Stephen of England [~1096-1154] -- English monarch, King of England

During the reign of Stephen of Blois, property rights were once again pushed aside at the whims of the lords. The "nineteen long winters" of Stephen's administration saw excessive taxation, land usurpation, and abuses of the Coronation Charter in order that the lords might take up sides in the struggle between Stephen and his cousin Matilda over the English throne.(11) Stephen was unsuited for rule, and during his reign "... the countryside was ravaged, crops were destroyed, cattle were driven off. It was, as a chronicler put it, a time when 'Christ and his saints slept'".(12)

Source: The Governance of Real Property in England From Henry I to the Second Reiteration of Magna Carta
Lord Madoc Arundel, CACM, PCS
mka: Christopher T.C. Miller, MA
Shire of Lost Moor
(http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/land_law.html)

When the white ship was wrecked on the deadly rock a boat was launched and William, the King's only legitimate son, was rowed to safety. The cries of his half-sister the Countess of Perche induced him to return to the wreck where they sank together. This was considered by some to be punishment for Henry's sins of lust in having so many illegitimate offspring. [Tompsett, op cit]  
 

1135-1144

1135-1154