Eustace fitz John construction of fortifications at Tickhill and Knaresborough in Yorkshire are also recorded in this pipe roll. This and evidence of royal writs show that Eustace and Walter Espec had justiciar responsibility for the counties of Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire, a role that involved hearing pleas and conveying instructions from central government. The death of Henry I on 1 December 1135 led to the accession of Stephen de Blois, to whom Eustace submitted. Stephen's seizure of the throne was contested by Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda, who had been Henry's designated heir. The "Gesta Stephani" claimed that certain "very
Henry I the Long, Margrave of the Nordmark Henry I the Long, Margrave of the Nordmark Henry I the Long (c.1065 - died 27 June 1087), Margrave of the Nordmark, also Count of Stade (as Henry III), son of Lothair Udo II, Margrave of the Nordmark, and Oda of Werl, daughter of Herman III, Count of Werl, and Richenza of Swabia. Henry married Eupraxia of Kiev, daughter of Vsevolod I, Grand Prince of Kiev, and his second wife Anna. There were no children as a result of this marriage, and Eupraxia, widowed, married next Henry IV, then King of Saxony, who became Holy Roman Emperor. Raffensperger suggests that