Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne
Eustace IV | |
---|---|
Stephen | |
Successor | William I |
Born | c. 1130[1] |
Died | 17 August 1153 (aged c. 23) Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk |
Burial | |
Spouse |
Constance of France (m. 1140) |
House | Blois |
Father | Stephen, King of England |
Mother | Matilda I, Countess of Boulogne |
Eustace IV (c. 1129/1131 – 17 August 1153) ruled the
Early life
Eustace was first mentioned in one of his parents' charters dated no later than August 1131.
The Anarchy
In 1151, Eustace joined his brother-in-law, Louis VII, in a raid upon Normandy, also contested between Empress Matilda and King Stephen. This was short-lived, however, when Louis accepted the homage of
In the later stages of the Anarchy, Stephen was concerned with cementing Eustace as his heir without question. At a council held in London on 6 April 1152, Stephen induced a small number of
This clearly had not been Stephen's first attempt at crowning Eustace as
After the second siege of Wallingford in July 1153, after Henry had invaded England and attracted widespread support, Stephen was persuaded to agree to terms. The agreement, known as the
Death and aftermath
Eustace died suddenly that same year, in mid-August 1153, struck down (so it was said) by the wrath of God while plundering church lands near Bury St Edmunds. Others believed that Eustace died simply of a broken heart.[2] The death of Eustace was hailed with general satisfaction as opening the possibility of a peaceful settlement between Stephen and his rival, the young Henry Plantagenet.[4] According to William of Newburgh, Stephen was "grieved beyond measure by the death of the son whom he hoped would succeed him; he pursued warlike preparations less vigorously, and listened more patiently than usual to the voices of those urging peace."[citation needed]
The reputation Eustace left behind was mixed. On the one hand, the Peterborough Chronicle, not content with voicing this sentiment, gives Eustace a bad character. "He was an evil man and did more harm than good wherever he went; he spoiled the lands and laid thereon heavy taxes."[8] Eustace raided church lands near Peterborough, possibly inciting this hatred from the Chronicle. He had used threats against the recalcitrant bishops, and in the war against the Angevin party had demanded contributions from religious houses.[4] However, the Gesta Stephani describes his courtly manner as a true heir to Stephen able to "meet men on a footing of equality or superiority as the occasion acquired".[9]
Eustace was buried in
References
- ^ a b Heather J. Tanner, Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady, ed. B. Wheeler, John C. Parsons, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), 153.
- ^ a b c d Edmund King, Eustace, count of Boulogne, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
- ^ Sara McDougall, Royal Bastards: The Birth of Illegitimacy, 800-1230, (Oxford University Press, 2017), 202.
- ^ a b c d public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Eustace s.v. Eustace IV.". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 956–957. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Edmund, King (2010). King Stephen. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 370–371.
- ^ Chibnall, Marjorie, ed. (1986). The Historia Pontificalis of John of Salisbury. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 85–86.
- ISBN 978-0198222347.
- ISBN 978-0198111368.
- ISBN 978-0198222347.
External links