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William “The Simple” de Blois

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William “The Simple” de Blois

Birth
Departement du Loir-et-Cher, Centre, France
Death
1150 (aged 67–68)
Departement de Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France
Burial
Burial Details Unknown Add to Map
Memorial ID
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William de Blois (William the Simple) was Count of Blois and Count of Chartres from 1102 to 1107, and Count of Sully. He was the eldest son of Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy, daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders.
He was the older brother of Theobald II, Count of Champagne, King Stephen of England and Henry, Bishop of Winchester.
William was the eldest legitimate male heir of William the Conqueror, after the death of Henry I, but he was not considered as a candidate for the English crown.
William was at first groomed to inherit the comptal throne, and was designated count shortly before his father's departure on his second crusade in 1102. Many historians believed William had a mental deficient, but this has never been substantiated. His mother found him obstreperous and unfit for wide ranging comptal duties. He did once assault and threaten to kill the Bishop of Chartres over a jurisdictional dispute. So, when her second son Theobald came of age, around 1107, Adela elevated him to the position of count of Blois-Chartres, and William retired to his wife's lands in Sully.
In 1104, William married Agnes of Sully, the heiress to the lordship of Sully-sur-Loire, a woman of admirable beauty attached to the court of William's mother. The marriage of William and Agnes was a happy one and several children were born.
Their children included:
Margaret (c. 1105 - 1145). She married Henry, Count of Eu, Lord of Hastings, about 1122.
Henry de Sully, Abbot of Fécamp (d. 1189)
William de Blois (William the Simple) was Count of Blois and Count of Chartres from 1102 to 1107, and Count of Sully. He was the eldest son of Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy, daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders.
He was the older brother of Theobald II, Count of Champagne, King Stephen of England and Henry, Bishop of Winchester.
William was the eldest legitimate male heir of William the Conqueror, after the death of Henry I, but he was not considered as a candidate for the English crown.
William was at first groomed to inherit the comptal throne, and was designated count shortly before his father's departure on his second crusade in 1102. Many historians believed William had a mental deficient, but this has never been substantiated. His mother found him obstreperous and unfit for wide ranging comptal duties. He did once assault and threaten to kill the Bishop of Chartres over a jurisdictional dispute. So, when her second son Theobald came of age, around 1107, Adela elevated him to the position of count of Blois-Chartres, and William retired to his wife's lands in Sully.
In 1104, William married Agnes of Sully, the heiress to the lordship of Sully-sur-Loire, a woman of admirable beauty attached to the court of William's mother. The marriage of William and Agnes was a happy one and several children were born.
Their children included:
Margaret (c. 1105 - 1145). She married Henry, Count of Eu, Lord of Hastings, about 1122.
Henry de Sully, Abbot of Fécamp (d. 1189)


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