Adela of Normandy herself to not only her late husband but her sons. Adela quarrelled with her eldest son William and despite his previously being named heir-designate, she appointed his younger brother Theobald to replace him as heir in 1107. Her son Stephen moved to London in 1111 to join his uncle's court and became the favorite of his uncle King Henry I (Beauclerc). Upon Beauclerc's death in Normandy (1135), Stephen of Blois seized the English throne. He seized the English crown from the Empress Matilda, King Henry I's daughter whom the monarch had named as his successor. This started a protracted civil
Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine first he supported him, but switched sides to Philip of Swabia in 1203. Having divided the Welf allodial lands with his brothers Otto and William of Winchester, Henry then ruled over the northern Saxon territories around Stade and Altencelle and also was confirmed as count palatine by King Philip. When the German throne quarrel ended with Philip's assassination in 1208, Henry again sided with Otto IV. In Imperial service, he tried to ward off the territorial claims by the Rhenish Prince-archbishops of Cologne, Trier and Mainz, though to no avail. After the death of his cousin Arthur I, Duke of