Stephen I, Count of Burgundy

Called Stephen I. madcap ( Étienne I. Tête Hardie ) (* 1065, † May 18, 1102 in Ashkelon ) was a Count of Mâcon and Vienne, from the House of Burgundy - Ivrea. He was a son of Count William I of Burgundy and the Étiennette of Longwy -Metz. Although he was never acting Count of Burgundy, he is usually called in the chronicles Stephen of Burgundy. One of his brothers was the Pope Calixtus II.

Stephan married Beatrice of Lorraine, a daughter of the Duke of Lorraine Gerhard. Their children were:

• Isabella (c. 1090/95; † after 1125 ) ∞ 1110 Count Hugh I of Champagne
• Rainald III. († 1148/49 ), succeeded him as Count of Mâcon and Vienne, from 1127, Count of Burgundy
• William III. († September 27, 1155 ), Count of Macon, Vienne and Auxonne
• Clemence († 1164 ) ∞ 1120 Guigues IV of the dolphin, Count of Albon

The Crusade of 1101

Stephan took over at the age of 32 years the regency in the county of Burgundy after his older brother, Earl Rainald II, in 1097 moved to the First Crusade and it died. Stephan decided on, also to commit an armed pilgrimage. He joined it to Count Stephen of Blois to which a participant in the First Crusade was already, but these broke off prematurely and had thereby drawn disgrace upon himself. With the so-called crusade of 1101 the Count of Blois wanted to forget his shame.

In Asia Minor they united their forces with those of Count Raymond of Toulouse, also a prominent leader of the First Crusade, who was in the service of the Byzantine Emperor now. Instead provided to go the way of the First Crusade through Asia Minor, they had to pressure from the superior Lombard contingent of their army against the Emir of Danishmends pull to free the imprisoned Bohemond of Taranto. After the capture of Ankara on June 23, 1101, the army moved north, towards the Black Sea. Stephen of Burgundy commanded the vanguard of this and held with his knights was an attack by the Danishmends, while his subordinate to him Lombards had fled. In Mersivan the Crusaders were then provided by a large army of Danishmends and Seljuks and defeated. Stephan, Raymond of Toulouse, Stephen of Blois and a few survivors of their army managed to escape to Constantinople Opel.

Emperor Alexius I made ​​in the spring of 1102 for their passage by ship to Antioch. There they united with the Crusaders to the Count of Nevers, the Duke of Aquitaine, who were also drawn shortly after them through Asia Minor and were then completely annihilated by the Seljuks. The Count of Vermandois and the Duke of Burgundy had been killed in these battles. Together they moved to the south and helped Raymond of Toulouse in the conquest of the port city of Tortosa.

From Raimund they separated out because he was not willing to go with them to Jerusalem. There, the Crusaders group arrived in March 1102 and the Count of Blois was able to recover by the fulfillment of the vow in 1097 filed his reputation. In April 1102 it was decided to return by ship in the home. Stephan took together with the Count of Blois, a ship, but while the Duke of Aquitaine reached the open sea, was pushed her from a storm on the coast of Palestine and suffered shipwreck in Jaffa. Before the two counts could afford a new ship arrived the news of the approaching of a large Egyptian army. The two Stephane decided on the King Baldwin I of Jerusalem to assist in combat and fought with in the Second Battle of Ramla (May 17, 1102). Count Stephen of Blois was killed in battle. The chronicler Albert of Aix According came Stephen of Burgundy in the captivity of the Egyptians and was beheaded shortly afterwards from them in the near Ashkelon.