Editing Stephen, King of England (section)

=== ''White Ship'' and succession ===
[[File:WhiteShipSinking.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|An early 14th-century depiction of the ''[[White Ship]]'' sinking in 1120]]

In 1120, the English political landscape changed dramatically. Three hundred passengers embarked on the ''[[White Ship]]'' to travel from [[Barfleur]] in Normandy to England, including the heir to the throne, William Adelin, and many other senior nobles.<ref>Bradbury, p. 1.</ref> Stephen had intended to sail on the same ship but changed his mind at the last moment and got off to await another vessel, either out of concern for overcrowding on board the ship, or because he was suffering from [[diarrhoea]].<ref name="BradburyP2">Bradbury, p. 2.</ref>{{#tag:ref|Contemporary chroniclers varied in their explanation for Stephen's absence from the ''White Ship'', [[Orderic]] gives his illness as the reason.<ref name=BradburyP2/>|group="nb"}} The ship foundered en route, and all but one of the passengers died, including William Adelin.<ref name="Bradbury, p. 3">Bradbury, p. 3.</ref>{{#tag:ref|There has been extensive speculation as to the cause of the sinking of the ''White Ship''. Some theories centre on overcrowding, while others blame excessive drinking by the ship's master and crew.<ref name=BradburyP2/>|group="nb"}}

With William Adelin dead, the inheritance to the English throne was thrown into doubt. Rules of succession in [[western Europe]] at the time were uncertain; in some parts of France, male [[primogeniture]], in which the eldest son would inherit a title, was becoming increasingly popular.<ref name="BarlowP162">Barlow, p. 162.</ref> It was also traditional for the king of France to crown his successor whilst he himself was still alive, making the intended line of succession relatively clear, but this was not the case in England. In other parts of Europe, including Normandy and England, the tradition was for lands to be divided up, with the eldest son taking patrimonial lands—usually considered to be the most valuable—and younger sons being given smaller, or more recently acquired, partitions or estates.<ref name=BarlowP162/> There was no precedent of a woman ruler. The problem was further complicated by the sequence of unstable Anglo-Norman successions over the previous sixty years – William the Conqueror had gained England by force; two of his sons, Robert Curthose and William Rufus, had fought a war amongst themselves for the throne, with Rufus, who was younger, emerging victorious; and Henry had likewise acquired control of Normandy only by force. There had been no peaceful, uncontested successions.<ref>Huscroft, pp. 65, 69–71; Carpenter, p. 124.</ref>

Henry had only one other legitimate child, the [[Empress Matilda]], but as a woman she was at a substantial political disadvantage.<ref name="Bradbury, p. 3"/> Shortly after the death of his son, the King took a second wife, [[Adeliza of Louvain]], but it became increasingly clear that he would not have another legitimate son, and he instead looked to Matilda as his intended heir.<ref>Bradbury, pp. 6–7.</ref> Matilda claimed the title of Holy Roman Empress through her marriage to [[Emperor Henry V]], but her husband died in 1125, and she was remarried in 1128 to [[Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou]], whose lands bordered the Duchy of Normandy.<ref>Barlow, p. 160.</ref> Geoffrey was unpopular with the Anglo-Norman elite: as an [[House of Ingelger|Angevin]] ruler, he was a traditional enemy of the Normans.<ref name="Barlow">Barlow, p. 161.</ref> At the same time, tensions continued to grow as a result of Henry's domestic policies, in particular the high level of revenue he was raising to pay for his various wars.<ref>Carpenter, p. 160.</ref> Conflict was curtailed, however, by the power of the King's personality and reputation.<ref>Carpenter, p. 161; Stringer, p. 8.</ref>

Meanwhile, the King arranged for Stephen to marry in 1125 to [[Matilda I, Countess of Boulogne|Matilda]], the daughter and only heiress of [[Eustace III]], [[Count of Boulogne]], who owned both the important continental port of [[Boulogne]] and vast estates in the north-west and south-east of England.<ref name=DavisP8/> In 1127, William Clito, a potential claimant to the English throne, seemed likely to become the [[Count of Flanders]]; the King sent Stephen on a mission to prevent this, and in the aftermath of his successful election, William attacked Stephen's lands in neighbouring Boulogne in retaliation. Eventually, a truce was declared, and William died the following year.<ref>King (2010), pp. 32–34.</ref>

Henry attempted to build up a base of political support for Matilda in both England and Normandy, demanding that his court take [[oath]]s first in 1127, and then again in 1128 and 1131, to recognise Matilda as his immediate successor and recognise her descendants as the rightful rulers after her.<ref>Bradbury, p. 9; Barlow, p. 161.</ref> Stephen was amongst those who took this oath in 1127.<ref>King (2010), pp. 30–31; Barlow, p. 161.</ref> Nonetheless, relations between Henry, Matilda, and Geoffrey became increasingly strained towards the end of the King's life. Matilda and Geoffrey suspected that they lacked genuine support in England, and proposed to Henry in 1135 that the King should hand over the royal castles in Normandy to Matilda whilst he was still alive and insist on the Norman nobility swearing immediate allegiance to her, thereby giving the couple a much more powerful position after Henry's death.<ref>King (2010), pp. 38–39.</ref> Henry angrily declined to do so, probably out of a concern that Geoffrey would try to seize power in Normandy somewhat earlier than intended.<ref>King (2010), p. 38; Crouch (2008a), p. 162.</ref> A fresh rebellion broke out in southern Normandy, and Geoffrey and Matilda intervened militarily on behalf of the rebels.<ref name=BarlowP162/> In the middle of this confrontation, Henry unexpectedly fell ill and died near [[Lyons-la-Forêt]].<ref name="Barlow"/>