[May 19] Stephen II, count of Blois

True Name: Estienne Henri
Parents: Theobald III, count of Blois, and Garsinde du Maine

Date of Birth: circa 1045

House: Tours
Spouse: Adela, daughter of William I, king of England, and Matilda of Flanders

Predecessor: Theobald III

Reign: 1089 – 1102

Summary: Stephen was born into a French noble family that controlled the regions of Blois and Chartres in France. He married the daughter of William the Conqueror of England, thereby linking his family with Normandy and England. His reputation was already on the rise when his father, Theobald III, died in 1089, leaving Blois to him. Stephen was already ruling much of the land since 1074.

During the First Crusade, Stephen was one of the leaders and was quite enthusiastic about the progress the crusade was making. He was head of the council of war held at the Siege of Nicaea in 1096. In 1098, he returned home, having failed to end the Siege of Antioch and capturing Jerusalem, as he had hoped. Adela, ever his support figure, encouraged him to make a second pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1101 with others who had returned prematurely from the First Crusade. It was on this journey that Stephen was killed at the Second Battle of Ramla the next year. Adela and Stephen had eleven children, nine of whom lived to adulthood. His eldest son, William, inherited Blois and Chartes but declined the rivalry for the English throne in 1135. William was forced to abdicate in 1107 and Theobald II, Stephen's second son, took over Blois and Chartes and eventually became count of Champagne. He too declined the rivalry, leaving the claim to the English throne to pass to Stephen, the third son of the couple. In an interesting twist, both William and Theobald had surviving issue and, according to legitimists, had better rights to the English throne than Stephen.

Date of Death: 19 May 1102

Successor: William

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Celestine V, pope of Rome (1296)

Dmitry Donskoy, grand prince of Moscow (1389)

Go-Kashiwabara, emperor of Japan (1526)