Gervase of Blois Gervase of Blois Gervase of Blois was the Abbot of Westminster in England between 1138 and around 1157. Historically, Gervase has a bad reputation for mismanaging the abbey, although modern historians have re-evaluated his performance as abbot. Gervase of Blois was the illegitimate son of King Stephen and his mistress, Damette. His father ensured that he was appointed as the Abbot of Westminster Abbey in the second half of 1138; the abbey would have hoped to receive additional royal funding as a result. Gervase was very young to be appointed abbot, but despite this probably attended the Second Lateran Council
Counts of Blois England. Charles de Blois, son of Guy I, Count of Blois, married Joan of Penthievre, the heiress of John III, Duke of Brittany; together, they became principal protagonists in the War of the Breton Succession. Upon the death of his only son, Guy II, Count of Blois sold the county to Louis I, Duke of Orléans and the county passed to the French royal family. Blois was important during the Hundred Years' War; Joan of Arc based herself there. The extent of the county varied over time. The northern portion, bordering on Normandy, was sometimes alienated as the County of