Talk:Stephen of England

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Why is this page "Stephen I"? There was only one. -- Zoe

"The majority of the barons of England swore to support Matilda," but in the next sentence, "Stephen's claim was supported by the majority of the barons." What gives? Did people change allegiance or were the barons giving 110%? JHCC 18:43, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)

It wasn't that the barons were giving 110%, the fact was that Henry I had forced them into swearing an oath to be faithful in seeing Matilda to the throne upon his death. However, upon Henry's death, Stephen moved for the throne with great speed, and managed to win the support of many of the barons due to the fact that he had more to offer them than Matilda. He was a strong male baron in Europe at the time, held extensive lands in England, and had the support of the Church. Matilda's husband was Geoffrey of Anjou, who was an Angevin and not liked by many of the lords who held lands in both Normandy and England, and who would be opposed to an Angevin king, so when Stephen was crowned, they instantly lent their support, hoping that they may benefit from his reign more so than Matilda's. However, the issue as a whole of the anarchy that ensued following his succession is much more complex than this, but I hope what I can give helps! a lot of this is subject to debate, and are covered in 'King Stephen' by RHC Davis and 'The Reign of Stephen' by K Stringer

1 image
2 Claims
3 Pronounciation
4 last Norman King of England?
5 personal heraldry
6 Description by Walter Map
7 Recent??
8 Foggy history
9 English Royal descent
- 9.1 English Royal descendents

[edit] image

is the statue pictured a statue of the kind in this article or is it a statue of some other king with the same of name (and if so king of where when). (when information is found the image should be placed in an approprote place on the commons and removed from commons:Commons:Really unused

That looks like a statue of King Stephen I of Hungary Missi

[edit] Claims

~~In the article it states, " Empress Maud, Henry's daughter, and her claim to the throne. However, Stephen of Blois, who was a grandson of William the Conqueror through his mother, Adela..."~~

Matilda (Maud) was also The Conqueror's grandchild through her father, so had at least an equal claim to the throne. Should her relationship to William not also be cited? One of the reasons why neither Matilda's nor Stephen's claim to the throne was ironclad was that the application of Salic Law had not been resolved in England, and wasn't until Mary. Both Matilda and Stephen were descended from William in the female line. Duckecho (Talk) 4 July 2005 16:47 (UTC)

I edited to accommodate the above concerns. Duckecho (Talk) 6 July 2005 17:53 (UTC)

[edit] Pronounciation

Is it pronouced Steven or Stefan? I always wonder when I see "King Stephen". Sotakeit 19:21, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

It's pronounced Étienne since he was French, but Steven for the english pronunciation. Ciriii 00:22, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] last Norman King of England?

How on earth was Stephen any more a Norman king of England than Henry II? Both of them had a mother from the House of Normandy and a father from another northern French dynasty. I'm going to change this. john k 22:42, 9 September 2006 (UTC) Actually, Stephen is considered to be the last king of the Norman dynasty. Henry is considered the first king of the House of Plantagenet. RockStarSheister (talk) 06:39, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] personal heraldry

[1] ha an image that is supposedly his personal coat of arms, a liontaur passant on a red field. Does anyone have a reliable cite to conform this? Rhialto 23:00, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Description by Walter Map

I gave a precise reference for this and had a go at translating it accurately. But I'm not sure what Walter meant by idiota. Perhaps someone who has a better idea will correct my version. Andrew Dalby 15:59, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Recent??

Is it true that Stephen has only recently been accepted as a King in English history? I'm sure I read that somewhere... If true, should this be mentioned in the article? --El Pollo Diablo (Talk) 10:07, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Foggy history

Was King Stephen's reign 1135-54 or 1135-41, 1141-54. Was Matilda Queen regnant of England in 1141? GoodDay (talk) 20:36, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] English Royal descent

This section, included by Andrei Iosifovich, has been proven incorrect in that there is a traceable line from Stephen to Elizabeth. Still, it's some nice info, so I'll include it here. Andrei Iosifovich (talk) 14:51, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] English Royal descendents

Through his granddaughter Maud of Boulogne, who married Henry I, Duke of Brabant, Stephen is the ancestor of English royals, but no line leads directly to the current monarch. Through a marriage of Louis d'Évreux, a descendent of the Brabant line, to the Queen of Navarre, Stephen is an ancestor of some monarchs of France and Navarre, including Marguerite of France, second wife of King Edward I of England; however, Edward's heir was already born to a previous wife. Edward and Marguerite's descendents include Joan of Kent, first Princess of Wales and mother of King Richard II of England; but Richard had no children and the throne passed to his cousin Henry IV. Henry married Joanna of Navarre, another descendent of King Stephen's, but they had no children together.

The Navarrese monarchs also became Kings of France when Henri III of Navarre became King Henry IV of France. His daughter Henrietta Marie married King Charles I of England and Scotland, and thus became ancestor to the rulers of England and Scotland from 1660 to 1714; but following the Act of Settlement 1701 the throne passed to descendents of Charles I's sister Elizabeth, and no further British monarchs can claim descent from Stephen^{[citation needed]}. However, Stephen is an ancestor to the Jacobite pretenders and their successors to the present day.

This is the descent of the House of Stuart and subsequent Jacobite claimants from Stephen: