Claim: Empress Matilda was the daughter of the king of England.

Stephen -LRB- -- 25 October 1154 -RRB- , often referred to as Stephen of Blois -LRB- in French , he was known as Étienne de Blois , then Étienne d'Angleterre -RRB- , was a grandson of William the Conqueror . He was King of England from 1135 to his death , and also the Count of Boulogne in right of his wife . Stephen 's reign was marked by the Anarchy , a civil war with his cousin and rival , the Empress Matilda . He was succeeded by Matilda 's son , Henry II , the first of the Angevin kings .   Stephen was born in the County of Blois in middle France ; his father , Count Stephen-Henry , died while Stephen was still young , and he was brought up by his mother , Adela . Placed into the court of his uncle , Henry I of England , Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands . He married Matilda of Boulogne , inheriting additional estates in Kent and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England . Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I 's son , William Adelin , in the sinking of the White Ship in 1120 ; William 's death left the succession of the English throne open to challenge . When Henry I died in 1135 , Stephen quickly crossed the English Channel and with the help of his brother Henry of Blois , a powerful ecclesiastic , took the throne , arguing that the preservation of order across the kingdom took priority over his earlier oaths to support the claim of Henry I 's daughter , the Empress Matilda .   The early years of Stephen 's reign were largely successful , despite a series of attacks on his possessions in England and Normandy by David I of Scotland , Welsh rebels , and the Empress Matilda 's husband , Geoffrey of Anjou . In 1138 the Empress 's half-brother Robert of Gloucester rebelled against Stephen , threatening civil war . Together with his close advisor , Waleran de Beaumont , Stephen took firm steps to defend his rule , including arresting a powerful family of bishops . When the Empress and Robert invaded in 1139 , however , Stephen was unable to crush the revolt rapidly , and it took hold in the south-west of England . Captured at the battle of Lincoln in 1141 , Stephen was abandoned by many of his followers and lost control of Normandy . Stephen was freed only after his wife and William of Ypres , one of his military commanders , captured Robert at the Rout of Winchester , but the war dragged on for many years with neither side able to win an advantage .   Stephen became increasingly concerned with ensuring that his son Eustace would inherit his throne . The King tried to convince the Church to agree to crown Eustace to reinforce his claim ; Pope Eugene III refused , and Stephen found himself in a sequence of increasingly bitter arguments with his senior clergy . In 1153 the Empress 's son , Henry FitzEmpress , invaded England and built an alliance of powerful regional barons to support his claim for the throne . The two armies met at Wallingford , but neither side 's barons were keen to fight another pitched battle . Stephen began to examine a negotiated peace , a process hastened by the sudden death of Eustace . Later in the year Stephen and Henry agreed to the Treaty of Winchester , in which Stephen recognised Henry as his heir in exchange for peace , passing over William , Stephen 's second son . Stephen died the following year . Modern historians have extensively debated the extent to which Stephen 's personality , external events , or the weaknesses in the Norman state contributed to this prolonged period of civil war .