Editing Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne (section)

==Death and aftermath==
Eustace died suddenly that same year, in mid-August 1153, struck down (so it was said) by the wrath of God while plundering church lands near [[Bury St Edmunds]]. Others believed that Eustace died simply of a broken heart.<ref name="DNB" /> The death of Eustace was hailed with general satisfaction as opening the possibility of a peaceful settlement between Stephen and his rival, the young Henry Plantagenet.<ref name="EB1911"/> According to [[William of Newburgh]], Stephen was "grieved beyond measure by the death of the son whom he hoped would succeed him; he pursued warlike preparations less vigorously, and listened more patiently than usual to the voices of those urging peace."{{fact|date=December 2021}}

The reputation Eustace left behind was mixed. On the one hand, the ''[[Peterborough Chronicle]]'', not content with voicing this sentiment, gives Eustace a bad character. "He was an evil man and did more harm than good wherever he went; he spoiled the lands and laid thereon heavy taxes."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Peterborough chronicle|last=Clark|first=Cecily|publisher=Clarendon press|year=1970|isbn=978-0198111368|location=Oxford|pages=53}}</ref> Eustace raided church lands near Peterborough, possibly inciting this hatred from the ''Chronicle''. He had used threats against the recalcitrant bishops, and in the war against the [[House of Plantagenet|Angevin]] party had demanded contributions from religious houses.<ref name="EB1911"/> However, the ''[[Gesta Stephani]]'' describes his courtly manner as a true heir to Stephen able to "meet men on a footing of equality or superiority as the occasion acquired".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gesta stephani|last1=Potter|first1=K. R.|last2=Davies|first2=R. H. C.|publisher=Clarendon press|year=1976|isbn=978-0198222347|pages=208–9}}</ref>

Eustace was buried in [[Faversham Abbey]] in [[Kent]], which was founded by his parents. They too were buried in Faversham Abbey; all three tombs are now lost, as a consequence of the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]].{{fact|date=December 2021}}