Stephen III Blois Chartres Champagne ^{1 2 3}

   Cause of his death was killed in battle during the 2nd Crusade.

  General Notes:

Brian Tompsett calls him "Stephen II Henry of Blois". Count of Blois, Champaigne, Chartres and Tourain, a crusader under Godfrey de Bouillon, who fell, gallantly fighting against the Infidels at Rames. (Battle of Ascalon actually).
________________________________

Stephen II Henry (c. 1045 - May 19, 1102), Count of Blois and Count of Chartres, was the son of Theobald III, Count of Blois, and Garsinde du Maine.

In about 1080, in Chartres, France, Stephen married Adela of Normandy, a daughter of William the Conqueror. Their third son Stephen of Blois became king of England after Henry I of England died without a male heir and the English did not think Henry I's daughter Empress Maud a suitable ruler because of her sex. Stephen and Adela's youngest son was Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester.

Count Stephen was one of the leaders of the First Crusade, often writing enthusiastic letters to Adela about the crusade's progress. He returned home in 1098 during the lengthy siege of Antioch, without having fulfilled his crusading vow, which would have been completed only if he had made it all the way to Jerusalem. He was pressured by Adela into making a second pilgrimage, and along with others who faced the same pressures after returning home prematurely, he joined the minor crusade of 1101. In 1102, Stephen was killed in battle at the age of 57, during the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem's siege of Ascalon in what is now Israel.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He was employed. Count of Meaux and Brie, Count of Blois and Chartres.

Stephen married Adela of England, daughter of William I the Conqueror of England and Matilda of Flanders, in 1080 in Breteuil / Chartres Cathedral, France. (Adela of England was born in 1062 in Normandy, France and died on 8 Mar 1137 in Cluniac Priory of Marcigny-sur-Loire, France.)