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Stephen (c.1090-1154) King of England (1135-54), Duke of Normandy (1135-54):

Son of Stephen, Count of Blois, and Adela, daughter of William I. Although he had sworn in 1127 to accept Henry's daughter Matilda as the king's legitimate heir, he at once seized the crown in 1135, which led to 18 years of internal warfare in England between the king's party and the followers of Matilda the Empress. In most handbooks this period is called 'Anarchy', although by and large Stephen's war strategy was sound and he tried to uphold royal privileges in the cross-Channel state. He was captured in the Battle of Lincoln (1141), but released nine months later. Scottish invasions from the North and Angevin offensives in the South by Matilda's husband, Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, forced him to accept Henry Plantagenet as his successor in 1153. Stephen died one year later having survived his queen Matilda and his eldest son Eustace.