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Stephen (King of England son)

King of England; son of the Count of Blois by his wife Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror; born in Blois, France, in 1105. Being in England on the death of Henry I., he seized on the crown and royal coffers, to the prejudice of Henry's daughter, Matilda, the empress, and was crowned in 1135. Four years elapsed before Matilda was able to land with forces to dispute Stephen's possession of the throne, and after a long civil war that lasted nearly the whole reign and in which Stephen was once taken prisoner but released for Matilda's brother, the Earl of Gloucester, it was finally decided that Stephen should retain the crown for his own life, on condition that Prince Henry, Matilda's son by her first husband, should succeed. These terms were concluded in 1154. He died in Dover, England, Oct. 25, 1154.