Stephen of
England was the
grandson of
William the Conqueror through his daughter Adela. William's son
William II had died
childless; his other son
Henry I had only one
legitimate child alive, Matilda. Henry had designated Matilda
heir to the
throne and made many of his nobles, including Stephen, swear to support her. On Henry's death in
1135, though, Stephen went to London and induced the
Archbishop of Canterbury to
crown him king, claiming Henry had changed his mind on his
deathbed. So many people were opposed to the idea of a woman on the throne that Stephen's claim was pretty popular. Matilda protested, but
Pope Innocent II supported Stephen (and also Stephen bribed a lot of his former opponents), so for a while, the only problem in the country was warring with the
Scots. Stephen won a great battle in August
1139 against them, and a peace was made on that front.
However, Matilda and her illegitimate half-brother Robert had been gathering armies in Europe, and invaded England in the fall of 1139. Fighting continued for several years, with both claimants to the throne getting captured or just barely escaping capture; no outcome was in sight. In 1153 Matilda's son Henry rallied her supporters, and with the objection of Matilda's gender removed, the Treaty of Westminster was concluded with Stephen keeping the crown for life, after which it would pass to Henry. (Stephen's children held their mother's lands in France.) Stephen died, probably of appendicitis, in 1154.