House of Blois chose a wife from the House of Champagne (Adela of Champagne) as a counterpoise to Angevin power. The senior line of the House of Blois became extinct with the death of Joan I of Navarre, wife of Philip IV of France, in 1305. Champagne and Navarre passed to the Capetian dynasty. King Stephen I of England, 1135–1154, was both a member of the House of Blois and the last Anglo-Norman King, being the grandson of William the Conqueror through his daughter Adela of Normandy. A branch of the family was established in Sancerre by Stephen I of Sancerre, a younger
The Merry Monarch sold all his horses for £10,000 to Edward Lloyd-Mostyn. The Merry Monarch was put up for auction and bought back by his original owner, William Gratwicke for 78 guineas. "The Sportsman" magazine described The Merry Monarch as "a very bad horse" and his Derby win as the biggest "fluke" in the history of the race. "The Farmer's Magazine" concurred, calling the result "one of the greatest flukes that we have on record". The Merry Monarch stood as a stallion at his owner's stud at Ham, where his fee was initially 10 guineas. He attracted few mares however, and in only