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Birth:          ABT 1105 Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, France
Death:          3 May 1152 monastery at Faversham, Kent, England
Burial:         Faversham Abbey, Faversham, Kent, England

Notes
heiress of Boulogne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_of_Boulogne
Matilda I (or Maud) (1105? – 3 May 1152) was suo jure Countess of Boulogne. She was 
also queen consort of England as the wife of King Stephen. She is not to be confused 
with the Empress Matilda, her first cousin, with whom she and her husband fought for 
the English throne in the civil war known as the Anarchy. During this period, Matilda 
was forced to play an unusually active role for a woman of the period when her 
husband was captured, and proved herself an effective general who managed to force 
her cousin to release him. Under the agreement that settled the civil war, her children 
did not inherit the throne.
Early life and marriage[edit]

She was born in Boulogne, France, the daughter of Eustace III, Count of Boulogne, 
and his wife Mary, daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret of 
Scotland. Matilda was first cousin of her husband's rival, Empress Matilda. Through 
her maternal grandmother, Matilda was descended from the pre-Conquest English 
kings.

In 1125, Matilda married Stephen of Blois, Count of Mortain, who possessed a large 
honour in England. When Matilda's father abdicated and retired to a monastery the 
same year, this was joined with Boulogne and the similarly large English honour 
Matilda inherited. On Eustace III's death, Matilda and her husband became joint rulers 
of Boulogne. Two children, a son and a daughter, were born to the countess and 
count of Boulogne during the reign of King Henry I, who had granted them a residence 
in London.[1] The son was named Baldwin, after Matilda's uncle, King Baldwin I of 
Jerusalem.[1] The daughter was named Matilda. Baldwin died in early childhood and 
the young Matilda is thought to have died during childhood too, although she lived 
long enough to be espoused to Waleran de Meulan, Earl of Worcester.[1]

Queenship[edit]

On the death of Henry I of England in 1135, Stephen rushed to England, taking 
advantage of Boulogne's control of the closest seaports, and was crowned king, 
beating his rival, the Empress Matilda. Matilda of Boulogne was heavily pregnant at 
that time and crossed the Channel after giving birth to a son, Eustace, who would one 
day succeed her as count of Boulogne. Matilda was crowned queen at Easter, on 22 
March 1136.[1]

Matilda was a supporter of the Knights Templar. She founded Cressing Temple in 
Essex in 1137 and Temple Cowley in Oxford in 1139.[2] Like her predecessor, Matilda 
of Scotland, she had a close relationship with the Holy Trinity Priory at Aldgate. She 
took the prior as her confessor and two of her children were buried there.[3]

In the civil war that followed, known as the Anarchy, Matilda proved to be her 
husband's strongest supporter. When England was invaded in 1138, she called troops 
from Boulogne and its ally Flanders, and besieged Dover Castle with success and then 
went north to Durham, where she made a treaty with David I of Scotland in 1139.[4]

After Stephen was captured at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, she rallied the king's 
partisans, and raised an army with the help of William of Ypres. While the Empress 
Matilda waited in London to prepare her coronation, Matilda and Stephen's brother 
Henry of Blois had her chased out of the city. The Empress Matilda went on to 
besiege Henry of Blois at Winchester. Matilda of Boulogne then commanded her army 
to attack the besiegers. There was a rout in which the Empress's half-brother, Robert 
of Gloucester, was captured. The two Matildas then agreed to exchange prisoners and 
Stephen ruled as king again.[5]

Matilda died of a fever at Hedingham Castle, Essex, England, and is buried at 
Faversham Abbey, which she and her husband founded.[1]

Issue[edit]

Stephen and Matilda had three sons:
Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne, married Constance of France, no issue
Baldwin of Boulogne (d. before 1135)
William of Blois, Count of Mortain and Boulogne and Earl of Surrey, married Isabel de 
Warenne, no issue

They also had two daughters:
Matilda of Boulogne, married Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester, no issue
Marie I, Countess of Boulogne, married Matthew of Alsace, had issue

Parents
____ Eustace (Eustache) III (ABT 1059 - ABT 1125)
OF SCOTLAND Mary (1082 - 31 May 1116)

Siblings
OF BOULOGNE Matilda I (ABT 1105 - 3 May 1152)

Marriage To OF BLOIS Stephen (ABT 1095 - 25 Oct 1154)
    m. 1125 

Notes

Parents
OF BLOIS Stephen [chg from Henry] (Etienne Henri) III "Le Sage" (ABT 1045 - 27 May 1102)
OF NORMANDY Adele (Alice) (ABT 1062 - 8 Mar 1137)

Children by OF BLOIS Stephen ABT 1095 - 25 Oct 1154
OF BLOIS Marie (Mary) (1136 - 25 Jul 1182)

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