Henry of Blois

The younger brother of the late King Stephen, Henry of Blois was born into power and wealth. As a young man he was groomed for a career in the church and after an extensive (and liberal) education by the monks of Cluny in France he was summoned to England by his uncle King Henry I to serve first as Abbot of Glastonbury and later as Bishop of Winchester. The revenues of these positions - particularly his Abbacy - served to make him an extremely wealthy man. This put him in a strong position to support his brother Stephen when he eventually usurped the throne in 1135.

Henry was an ambitious man, and well aware of his royal blood grew to resent his subordinate status to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theobald of Bec. He spent much of the Anarchy scheming to transform Winchester into a third Archbishopric to rival Canterbury and York. Though he did not succeed in this goal he did secure a commission as Papal Legate, making him the Pope's personal representative in England, outranking his rival churchmen and at times leaving him the most powerful man in the country.

Although a determined King, Stephen was never truly his own man, constantly dominated by the more forceful personalities around him - his Queen, Matilda, his mother Adela and also Henry. Henry was not averse to cutting his sibling loose when the circumstances dictated - after Stephen's capture at Lincoln in 1141 the Bishop was quick to declare allegiance to the Angevin cause. On falling out with the Empress just a few months later, Henry switched sides once more, gaining a decisive victory over the Angevin forces at the Rout of Winchester, though at the cost of burning much of his city to the ground in the process.

When Stephen died and was succeeded by Matilda's son Henry Plantagenet, the Bishop - ever the true politician - again switched allegiances, coyly submitting to the authority of the new King before travelling to the safety of Cluny in France, ostensibly to mourn his friend, the recently deceased monk and scholar Peter the Venerable. His nephew's bid for power took Henry by surprise, however. He had not expected Eustace to challenge Henry Plantagenet for the throne so quickly, even less actually win it. Now the once-feared Bishop of Winchester has been caught unawares, frantically scrambling to secure his position at his nephew's side. But as a man who has never shied away from guarding his own interests first and foremost, how much influence he can truly wield over the King remains to be seen.