William of Ypres

Struggle for Flanders William was an illegitimate son of Philip of Loo, who was the son of the Flemish count Robert the Frisian and younger brother of Robert II. William's mother was a wool carder, which further diminished his status; King Louis VI of France pointed out that she never rose from that station. The exact date of his birth is unknown, and although 1090 is the commonly used date of his birth, several other dates later in the same decade are also plausible. and stepfather, Godfrey I of Louvain,

Stephen rewarded William with the County of Kent and its revenues at Christmas 1141. Though no proof exists of his creation as Earl of Kent by King Stephen, chroniclers describe him as "possessing the county" and "having Kent in his custody". He exercised the same powers over this county as other earls over theirs, though he never adopted the comital style. William lost his sight in the late 1140s, which ended his military career and may have contributed to Stephen's compulsion to designate Empress Matilda's son Henry Plantagenet as his heir. William founded the Cistercian house of Boxley 1146 and endowed monasteries in Flanders.

Last years Despite his fierce loyalty to King Stephen, William was very unpopular, primarily for being a foreigner, but also due to plundering and extortion (common among English magnates). Upon Stephen's death in 1154, the crown passed to Henry Plantagenet, who found it a military and political necessity to banish Flemings and other foreigners. William initially held onto Kent but, being old and blind, could not be of use to the new monarch. He left England in 1157 and returned to Lo in Flanders, living quietly and piously. He died there on 24 January 1165.