 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.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).