HENRY OF BLOIS, bishop of Winchester (I I 0I-1 170, was the son of Stephen, count of Blois, by Adela, daughter of William I., and brother of King Stephen. Educated at Cluny, he was brought to England by Henry I. and made abbot of Glaston bury. In I129 he was given the bishopric of Winchester and al lowed to hold his abbey in conjunction with it. His hopes of the see of Canterbury were disappointed, but he obtained in 1139 a legatine commission which gave him a higher rank than the primate. Indeed, one of the ecclesiastical councils over which he presided formally declared that the election of the king in England was the special privilege of the clergy. Stephen owed his crown to Henry 0135), but they quarrelled when Stephen refused to give Henry the primacy; and the bishop took up the cause of Roger of Salisbury (1139) . After the battle of Lincoln (I 141) Henry declared for Matilda ; but finding his advice treated with contempt, rejoined his brother's side, and his successful defence of Winchester against the empress (Aug.—Sept. I 141) was the turning-point of the civil war. The expiration of his legatine corn-. mission in I144 deprived him of much of his power. At the cession of Henry II. (1154) he retired from the world. He died in 1171.