King Stephen of England

King Stephen of England - 1135-1154

Reign: 22 December 1135 – 25 October 1154 - mid twelth century - The Anarchy

The period of history after conquest was shaped by the outcome of the White Ship disaster and The Anarchy

Stephen came to power as a consequence of the death of William Adelin (Ætheling) in the White Ship disaster.

Stephen's mother, Adela, was the daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. This made Stephen the nephew of William I and a cousin of Henry I. The Empress Matilda was also Stephen's cousin as she was the daughter of William I.

Top

Wikipedia says:

I have changed some of the text here (or the Wikipedia page has been edited)

Stephen was brought up by his mother, (Adela), daughter of William the Conqueror. He was placed into the court of his uncle, Henry I.

He became king as he survived the White Ship drowning of William Adelin in 1120, Henry I's son.

This page is part of an on-going research project on the history of Belchamp Walter and the manor of Belchamp Walter. If you have found it making a web search looking for geneological or other information on the village then please bookmark this page and return often as I am likely to make regular updates. If you delve deeper into this website you will find many other pages similar to this one.

Background to this page

Having seen some of my history pages being found by those making an Internet search I have decided to add a bit more context on how the pages came about.

My interest in Stephen relates to the Medievil "Chess Match" that appeared to be played out in Belchamp Walter from Conquest to aquisition of the Manor by the ஓaymond Family.

The fact that the manor "was held by a number of families"

A quote found on The Friends of Holy Innocents Church, Lamarsh website:

The Beauchamps of Bedford Castle were well versed in defence and their North Essex manors were set amongst the many manors of de Vere, with a newly built castle at Castle Hedingham where Matilda, the enemy of Stephen, had been welcomed.

Payne de Beauchamp's son, Simon de Beauchamp, was steward of the household to King Stephen.
His son and successor, William de Beauchamp, acquired military fame by his prowess and conduct, but proving unfaithful to King Henry III his castle at Bedford was ordered to be demolished.

From Wikipedia

" Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154 "

The Medievil "Chess Match"

I coined this description as it appears that the history of Belchamp Walter and surrouning area is rather like a chess match in that there are castles, kings and queens, and quite a few knights.

Hugh Bigod and King Stephen

In late 1143, Stephen faced a new threat in the east, when Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, rose up in rebellion against him in East Anglia.[167] The King had disliked the Earl for several years, and provoked the conflict by summoning Geoffrey to court, where the King arrested him.[168] He threatened to execute Geoffrey unless the Earl handed over his various castles, including the Tower of London, Saffron Walden and Pleshey, all important fortifications because they were in, or close to, London.[168] Geoffrey gave in, but once free he headed north-east into the Fens to the Isle of Ely, from where he began a military campaign against Cambridge, with the intention of progressing south towards London.[169] With all of his other problems and with Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk, in open revolt in Norfolk, Stephen lacked the resources to track Geoffrey down in the Fens and made do with building a screen of castles between Ely and London, including Burwell Castle.

King Stephen of England - 1135-1154

Links