yet not sufficiently wealthy or powerful in his own right to represent a threat to either the King or his son and heir, William Adelin. As a third surviving son, even of an influential regional family, Stephen still needed the support of a powerful patron to progress in life. With Henry's support, he rapidly began to accumulate lands and possessions. Following the battle of Tinchebray in 1106, Henry confiscated the County of Mortain from his cousin William and the Honour of Eye from Robert Malet. In 1113, Stephen was granted both the title and the honour, although without the lands previously held by William in England. The gift of the Honour of Lancaster also followed after it was confiscated by Henry from Roger the Poitevin. Stephen was also given lands in Alençon in southern Normandy by Henry, but the local Normans rebelled, seeking assistance from Fulk IV, Count of Anjou. Stephen and his older brother Theobald were comprehensively beaten in the subsequent campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Alençon, and the territories were not recovered. Finally, the King arranged for Stephen to marry Matilda in 1125, the daughter and only heiress of Eustace III, Count of Boulogne, who owned both the important continental port of Boulogne and vast estates in the north-west and south-east of England. In 1127, William Clito, a potential claimant to the English throne, seemed likely to become the Count of Flanders; Stephen was sent by the King on a mission to prevent this, and in the aftermath of his successful election, William Clito attacked Stephen's lands in neighbouring Boulogne in retaliation. Eventually, a truce was declared, and William died the following year. White Ship and succession In 1120, the English political landscape changed dramatically. Three hundred passengers embarked on the White Ship to travel from Barfleur in Normandy to England, including the heir to the throne, William Adelin, and many other senior nobles. Stephen had intended to sail on the same ship but changed his mind at the last moment and got off to await another vessel, either out of concern for overcrowding on board the ship, or because he was suffering from diarrhoea. The ship foundered en route, and all but two of the passengers died, including William Adelin. With William Adelin dead, the inheritance to the English throne was thrown into doubt. Rules of succession in western Europe at the time were uncertain;