Stephen, king of England, the fourth and last of the Ando-Norman line, born about 1100, died Oct 25, 1154. His father was Stephen, count of Blois, and his mother was Adela or Adelicia, the fourth or fifth daughter of William the Conqueror; and Stephen was their third son and sixth child. He early became a favorite of Henry I., his maternal uncle, who knighted him in his youth, and gave him the earldom of Mortagne in Normandy and several valuable estates in England. Henry procured his marriage to Matilda, heiress to the count of Boulogne, as early as 1114, by which Stephen became possessed of that title and property. When, in 1120, William, the heir of Henry I., and so many other members of the king's family and household, were lost by the foundering of the White ship, Stephen had been saved from the same fate by leaving the vessel on finding that she was too crowded for safety. Stephen with other nobles took the oath to support Henry's daughter the empress Matilda as queen of England and duchess of Normandy, should her father die without issue male; but her subsequent marriage with Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou, in violation of the king's assurance, was thought to have cancelled the obligation.

Theobald, count of Blois, Stephen's oldest brother, was regarded by many Normans as the proper person to succeed Henry; but while they were deliberating, Stephen hastened to England, and was crowned in December, 1135. He confirmed to the English the immunities and laws of Henry I., and also the laws and customs of Edward the Confessor. He secured peace with Scotland by making cessions to King David, from whom he obtained acknowledgment and homage. At a meeting of barons and prelates at Oxford, ho produced a letter from the pope approving his election to the throne. A charter was framed, by which the old privileges of all classes were confirmed, and certain abuses of the preceding reign were removed. The reign of Stephen was a period of constant war and tumult, He was involved in contests with the Welsh, who inflicted defeat and loss on the English. In the war that was renewed with Scotland in 1138, the English gained the great battle of the standard, Aug. 22. Revolts broke out, at different times, in various parts of the country.

The cause of the empress Matilda was early taken up by a party in England, headed by her natural brother Robert, earl of Gloucester; and on Sept. 30, 1139, Matilda landed in England. Stephen was defeated and made prisoner, Feb. 2, 1141, at the battle of Lincoln. The greater portion of the country submitted to the victors; but Matilda's arrogance was so offensive that a reaction speedily took place. Her brother was defeated and captured in September, 1141, and was exchanged for Stephen. At the battle of Wilton, July 1, 1143, Gloucester was victorious, and the king preserved his freedom only by flight. The war raged for years, and the condition of England was made most deplorable. In 1153 Henry, son of Matilda, arrived in England at the head of a considerable force, and defeated Stephen at Malmesbury; but leading men on both sides now interposed to bring about a peace, which was facilitated by the sudden death of the king's eldest son, Eustace. By the treaty of Winchester, Nov. 7, 1153, it was settled that Stephen should remain king of England for life, and that ho should be succeeded by Henry; and that Stephen's son William should retain all his possessions acquired by marriage or otherwise, and all those which his father had held in Normandy, England, and elsewhere, before he became king.

Stephen did not survive the making of this treaty quite one year. His reign was the most miserable time ever known in England. The country was covered with castles, many hundreds of which were erected at this period; and it was devastated by the foreign soldiery, the king himself employing numerous mercenaries, principally from Flanders and Brittany. The throne passed on his death to the house of Plantagenet in the person of Henry II.

Stephen #1

I. Sir James

Sir James, an English statesman, born in London, Jan. 3, 1789, died in Coblentz, Sept. 15, 1859. He graduated at Cambridge in 1812, and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. He was appointed counsel in the colonial department of the public service, and in 1824 counsel to the board of trade. In 1834 ho was made assistant and subsequently permanent under-secretary, and retired from office in 1847, when he was knighted. From 1849 till his death he was regius professor of modern history in the university of Cambridge. He published "Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography and other Subjects" (2 vols. 8vo, London, 1849; 4th ed., with a biographical notice by his son, 18G0), and "Lectures on the History of France" (2 vols. 8vo, 1851).

II. James Fitzjames

James Fitzjames, an English jurist, son of the preceding, born in March, 1829. He graduated at Cambridge in 1852, was called to the bar in 1854, and was legal adviser to the government in India from December, 18G9, to April, 1872, when he returned to London. He has published " General View of the Criminal Law of England" (8vo, 18G3); "Definition of Murder Considered " (1866); and " Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" (1873). "Essays by a Barrister," reprinted from the "Saturday Review" in 18G2, is attributed to him.

Stephens #2

Stephens, an unorganized N. W. county of Texas, intersected in the north by the Clear fork of Brazos river; area, 900 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 330, of whom 24 were colored. The surface-is diversified with hills and valleys, creeks and springs. Stock raising is the chief occupation. The bottom lands of Hubbard's creek are rich. STEPHENS, or Stephanus (Fr. Estienne or Etienne), the name of a French family of printers who flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries. Henry, the founder of the family (born about 14G5, died about 1520), established a printing house in Paris in 1502. He published mathematical and theological works, distinguished for their accuracy. His sons, Francis (1502-50), Robert I. (born in Paris in 1503, died in Geneva in 1559), and Charles (born in Paris about 1505, died in 1564), were largely engaged in printing. Robert, a man of great learning and industry, in his 20th year published an edition of the Latin New Testament, with some corrections by himself. At his house, which was the resort of the most eminent literary men, Latin was the ordinary language of conversation, even among the children and servants, to whom it was taught by his wife. For many years scarcely a month passed in which some work, generally edited and corrected by himself, did not issue from his press.

He is said to have publicly posted proof sheets of his works, with the offer of a premium for the detection of errors. In 1531 he began the publication of his Dictiona-rium, seu Thesaurus Linguae, Latinoe, which he improved in two subsequent editions. New editions have appeared in the present century at London (8 vols, fob, 1815-25) and Paris (9 vols, fol, 1829-'63). His editions of the Bible with notes brought him into trouble with the Sorbonne, from which ho was protected during the life of Francis I., who had appointed him royal printer. After the king's death the Sorbonne caused the sale of his Bibles to be prohibited, and to insure his safety the printer retired to Geneva, where he died, it is said, in the Calvinistic faith. He published at least 11 complete editions of the Bible, in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French, besides many separate editions of the New Testament; and 382 other works, mostly of the first importance, came from his press. He first introduced the existing division of the New Testament into verses. Charles, the younger brother of Robert, devoted himself to physical sciences, and for some years practised medicine.

He succeeded to his brother's business when the latter retired to Geneva, and was subsequently appointed printer to Henry II. His publications, scientific and classical, are numerous. - Henry, son of Robert (born in Paris in 1528, died in 1598), spoke Latin with fluency while a child, and throughout his life was a profound student of Greek literature. His establishments were successively in Paris and Geneva; but after the publication of his Thesaurus Linguoe Groecoe, the costliness of which confined it to a limited number of purchasers and involved the printer in pecuniary embarrassments, he travelled from city to city, exploring libraries, and collecting an immense amount of material for works which he was projecting, and which he published wherever he happened to be. Among the best known of them are : Confor-mite du langage francois avec le grec (Geneva, about 1565; latest ed., with a notice of his life by Leon Feugere, Paris, 1853), and La precel-lence du langage francois (Paris, 1579; latest ed., with an essay on him and notes by the same author, 1851). - Among others of the family were Paul, son of the preceding (born in Geneva in 1566, died there in 1627), who succeeded his father in the printing establishment at Geneva, which he conducted for many years; and Anthony, his son (born in Geneva about 1592, died at the Hotel-Dieu in Paris in 1674), who for 50 years conducted a printing house in Paris, but died in great poverty. - See A. A. Renouard, Annales de l'imprimerie des Estienne (Paris, 1837; 2d ed., 1843).