Count of Boulogne in the context of "Stephen, King of England"

Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne jure uxoris from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 until 1144. His reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda, whose son, Henry II, succeeded Stephen as the first of the Angevin kings of England.

Stephen was born in the County of Blois in central France as the fourth son of Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois, and Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. His father died as a crusader while Stephen was still young, and he was brought up by his mother. Placed into the court of his uncle Henry I of England, Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands. He married Matilda of Boulogne, inheriting additional estates in Kent and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I's son, William Adelin, in the sinking of the White Ship in 1120; William's death left the succession of the English throne open to challenge. When Henry died in 1135, Stephen quickly crossed the English Channel and took the throne with the help of his brother Henry, Bishop of Winchester, arguing that the preservation of order across the kingdom took priority over his earlier oaths to support the claim of Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda.

The County of Boulogne was a county within the Kingdom of France during the 9th to 15th centuries, centred on the city of Boulogne-sur-Mer. It was ruled by the counts of Flanders in the 10th century, but a separate House of Boulogne emerged during the 11th century. It was merged into the County of Artois by Philip II of France in 1212 and eventually annexed to the royal domain itself in 1477.

Eustace III (c. 1050 – c. 1125) was the count of Boulogne from 1087 succeeding his father, Eustace II. He joined the First Crusade, being present at Nicaea, Dorylaeum, Antioch, and Jerusalem. After fighting in the Battle of Ascalon, he returned home. Initially offered the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Eustace was in Apulia when he received news of Baldwin of Bourcq's election to the throne. On his return to Boulogne, he founded a Cluniac monastery in Rumilly, retired as a monk, and died in 1125.

Philip of Rouvres (1346 – 21 November 1361) was the Count of Burgundy (as Philip II) and Count of Artois (as Philip III) from 1347, Duke of Burgundy (as Philip I) from 1349, and Count of Auvergne and Boulogne (as Philip III) from 1360. He was the only son of Philip, heir to the Duchy of Burgundy, and Joan I, heiress of Auvergne and Boulogne.

The House of La Tour d'Auvergne (French: [la tuʁ dovɛʁɲ]) was an important French noble dynasty. Its senior branch, extinct in 1501, held two of the last large fiefs acquired by the French crown, the counties of Auvergne and Boulogne, for about half a century. Its cadet branch, extinct in 1802, ruled the Duchy of Bouillon in the Southern Netherlands from 1594, and held the dukedoms of Albret and Château-Thierry in the peerage of France since 1660. The name was also borne by Philippe d'Auvergne, an alleged collateral of the original Counts of Auvergne, and was adopted by the famous soldier Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne, who descended from an illegitimate line of the family.

Renaud de Dammartin (Reginald of Boulogne) (c. 1165 – 1227) was Count of Boulogne from 1190, Count of Dammartin from 1200 to 1214 and Count of Aumale from 1204 to 1214. He was the eldest son of Alberic III of Dammartin and Mathilde of Clermont.

Brought up at the French court, he was a childhood friend of Philip Augustus. At his father's insistence he fought for the Plantagenets. Received back into Philip's favour, he married Marie de Châtillon, daughter of Guy II de Châtillon and Adèle of Dreux, a royal cousin.

Eustace II, (c. 1015 – c. 1087), also known as Eustace aux Grenons ("Eustace with long moustaches"), was Count of Boulogne from 1049 to 1087. He fought on the Norman side at the Battle of Hastings, and afterwards received large grants of land forming the Honour of Boulogne in England. He is one of the few proven companions of William the Conqueror. It has been suggested that Eustace was the patron of the Bayeux Tapestry. His second son Godfrey of Bouillon was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.