King Stephen (Stephen of Blois) - (c. 1092-1154)

[Rudolph]

The remains of an English king could be dug up from a Faversham school field.

Just days after thousands gathered for the reburial of Richard III, plans to excavate the playing fields at the Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School (QE) have been unveiled with the hope finding the bones of King Stephen.

The body of the medieval king, along with his wife Queen Matilda and son Eustace, were buried in the grounds of the former Faversham Abbey church in 1154.

More: Is King Stephen under Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School playing fields in Faversham?

 

[Curryong]

What a tumultuous reign Stephen had! Never able to reign with full confidence after 1138. It must have been a ghastly time to be alive. Life was hard enough without a civil war raging.

 

[MissByrd]

Have you read The Brother Cadfael Books, by Ellis Peters? They take place during King Stephen's reign and the Civil War.

 

[MissByrd]

And, I agree. Seems like a hard time to live in so many ways.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The Children of King Stephen

The Children of King Stephen – History… the interesting bits!

 

[Pranter]

Sharon Kay Penman has a whole series covering this era and beyond. It's fiction however the historical content is accurate from what I understand/have read.

It starts when Matilda was only a girl and covers everything from that point to thru/during the reign of King John (her grandson).


https://faceintheblue.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/bk-review-henryiitrilogy/


LaRae

 

[An Ard Ri]

Monarchy Rules: A Look At King Stephen

Monarchy Rules: A Look At Stephen | Royal Central

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I like Stephan...I don't know why but I can't help to Like him...I also like Henry II.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The Anarchy from BBC4 : Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Anarchy

 

[Iluvbertie]

I like Stephan...I don't know why but I can't help to Like him...I also like Henry II.

I too like Stephen - sure he wasn't all that good a monarch but I still like him (but then I prefer John to his brother as well).

Something about them appeals to me somehow.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I like Stephan and dislike both John and Richard, both were wastes too me. I'm also a staunch lover of Henry VII who also doesn't happen to hate Richard III.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Stephen and Matilda founded a monastery at Faversham as a thanks for peace and sponsored the Order of the Temple through the donation of a number of Matilda's properties in Boulogne and England.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Mary was the youngest daughter of King Stephen. She was the suo jure Countess of Boulogne from 1159 to 1170. Why was she abducted?
http://www.historyofroyalwomen.com/...e/the-abduction-of-marie-countess-of-boulogne

 

[Countessmeout]

Mary was the youngest daughter of King Stephen. She was the suo jure Countess of Boulogne from 1159 to 1170. Why was she abducted?
http://www.historyofroyalwomen.com/...e/the-abduction-of-marie-countess-of-boulogne

Simple: Power.

Stephen's wife Mathilda was Countess of Bologne in her own right. Mathilda died in 1152. Marie's eldest brother Eustace died in 1153 and her brother William in 1159. They were both childless. That left Marie as the only living heir to her mother's estate. By abducting and marrying her, Mathew became joint ruler. Even when their marriage was annulled, and she returned to the abbey, he remained ruling until his death. Her daughter and heir Ida didn't become countess until her father's death. Mathew was a younger son, power was a huge drive.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Why did the English Church refuse to recognize King Stephen's son, Prince Eustace as Stephen's heir?

 

[Denis Poore]

Was a terrible time for Roger of Salisbury. Barons pushed King Stephen around. I think if it had gone to Rome Stephen would of been excommunicated.

 

[Denis Poore]

Roger of Salisbury is a good book on some of the pressures King Stephen had.



In June 1139 Roger of Salisbury and his nephews were arrested by King Stephen. Since the time of William Stubbs, this “arrest of the bishops” has been regarded as a turning point of Stephen's reign or even the beginning of the “anarchy”. It is said to have ruptured the alliance between the Church and the Crown which had lasted since the accession of Stephen. It is also supposed to have destroyed the sophisticated administrative machinery which had been developed under the direction of Roger of Salisbury.In spite of these arguments, however, closer scrutiny of various chronicles and charters makes it clear that the traditional view can no longer be upheld. The Church seems to have continued to support Stephen even after the arrest of the bishops and at least until the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, as virtually all the English and Welsh bishops attended the king's court between these two incidents. Likewise, in this period many local administrators were still attending the king's court and the king seems to have had enough officials to maintain the royal government relatively in order. In short, the effect of the arrest of the bishops was not so serious as has been supposed. It was, in fact, only after the capture of Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln that the royal government stopped functioning and the Church, though reluctantly, deserted the king for the first time.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

How Matilda of Boulogne reigned alongside her troubled husband

 

[Blog Real]

A contemporary depiction of Stephen's family tree, with his mother Adela at the top, and, left to right, William, Theobald and Stephen.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Adela_syni.jpg

A 13th-century depiction of the coronation of Stephen, by Matthew Paris.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/StepanAngl.jpg

 

[CyrilVladisla]

King Stephen and the Pope had disagreed for some years over the installation to York of the papal candidate, Henry Murdac. In order to mollify the Pope, Queen Matilda of Boulogne persuaded Stephen to accept Murdac.

 

[Prinsara]

So I'm guessing they did not find Stephen and his family yet?

 

[CyrilVladisla]

King Stephen was brought prisoner to Empress Matilda
http://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/YYA0007880

 

[An Ard Ri]

So I'm guessing they did not find Stephen and his family yet?

Faversham Abbey was excavated in 1965 and again in 2019,so far the burial crypt has not been dicovered.
Its highly likely than the remains of King Stephen, Queen Matilda, and their son, Eustace IV of Boulogne were lost in 1538 when the abbey was pillaged and torn down.

 

[An Ard Ri]

More: Is King Stephen under Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School playing fields in Faversham?

As far as I'm aware no remains were found and king Stephen's remains are among the Missing Monarchs.
Missing monarchs: The kings who did not rest in peace