School are now. The aim of Stephen and Matilda was to found a mausoleum for the House of Blois. They hoped the dynasty would rule over England for generations to come. In fact it began and ended with them. King Stephen, in 1154, his wife, Matilda in 1152, and son Eustace, in 1153, were all buried in the abbey church. When the abbey was excavated in 1964, their empty graves were found close to the very centre of the quire. Their bones are said to have been thrown into Faversham Creek when the building was dismantled. However, in the nearby Faversham Parish Church of St. Mary of Charity is a canopy tomb with no contemporary inscription, where, it is said, their bones were re-interred. The abbey was dissolved in 1538 and subsequently most it demolished as part of Henry VIII's plans to sweep the monasteries from England. Much of the abbey building material was removed by military engineers and transported by sea to France, where it was used to strengthen the fortifications of the towns in the Pale of Calais, which at the time was England's continental bridgehead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160408031030/http://www.faversham.org/history/buildings/abbey.aspx Timeline c.1096: Born at Blois 1102 Father dies at Battle of Ramlah in Jerusalem on crusade. 1106 Arrives at court and shortly after acquires other lands in England, including honours of Eye and Lancaster; after 1120 a part of the honour of Eudo Dapifer. before 1115: Count of Mortain before 1125: m. Matilda, Comtesse de Boulogne dau. of Eustace III, Comte de Boulogne and Mary of Scots at Westminster. 1128 Joint ruler of Boulogne. 26 Dec 1135: Crowned King of the English at Westminster Abbey. Duke of Normandy. 1139: Matilda invades. This turbulent period is known as The Anarchy. Apr 1141 Captured at First Battle of Lincoln. 10 Apr 1141: Deposed. Nov 1141: Exchanges Gloucester. Nov 1141: Reinstalled. 2nd Coronation at Canterbury Cathedral. 1148 Matilda leaves England. 1153 Eustace dies. Henry II declared heir at Winchester. 25 Oct 1154: Faversham Abbey, Faversham, Kent. Succeeded by Henry II: first Angevin / Plantagenet king. Sources ↑ Wikipedia: Stephen, King of_England "Royal Ancestry" 2013 by Douglas Richardson Vol. I page 390 "Royal Ancestry" 2013 by Douglas Richardson Vol. I. page 496 Royal Tombs of Medieval England M. Duffy 2003 pages 52-53 Davis, Henry. Regesta Regum Anglo Normannorum, 1066–1154 (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1969) Facsimiles of Original Charters and Writs of King Stephen... 1135-1154 See Also: Time Team Season 16, Episode 7 "Anarchy in the UK" (Radcot, Oxfordshire)
  Person ID	I59945	Freeman-Smith
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026

  
  

  Father	BLOIS Étienne-Henri,   b. Abt 1052, Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France d. 19 May 1102, Ramleh, Palestine, Holy Land, Israel (Age 50 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	NORMANDIE Adele,   b. 12 May 1062, Rouen, Normandie, Francia d. 08 Mar 1137, Marcigny-sur-Loire, Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, Franc (Age 74 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	1081	Breteuil, France
  Family ID	F26615	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	BOULOGNE Matilda,   b. Abt 03 Nov 1105, Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France d. 03 May 1152, Kent, England (Age 46 years)
  Marriage	1125	Westminster, London, , England
  Children	1. BLOIS Eustace,   b. Abt 1120, Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France d. Abt 17 Aug 1153, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England (Age 33 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F26614	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	27 Jan 2026