Stephen, King of England brought up by his mother, Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. Placed into the court of his uncle, Henry I of England, Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands. He married Matilda of Boulogne, inheriting additional estates in Kent and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I's son, William Adelin, in the sinking of the "White Ship" in 1120; William's death left the succession of the English throne open to challenge. When Henry I died in 1135, Stephen quickly crossed the English Channel and with the help
Treaty of Alton Treaty of Alton The Treaty of Alton was an agreement signed in 1101 between Henry I of England and his older brother Robert, Duke of Normandy in which Robert agreed to recognize Henry as king of England in exchange for a yearly stipend and other concessions. The agreement temporarily ended a crisis in the succession of the Anglo-Norman kings. The previous year, Henry had seized the throne on the death of his brother William II, even though Robert had been William's acknowledged heir. Robert's absence in the First Crusade at the time of William's death, as well as his poor