Stephen
1. ?1097--1154, king of England (1135--54); grandson of William the Conqueror. He seized the throne on the death of Henry I, causing civil war with Henry's daughter Matilda. He eventually recognized her son (later Henry II) as his successor
2. Saint. died ?35 ad, the first Christian martyr. Feast day: Dec. 26 or 27
3. Saint, Hungarian name István. ?975--1038 ad, first king of Hungary as Stephen I (997--1038). Feast day: Aug. 16 or 20
4. Sir Leslie. 1832--1904, English biographer, critic, and first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography; father of the novelist Virginia Woolf
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Stephen
(Stephen of Blois). Born circa 1097 in Blois, France; died Oct. 25,1154, in Dover. English king from 1135; son of the count of Blois and nephew of the English king Henry I.
After the death of Henry I, Stephen was proclaimed king by a group of English feudal lords. Beginning in 1139, he waged a struggle for power—with varying success—against Henry’s daughter Matilda, who also claimed the throne. This dispute resulted in feudal anarchy. In 1153, in exchange for a promise from Matilda not to engage in further struggle, Stephen recognized her son Henry as his successor. [24—1512–2]
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.