Stephen of Blois
c. 1094 – 1154 · 60 years · London · Europe
Reign: 1135 – 1154 (England and Britain)
Grandson of William the Conqueror who seized the throne from Henry I's daughter Matilda. Most of his reign was consumed by civil war — the Anarchy; under the Treaty of Wallingford in 1153 Matilda's son Henry became his heir.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 12th century
Portrait: Matthew Paris · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Hildegard of Bingen — abbess, mystic and composer, 4 years younger
- Averroes (Ibn Rushd) — philosopher, commentator on Aristotle, 32 years younger
- Henry II — first Plantagenet, builder of the Angevin Empire and of common law, 39 years younger
- Henry IV — emperor humbled at Canossa in his struggle with the pope, 44 years older
- Conrad III — first Staufer king, unlucky leader in the Second Crusade, 1 year older
- Lothair III — Saxon duke elected by the princes in preference to the Staufer, 19 years older
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Yuri Dolgoruky — prince of Rostov-Suzdal, founder of Moscow, 5 years younger
- Andrey Bogolyubsky — prince who moved the centre of Rus to Vladimir, 17 years younger
- Vladimir II Monomakh — Grand Prince of Kiev, 41 years older
- Mstislav the Great — last ruler of a united Kievan Rus, 18 years older
- Nestor the Chronicler — monk and chronicler, 38 years older
- Sviatopolk II — prince of Kiev, participant in the Congress of Liubech, 44 years older
Middle East
- Omar Khayyam — poet, mathematician, astronomer, 46 years older
- Anna Komnene — Byzantine princess and historian, 11 years older
- Al-Ghazali — Islamic theologian and philosopher, 36 years older
Africa
- Saladin — Sultan of Egypt and Syria, 43 years younger
- Maimonides — philosopher, rabbi and physician, 44 years younger
Asia
- Li Qingzhao — Song dynasty poet, 10 years older
- Jayavarman VII — King of the Khmer Empire, 28 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- 1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem — aged 5, Middle East
- c. 1113–1150 Construction of Angkor Wat — aged 19, Asia
- 1113 Vladimir Monomakh in Kiev — aged 19, Eastern Europe & Russia
- c. 1113 The Primary Chronicle — aged 19, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1136 The Novgorod Republic — aged 42, Eastern Europe & Russia