Eustace II

Eustace II

(yo͞o`stĭs), d. 1093, count of Boulogne. He was the brother-in-law of Edward the ConfessorEdward the Confessor,
d. 1066, king of the English (1042–66), son of Æthelred the Unready and his Norman wife, Emma. After the Danish conquest (1013–16) of England, Edward grew up at the Norman court, although his mother returned to England and married the
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 of England. Visiting England in 1051, he and his followers became involved in a brawl with the citizens of Dover. Earl GodwinGodwin
or Godwine
, d. 1053, earl of Wessex. He became chief adviser to King Canute, was created (c.1018) an earl, and was given great wealth and lands. After Canute's death (1035) Godwin and Queen Emma, Canute's widow, supported the claims to succession of her son
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 refused to obey Edward's order to punish the people of the town and broke with the king as a result. Eustace took part in the Norman invasion of England in 1066, but the following year led an unsuccessful revolt against William I. They were subsequently reconciled. Eustace was the father of Eustace III, who was in turn father of Matilda, wife of King StephenStephen,
1097?–1154, king of England (1135–54). The son of Stephen, count of Blois and Chartres, and Adela, daughter of William I of England, he was brought up by his uncle, Henry I of England, who presented him with estates in England and France and arranged his
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 of England.

Stephen and Matilda's son, Eustace IV, d. 1153, count of Boulogne, fought unsuccessfully against Geoffrey IVGeoffrey IV,
known as Geoffrey Plantagenet
[O.Fr.,=sprig of broom; he usually wore a sprig in his helmet], 1113–51, count of Anjou (1129–51); son of Fulk, count of Anjou and king of Jerusalem.
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 of Anjou, husband of Henry I's daughter MatildaMatilda
or Maud,
1102–67, queen of England, daughter of Henry I of England. Henry arranged a marriage for her with Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, and she was sent to Germany, betrothed, and five years later (1114) married to him.
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, in Normandy. In 1152 Eustace was recognized as Stephen's successor by some of the English barons, but Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, fled the country rather than crown him. Eustace's death cleared the way for the accession of Henry IIHenry II,
1133–89, king of England (1154–89), son of Matilda, queen of England, and Geoffrey IV, count of Anjou. He was the founder of the Angevin, or Plantagenet, line in England and one of the ablest and most remarkable of the English kings.
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 to the English throne.