|Matilda of Boulogne was the last of the Anglo-Norman queens, and the only child of the Count and Countess of Boulogne. She was educated at the Convent of Bermondsey, which was founded by her mother, but it was never intended that she should spend her life there, because, at a very early age, she was married to Stephen de Blois, a nephew of Henry I. Stephen was a handsome, bright, intellectual boy when he went to seek his fortune at the court of England, and Henry Beauclerc was pleased to have an opportunity of showing kindness to the son of his sister Adela, Countess of Blois, whom he had always loved very tenderly. So he knighted the youth, and bestowed upon him the hand of his queen's niece Matilda, the heiress of Boulogne. After the marriage, the king presented the young couple with the Tower-Royal, a strongly fortified palace, which became their London residence. Stephen had embarked on board the ill-fated Blanche Nef, or White Ship, with his cousin William, but prudently left just before the vessel sailed, saying: "She was too much crowded with foolish, headstrong young people." After the death of his son William, the king placed his affections on his nephew, and always liked his companionship in all his voyages. Stephen was a great favorite in {075}England, for he was as affable and agreeable to the poorest and humblest people as he was to the nobles. His wife, too, was daily winning hearts, and when the king's health began to decline, it was fondly hoped that this young couple would succeed him instead of his daughter, the Empress Matilda. And so they did, for no sooner was King Henry's [Illustration: 0079] death announced than Stephen left Normandy, and embarked for Dover, leaving the last rites of his deceased uncle to the care of Robert, Earl of Gloucester. He hastened on to London in the midst of a terrible thunder-storm, and convened an assembly of barons, before whom the steward of King Henry's household swore that the late sovereign had disinherited the Empress Matilda {076}on his deathbed, and named Stephen as his heir. Thereupon the Archbishop of Canterbury absolved the nobles from the oath of fealty they had twice sworn to the daughter of their dead king, and Stephen was crowned without opposition. This was easily managed, because the Empress Matilda, being the wife of a foreign prince, was residing on the continent, and therefore out of the way. Besides, at the time of her father's death, her husband was dangerously ill, and she had no thought for anything but the care he required. When he recovered she determined to remain quiet for awhile to watch the condition of affairs in England. [[A.D. 1136.]] Meanwhile Queen Matilda had given birth to a son, who was named Eustace, and three months after her husband had claimed the crown, her own coronation took place on Easter Sunday, 1136.