Background
In 1089, upon the death of his father, he became the Count of Blois and Chartres, although Theobald had given him the administration of those holdings in 1074.
In 1089, upon the death of his father, he became the Count of Blois and Chartres, although Theobald had given him the administration of those holdings in 1074.
He is numbered Stephen II after Stephen I, Count of Troyes. He was the father of Stephen of England. Stephen was the head of the army council at the Crusaders" siege of Nicaea in 1097.
He returned home in 1098 during the lengthy siege of Antioch, without having fulfilled his crusading vow to forge a way to Jerusalem.
He was pressured by Adela into making a second pilgrimage, and joined the minor crusade of 1101 in the company of others who had also returned home prematurely. In 1102, Stephen was killed at the Second Battle of Ramla at the age of fifty-seven.
Stephen married Adela of Normandy, a daughter of William the Conqueror around 1080 in Chartres. He fathered Adela"s children:
William, Count of Sully
Theobald II, Count of Champagne
Odo, who 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
Alix (c 1100 – 1145) married Renaud III of Joigni (d 1134) and had issue
Adelaide, married Milo II of Montlhéry, Viscount of Troyes (divorced 1115)
Henry, Bishop of Winchester
Humbert, died young.