BLOIS Étienne-Henri

Male Abt 1052 - 1102  (50 years)

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  • Name BLOIS Étienne-Henri 
    Birth Abt 1052  Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 19 May 1102  Ramleh, Palestine, Holy Land, Israel Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • Stephen of Blois or Etienne-Henry (Stephen-Henry) is the father of Stephen I, King of England.

      Vitals
      nicknames: "the Coward"[1]; 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 1115[2]
      Henry, Bishop of Winchester
      Humbert, d.young
      Illegitimate Children
      (disputed) Emma (mother of William, archbishop of York[3][4]
      The First Crusade
      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 Philip under the colours of their count Hugh, a young prince whose brilliant qualities had been much admired by the court."

      "Robert, surnamed Courte-heuse, duke of Normandy, who led his vassals to the holy war, was the eldest son of William the Conqueror."

      "Another Robert, count of Flanders, placed himself at the head of the Frisons and the Flemings."

      "Stephen, count of Blois and Chartres, had also taken up the cross. 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, Achard de Montmerle, Isouard de Muson, Stephen, count d'Albermarle, Walter de St. Valery, Roger de Barneville, Fergant and Conan, two illustrious Bretons, Guis de Trusselle, Miles de Braiës, Raoul de Baugency, Rotrou, son of the count de Perche; Odo, bishop of Bayeux, uncle of the duke of Normandy; Raoul de Gader, Yve and Albéric, sons of 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 Pope Urban, who gave them his benediction, praised their zeal, and offered up prayers for the success of their enterprize. The 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. 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."

      Sources
      ↑ 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).
      ↑ Lithuise m. Milon of Troyes, viscount of Troyes (possibly his sister and not his daughter, judging from dates of her children).
      ↑ Emma could be dau. Hunger fitz Odin (Wikipedia: William of York)
      ↑ Wikipedia: William of York
      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 [1]
      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
    Person ID I59947  Freeman-Smith
    Last Modified 27 Jan 2026 

    Father BLOIS Thibault,   b. Abt 1010, Blois, Orléanais, France Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 30 Sep 1089, Épernay, Bourgogne, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 79 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother MAINE Gersende,   b. 1030, Maine, France Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Aft 1071, Maine, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age > 42 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Marriage Abt 1045  France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F26618  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family NORMANDIE Adele,   b. 12 May 1062, Rouen, Normandie, Francia Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 08 Mar 1137, Marcigny-sur-Loire, Charente-Maritime, Poitou-Charentes, Franc Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 74 years) 
    Marriage 1081  Breteuil, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Blois Guillaume,   b. Abt 1085, Chartres, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Abt 1150, Chartres, Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 65 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
     2. BLOIS Étienne,   b. Abt 1092, Blois, Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 25 Oct 1154, St. Martin's Priory, Dover, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 62 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
    Family ID F26615  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 27 Jan 2026 


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