Editing List of English monarchs (section)

==House of Blois (1135–1154)==
{{Main|House of Blois}}

[[Henry I of England|Henry I]] left no legitimate male heirs, his son [[William Adelin]] having died in the ''[[White Ship]]'' disaster of 1120. This ended the direct Norman line of kings in England. Henry named his eldest daughter, [[Empress Matilda|Matilda]] (Countess of Anjou by her second marriage to [[Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou]], as well as widow of her first husband, [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor]]), as his heir. Before naming Matilda as heir, he had been in negotiations to name his nephew [[Stephen of Blois]] as his heir. When Henry died, Stephen travelled to England, and in a [[coup d'etat]] had himself crowned instead of Matilda. The period which followed is known as [[The Anarchy]], as parties supporting each side fought in open warfare both in Britain and on the continent for the better part of two decades.

{{Nobility table header|extra column=Claim}}

|-
| '''[[Stephen, King of England|Stephen]]'''{{Sfn|Fryde|1996|page=35}}<ref name="Stephen and Matilda">{{Cite web |date=2016-01-12 |title=Stephen and Matilda (r. 1135–1154) |url=https://www.royal.uk/stephen-and-matilda-r-1135-1154 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125015616/https://www.royal.uk/stephen-and-matilda-r-1135-1154 |archive-date=25 January 2018 |access-date=16 January 2018 |website=royal.gov.uk}}</ref><br/>'''Stephen of Blois'''<br/>22 December 1135{{Efn-lr|Stephen was crowned on 22 December 1135.}}<br/>–<br/>25 October 1154<br/>''({{Age in years and days|22 December 1135|25 October 1154|duration=yes}})''
| [[File:Stepan Blois.jpg|100px|Stephen]]
| {{Circa|1096}}<br/>[[Blois]]<hr/>Son of [[Stephen, Count of Blois|Stephen II of Blois]]<br/>and [[Adela of Normandy]]
| [[Matilda of Boulogne]]<br/>[[Westminster]]<br/>1125<br/>6 children
| 25 October 1154<br/>[[Dover Castle]]<br/>Aged about 58
| Grandson of [[William the Conqueror|William I]]<hr/>Appointment{{\}}usurpation

|}

===Disputed claimants===

'''[[Empress Matilda|Matilda]]''' was declared [[heir presumptive]] by her father, Henry I, after the death of her brother on the ''[[White Ship]]'', and acknowledged as such by the barons. Upon Henry I's death, the throne was seized by Matilda's cousin, [[Stephen of England|Stephen of Blois]]. During the [[The Anarchy|ensuing Anarchy]], Matilda controlled England for a few months in 1141. She was the first woman to do so, but was never crowned and is rarely listed as a monarch of England.{{Efn|Matilda is not listed as a monarch of England in many genealogies within texts, including {{Cite book |last=Carpenter |first=David |title=A Struggle for Mastery |date=2003 |page=533}}; {{Cite book |last=Warren |first=W.L. |url=https://archive.org/details/henryii00warr |title=Henry II |date=1973 |publisher=Berkeley |isbn=9780520022829 |page=[https://archive.org/details/henryii00warr/page/176 176] |url-access=registration}}; and {{Cite book |last=Gillingham |first=John |title=The Angevin Empire |date=1984 |page=x}}.}}

{{Nobility table header|extra column=Claim}}

|-
| '''''[[Empress Matilda|Matilda]]'''''{{R|Stephen and Matilda}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matilda (the Empress) |url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/england/king_england/matilda.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016193944/http://www.archontology.org/nations/england/king_england/matilda.php |archive-date=16 October 2007 |access-date=27 October 2007 |website=archontology.org}}</ref><br/>'''Empress Matilda'''<br/>7 April 1141<br/>–<br/>1 November 1141<br/>''({{Age in years and days|7 April 1141|1 November 1141|duration=yes}})''
| [[File:Empress Mathilda.png|100px|Matilda]]
| 7 February 1102<br/>[[Manor House (Sutton Courtenay)|Sutton Courtenay Manor House]]<hr/>Daughter of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]]<br/>and [[Matilda of Scotland|Edith of Scotland]]
| {{Gray|(1)}} [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire]]<br/>[[Mainz]]<br/>6 January 1114<br/>No children<hr/>{{Gray|(2)}} [[Geoffrey V of Anjou]]<br/>[[Le Mans Cathedral]]<br/>22 May 1128<br/>3 sons
| 10 September 1167<br/>[[Rouen]]<br/>Aged 65
| Daughter of [[Henry I of England|Henry I]]<hr/>[[The Anarchy|Seizure of the Crown]]

|}

Count '''[[Eustace IV of Boulogne]]''' (c. 1130 – 17 August 1153) was [[Stephen, King of England#Argument with the church (1145–1152)|appointed co-king]] of England by his father, [[Stephen, King of England|King Stephen]], on 6 April 1152, in order to guarantee his succession to the throne (as was the custom in France, but not in England). The [[Pope]] and the Church would not agree to this, and Eustace was not crowned. Eustace died the next year aged 23, during his father's lifetime, and so never became king in his own right.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ashley |first=Mike |title=The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens |date=1999 |publisher=Robinson Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-84119-096-9 |location=London |page=516}}</ref>