Stephen II, Count of Blois
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- This article is about the Count of Blois. For Stephen, the King of England, see Stephen of England.
Stephen II Henry (c. 1045 – May 19, 1102), (in French, Étienne Henri), Count of Blois and Count of Chartres, was the son of Theobald III, count of Blois, and Garsinde du Maine. He married Adela of Normandy, a daughter of William the Conqueror around 1080 in Chartres.
Count Stephen was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, often writing enthusiastic letters to Adela about the crusade's progress. He returned home in 1098 during the lengthy siege of Antioch, without having fulfilled his crusading vow, which would have been completed only if he had made it all the way to Jerusalem. He was pressured by Adela into making a second pilgrimage, and along with others who faced the same pressures after returning home prematurely, he joined the minor crusade of 1101. In 1102, Stephen was killed in battle at the age of 57, at the Battle of Ramla.
[edit] Family and children
Stephen and Adela's children were:
- Guillaume (William) (d.1150), Count of Chartres married Agnes of Sulli (d.aft 1104) & had issue.
- Theobald II, Count of Champagne
- Odo, died young.
- Stephen, King of England
- Lucia-Mahaut, married Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester. Both drowned on 25 November 1120.
- Agnes, married Hugh III of Le Puiset
- Eléonore (d.1147) married Raoul I of Vermandois (d.1152) & had issue they were divorced in 1142.
- Alix (d.1145) married Renaud (d.1134)III of Joigni & had Issue
- Lithuise (d.1118) married Milo de Brai, Viscount of Troyes (Divorced 1115)
- Henry, Bishop of Winchester
- Humbert, died young.
- Philip (d.1100), Bishop of Chalons
Lithuise, who married Milon of Troyes, viscount of Troyes, was possibly his sister and not his daughter, judging from the dates of her children.
| Preceded by: Theobald III |
Count of Blois 1089–1102 |
Succeeded by: Theobald IV |
