Count Stephen of Blois (March 1098) Count Stephen of Blois, Letter to His Wife Adela, daughter of

William the Conqueror is a letter written by Count Stephen of Blois (a French nobleman and crusader) to his

wife, children, and vassals during his crusade in late 11th c. This letter presents a picture of Count Stephen

of Blois as a caring, loving husband and father. The message was “Full of love, bravado, false claim.” The

letter also shows a couple of signs that he was about to abandon the conquest and go back home. It gives us

an insight into a crusader’s emotional and psychological state but more importantly gives us information

about what was happening during the crusades. Stephen’s false claims about him being the leader also tell us

that he wanted his wife Adela to think highly of him, but it seems strange at the same time that he wasn’t

scared that his lies will catch up with him which makes it even more evident that he was going to abandon

the conquest. He was not in the right mindset to participate in the crusade.

 Point 1: Count Stephen’s relationship with his wife Adela

 Example/Evidence:

o Paragraph 1: Count Stephen to Adela, his sweetest and most amiable wife He loved Adela and really

trusted her. He said that he has twice the amount of riches he previously had, to make her finically

reassured and secure. he was appointed as the leader of the expedition against his own will which

clearly means that he was indirectly telling his wife that he is a great soldier and wanted her to think

highly of him.

o Paragraph 10: He makes her in charge of the land and asks her to do what she thinks is right. This shows

us that Count Stephen trusted her with his life and had faith in her. He also indicated that he wants to

tell her everything in details but in person. He wanted to tell her an exaggerated version of the whole

story in person in order to make her idolize himself more.

 Analysis: Stephen really adored and trusted Adela. He wanted her to think highly of him

and wanted her to idolize him. He exaggerated a lot of information to make her feel

secure and optimistic.

 Point 2: Count Stephen’s psychological need to falsify information

 Example/Evidence:

o Paragraph 1: Twice the amount of wealth, With the common consent of the

army, against his wishes he was made the chief and director of the whole

expedition. This is highly unlikely as there were a lot of higher ranked officials in

the army and crusades are very expensive to carry out. A lot of crusaders were

actually starving and didn’t have enough resources.

o Paragraph 8: “I am telling you the truth, my beloved” He is clearly reassuring himself

psychologically to make his lie more believable.

“ours we did not lose a single man” he gave this statement was because according to the

letter it seems that he is in charge. He wanted to prove to prove that he was a good

chief by stating that there were no causalities.

o Analysis: Stephen was not in the right mindset and didn’t think about the

consequences of his lies. He was probably disturbed by seeing all the bloodshed as

crusades were extremely violent. Stephen also lied about being the chief of the

expedition as he wanted to prove everyone his significance. Tales of bravado and

false claims.
  Point 3: Signs that Stephen was about to abandon the troops.

o Paragraph 10: You will certainly see me just as soon as I can possibly return to you.

Farewell. This gives us a hint that he was going to abandon his troops.

 Analysis: This tells us that Stephen was going to abandon the crusade because as

the chief of the expedition he shouldn’t have given this statement. He ended up

abandoning the crusade.

 Conclusion : This letter presents an image of Count Stephen of Blois who loves

and adores his wife but he also gives a lot of false information just to impress and

prove a point. He was not in the right mental state to be a part of the army. There

are some signs which tell us that he was going to abandon the crusade.

mhra