Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Earl of Gloucester
• FSID: K2H7-B9K
• Name: William Fitz Robert
• Appointments / Titles: Between 31 Oct 1147 and 23 Nov 1183; 2nd Earl of Gloucester
• Appointments / Titles: Between 31 Oct 1147 and 23 Nov 1183; 2nd Earl of Gloucester (Predecessor: Sir Robert de Caen; Successor: John de Mortain)
• Death: 23 Nov 1183, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England

Notes:

William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester (died 1183) was the son and heir of Sir Robert de Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester, and Mabel FitzRobert of Gloucester, daughter of Robert Fitzhamon and nephew of Empress Matilda.

Lineage
William FitzRobert was the son of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England, during whose reign William was born. Thus William was a nephew of the Empress Maud and a cousin of King Stephen, the principal combatants of the English Anarchy period. It also meant that William is the great-grandson of the famed William the Conqueror.

Early career
In October 1141, William looked after the Baronial estates, when his father fell into the hands of partisans at Winchester. His father was exchanged for King Stephen, and during his father's absence in Normandy in 1144 he served as Governor of Wareham. In 1147, he overthrew Henry de Tracy at Castle Cary.

In 1154 he made an alliance with Roger de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford, by which they agreed to aid each other against all men except Henry II of England.

FitzRobert granted Neath, a town in Glamorgan, a charter. He was Lord of the manor of Glamorgan, as well as Caerleon, residing chiefly at Cardiff Castle. It was there that in 1158 he and his wife and son were captured by the Welsh Lord of Senghenydd, Ifor Bach ("Ivor the Little") and carried away into the woods, where they were held as prisoners until the Earl redressed Ivor's grievances.

Relationship with King Henry II
In 1173 the earl took the King's part against his sons, but thereafter he appears to have fallen under suspicion, for the following year he submitted to the King, and in 1175 surrendered to him Bristol Castle. Because his only son and heir Robert died in 1166, Earl William made John, the younger son of King Henry II, heir to his earldom, in conformity with the King's promise that John should marry one of the Earl's daughters, if the Church would allow it, they being related in the third degree.

Earl William was present in March 1177 when the King arbitrated between the Kings of Castile and Navarre, and in 1178, he witnessed Henry's charter to Waltham Abbey. But during the King's struggles with his sons, when he imprisoned a number of magnates of whose loyalty he was doubtful, Earl William was among them.

Family and children
He was married to Hawise de Beaumont of Leicester, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester and Amica de Gael and had children:

Robert fitz William (1151, Cardiff, Glamorganshire – 1166, Cardiff, Glamorganshire).
Mabel fitz William, married Amaury V de Montfort, her son Amaury briefly being Earl of Gloucester
Amice fitz William, d. 1220. Married Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford, their descendants eventually inherited the Earldom of Gloucester.
Isabel, Countess of Gloucester. She was married three times:
Prince John
Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex, Earl of Gloucester
Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent

The earl died in 1183; his wife Hawise survived him. Since their only son, Robert, predeceased his father, their daughters became co-heirs to the feudal barony of Gloucester.

[Source: Wikipedia, "William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester". see lionk in Sources.]

William married de Beaumont, Hawise in 1149 in Gloucestershire, England. Hawise (daughter of de Beaumont, Robert and de Gael, Amice de Montfort) was born in 1129 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England; died on 9 Dec 1208 in Dudley, Worcestershire, England; was buried after 9 Dec 1208 in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. FitzWilliam, Amice was born in 1160 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England; died on 1 Jan 1225 in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England; was buried after 1 Jan 1225 in Tewkesbury Abbey, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England.
2. FitzWilliam, Isabel was born in 1154 in Gressenhall, Norfolk, England; died in 1207 in East Bradenham, Norfolk, England.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: 1st Earl of Gloucester
• FSID: 9CS2-22H
• Military: 1122; Led a force to capture Brionne Castle held by rebels in Normandy

Notes:

Earl of Gloucester
Robert Fitzroy (before 1100 - 31 October 1147) was the illegitimate son of King Henry I 'Beauclerc' of England. He was also known as 'Robert Rufus' and occasionally as Robert of Caen. Robert was probably the firstborn of Henry's many illegitimate children and was born before he succeeded to the throne. The identity of Robert's mother is not known with certainty but may have been the Welsh princess Nest ferch Rhys (b. circa 1085), daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, Nest was Henry's mistresses and the mother of his illegitimate son Henry FitzHenry and was later married to Gerald of Windsor. However, Sybil Corbet or a member of the Gay family of Oxfordshire (possibly a daughter of Rainald Gay), are other possible candidates for Robert's mother.

Robert
Henry I, arranged Robert's marriage to the wealthy heiress Mabel FitzHamon, daughter of Robert Fitzhamon, the marriage took place in June 1119 at Lisieux and through it, Robert acquired substantial lands in Gloucester, the Welsh county of Glamorgan and in Normandy. In either 1121 or 1122, the king created his son Earl of Gloucester.

On the death of Henry I in 1135, his nephew Stephen seized the throne, despite swearing an oath of loyalty to Henry's daughter, the Empress Matilda, who had been appointed her father's heir.

Empress Matilda
Robert of Gloucester described as 'a man of proved talent and admirable wisdom', initially submitted to Stephen but after a quarrel with the latter in Normandy in 1137 and having his English and Welsh estates seized, he switched his support to his half-sister Matilda, known as 'the Empress'. Robert arrived back in England until 1138 and became the leader of the party loyal to the Empress Matilda he took back from Stephen most of western England and southern Wales and succeeded in capturing the king at the The Battle of Lincoln on 2 February 1141, Stephen was imprisoned at Bristol Castle.

Robert accompanied his half-sister on her triumphal progress to Winchester and London, but Matilda, who was by all accounts proud and haughty, alienated the citizens of London and was forced to flee the city. Robert and Matilda besieged the renegade Bishop Henry of Winchester, brother of King Stephen, at Winchester, but were forced into making a hasty retreat. In covering Matilda's flight at the Rout of Winchester Robert of Gloucester was taken prisoner at Stockbridge on 14 September, 1141. Robert's freedom was obtained by an exchange for King Stephen. Empress Matilda later returned to France.

By the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford, Matilda's son eventually succeeded to the throne on the death of Stephen as King Henry II (1154), the first Plantagenet King. Matilda died in Normandy in 1167.

Robert of Gloucester died in 1147 at Bristol Castle and was buried at his foundation of St James' Priory, in Bristol.

His marriage to Mabel FitzHamon produced seven children:-

William FitzRobert (111?-1183)- succeeded as 2nd Earl of Gloucester

Roger FitzRobert (died 1179) -Bishop of Worcester

Hamon FitzRobert (died 1159)- killed at the siege of Toulouse

Philip FitzRobert (died after 1147)- lord of Cricklade

Matilda FitzRobert (died 1190)- married in 1141 Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester.

Mabel FitzRobert - married Aubrey de Vere

Richard FitzRobert (1120/35-1175)- succeeded his mother as Sire de Creully.

He also had four illegitimate children:-

Richard FitzRobert (died 1142)- Bishop of Bayeux [mother: Isabel de Douvres, sister of Richard de Douvres, bishop of Bayeux (1107-1133) Robert FitzRobert (died 1170): Castellan of Gloucester, married in 1147 Hawise de Reviers (daughter of Baldwin de Reviers, 1st Earl of Devon)

Mabel FitzRobert married Gruffud, Lord of Senghenydd, son of Ifor Bach.

Robert's granddaughter, Isabel of Gloucester (c. 1173 - 14 October 1217) was married to her cousin, the future King John, the youngest son of Henry II, on 29 August 1189 at Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire. Isabel was the daughter and heiress of Robert's eldest son, William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester, and through the marriage, John acquired the Gloucester title and lands. Soon after his accession to the throne in 1199, John had the marriage annulled on the grounds of consanguinity, however, he kept Isabel's lands, and Isabel herself did not contest the annulment.

Robert married FitzHamon, Mabel. Mabel was born in 1090 in Gloucestershire, England; died on 29 Sep 1157 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England; was buried on 29 Sep 1157 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Countess of Gloucester
• Appointments / Titles: Countess of Gloucester
• FSID: 9CZC-NNC

Notes:

Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson, Vol. 3 pg 85
... daughter and heiress of Robert Fitz Hamon, of Gloucester, Bristol, Tewksbury, and Cardiff, seigneur of Cruelly in Calvados, and Torigny in Manche, Normandy, hereditary Governor of Caen, by Sybil, daughter of Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury.

==========
Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
MABEL [Matilda or Sibylle] FitzRobert, daughter & heiress of ROBERT FitzHamon Lord of Glamorgan and Gloucester & his wife Sibylle de Montgomery (-[29 Sep] 1157). The Chronica de Fundatoribus et Fundatione of Tewkesbury Abbey names (in order) “Mabiliam, Hawysiam, Ceciliam, Amisiam” as the four daughters of ”Robertum filium Haymonis, dominum de Astramervilla in Normannia”, recording that Mabile married Robert Fitzroy. Orderic Vitalis records that “Rodbertus Henrici regis filius” married “Rodberto Haimonis filio...[et] Sibiliam Rogerii comitis filiam...filiam...Mathildem”. Robert of Torigny records that "filia Roberti Belismensis" was the mother of "Rogerius Wigornensis episcopus", son of "Robertus comes Gloecestrensis…filius primi Henrici regis Anglorum", clarifying that the bishop's grandfather was "Robertus filius Haimonis dominus de Torigneio". The Annals of Tewkesbury record that “Mabilia comitissa Gloucestriæ” died in 1157.

==========
Wiki (March 2015):
Mabel FitzRobert, Countess of Gloucester (1090 - 29 September 1157) was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman, and a wealthy heiress who brought the lordship of Gloucester, among other prestigious honours to her husband, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester upon their marriage. He was the illegitimate son of King Henry I of England.

Her father was Robert Fitzhamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan. As she was the eldest daughter of four, and her younger sisters had become nuns, Mabel inherited all of his honours and properties upon his death in 1107.

As Countess of Gloucester, Mabel was significant politically and she exercised an important administrative role in the lordship.

Mabel was born in Gloucestershire, England in 1090, the eldest of the four daughters of Robert FitzHamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan, and his wife, Sybil de Montgomery. Her three younger sisters, Hawise, Cecile and Amice all became nuns, making Mabel the sole heiress to her father's lordships and vast estates in England, Wales, and Normandy.

Her paternal grandfather was Hamon, Sheriff of Kent, and her maternal grandparents were Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel Talvas of Belleme.

In March 1107, her father died in Normandy, leaving his lordships and estates to Mabel. Her mother married secondly Jean, Sire de Raimes.

In 1107, Mabel married Robert of Caen, an illegitimate son of King Henry I by his mistress Sybil Corbet. Their marriage is recorded by Orderic Vitalis who also names her parents. He would later become an important figure during the turbulent period in English history known as The Anarchy which occurred in the reign of King Stephen of England. Throughout the civil war, he was a loyal supporter of his half-sister Empress Matilda who would make him the chief commander of her army. He had originally sworn fealty to King Stephen, but after quarrelling with him in 1137, his English and Welsh possessions were forfeited, and thus he joined forces with Matilda.

Mabel brought to her husband the honours of Gloucester in England, Glamorgan in Wales, Sainte-Scholasse-sur-Sarthe, Evrecy and Creully in Normandy. By right of his wife, he became the 2nd Lord of Glamorgan, and gained possession of her father's castle of Cardiff in Wales. In August 1122, he was created 1st Earl of Gloucester; henceforth, Mabel was styled as Countess of Gloucester.

As countess, Mabel exercised a prominent administrative role in the Gloucester lordship. Her political importance was evident when she was made responsible for seeing that her husband upheld his side of the agreement in the treaty he made with Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford. She also witnessed four of Robert's charters; as well as giving her personal consent for his foundation of the Abbey of Margam, whose endowment came from her own lands. Later, after Robert's death, Mabel assumed control of the honour of Gloucester's Norman lands on behalf of her eldest son William.

Together Robert and Mabel had at least eight children:
William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester (23 November 1112- 23 November 1183), married Hawise de Beaumont by
whom he had five children, including Isabella of Gloucester, the first wife of King John of England, and Amice FitzRobert,
Countess of Gloucester.
Roger, Bishop of Worcester (died 9 August 1179)
Hamon FitzRobert, (died 1159), killed in the Siege of Toulouse.
Robert FitzRobert of Ilchester (died before 1157), married Hawise de Redvers, by whom he had a daughter Mabel who in
her turn married Jordan de Cambernon.
Richard FitzRobert, Sire de Creully (died 1175), inherited the seigneury of Creully from Mabel, and became the ancestor of
the Sires de Creully. He married the daughter of Hughes de Montfort by whom he had five children.
Philip FitzRobert, (died after 1147), Castellan of Cricklade. He took part in the Second Crusade.
Maud FitzRobert (died 29 July 1190), married Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester by whom she had three children.
Mabel FitzRobert, married Aubrey de Vere

Robert also sired an illegitimate son, Richard, Bishop of Bayeux by Isabel de Douvres.

Mabel's husband died on 31 October 1147. Mabel herself died on 29 September 1157 in Bristol at the age of sixty-seven years.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: Between 7 Sep and 6 Oct 1068, Selby, Yorkshire, England
• FSID: LT7P-862
• Birth: 1068, Selby, Yorkshire, England
• Appointments / Titles: 3 Aug 1100; King of England
• Appointments / Titles: 28 Sep 1106, Normandy, France; Duke of Normandie
• Death: 1 Dec 1135, Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France, France
• Death: 8 Dec 1135, La Forêt, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France
• Burial: 11 Jan 1136, Reading Abbey, Reading, Berkshire, England

Notes:

Henry I
Miniature from Matthew Paris's
Historia Anglorum
King of England (more ...)
Tenure 2 August 1100 – 1 December 1135
Coronation 5 August 1100
Predecessor William II
Successor Stephen
Duke of Normandy
Tenure 1106 – 1 December 1135
Predecessor Robert Curthose
Successor Stephen
Born c. 1068
Possibly Selby, Yorkshire
Died 1 December 1135 (aged 66–67)
Saint-Denis-en-Lyons, Normandy
Burial Reading Abbey
Spouse Matilda of Scotland
m. 1100; dec. 1118
Adeliza of Louvain
m. 1121; wid. 1135
Issue Matilda, Holy Roman Empress
Henry I of England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry
Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death.
Henry was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was
educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in
1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William
Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, but
Henry was left landless. Henry purchased the County of
Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but William and
Robert deposed him in 1091. Henry gradually rebuilt his
power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William
against Robert. Henry was present when William died in a
hunting accident in 1100, and he seized the English throne,
promising at his coronation to correct many of William's less
popular policies. Henry married Matilda of Scotland but
continued to have a large number of mistresses by whom he
had many illegitimate children.
Robert, who invaded in 1101, disputed Henry's control of
England; this military campaign ended in a negotiated
settlement that confirmed Henry as king. The peace was
short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in
1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of
Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his
life. Henry's control of Normandy was challenged by Louis
VI of France, Baldwin VII of Flanders and Fulk V of Anjou,
who promoted the rival claims of Robert's son, William
Clito, and supported a major rebellion in the Duchy between
1116 and 1119. Following Henry's victory at the Battle of
Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with
Louis in 1120.
Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective
ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England and
Normandy. In England, he drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon
system of justice, local government and taxation, but also
strengthened it with additional institutions, including the
royal exchequer and itinerant justices. Normandy was also
governed through a growing system of justices and an
exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henry's system
were "new men" of obscure backgrounds rather than from
families of high status, who rose through the ranks as
administrators. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but
became embroiled in a serious dispute in 1101 with
Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, which was resolved
through a compromise solution in 1105. He supported the
Cluniac order and played a major role in the selection of the
senior clergy in England and Normandy.
more ... William Adelin
Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Alice FitzRoy
Gilbert FitzRoy
Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche
Fulk FitzRoy
Sybilla, Queen of Scots
Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of
Cornwall
Robert FitzEdith, Lord Okehampton
Henry FitzRoy (d. 1158)
Matilda FitzRoy, Abbess of
Montvilliers
House Normandy
Father William I of England
Mother Matilda of Flanders
Henry's only legitimate son and heir, William Adelin,
drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, throwing the
royal succession into doubt. Henry took a second wife,
Adeliza, in the hope of having another son, but their
marriage was childless. In response to this, Henry declared
his daughter, Matilda, his heir and married her to Geoffrey of
Anjou. The relationship between Henry and the couple
became strained, and fighting broke out along the border
with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of
illness. Despite his plans for Matilda, the King was
succeeded by his nephew, Stephen of Blois, resulting in a
period of civil war known as the Anarchy.
Contents
1 Early life, 1068–1099
1.1 Childhood and appearance, 1068–86
1.2 Inheritance, 1087–88
1.3 Count of the Cotentin, 1088–90
1.4 Fall and rise, 1091–99
2 Early reign, 1100–06
2.1 Taking the throne, 1100
2.2 Marriage to Matilda, 1100
2.3 Treaty of Alton, 1101–02
2.4 Conquest of Normandy, 1103–06
3 Government, family and household
3.1 Government, law and court
3.2 Relations with the church
4 Later reign, 1107–35
4.1 Continental and Welsh politics, 1108–14
4.2 Rebellion, 1115–20
4.3 Succession crisis, 1120–23
4.4 Planning the succession, 1124–34
5 Death and legacy
5.1 Death, 1135
5.2 Historiography
6 Family and children
6.1 Legitimate
6.2 Illegitimate
7 Ancestors
8 Notes
9 References
10 Bibliography
Early life, 1068–1099
Childhood and appearance, 1068–86
Henry was probably born in England in 1068, in either the summer or the last weeks of the year, possibly in the
town of Selby in Yorkshire.[1][nb 1] His father was William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, who had
invaded England in 1066 to become the King of England, establishing lands stretching into Wales. The invasion
had created an Anglo-Norman elite, many with estates spread across both sides of the English Channel.[2]
13th-century depiction of Henry
These Anglo-Norman barons typically had close links to the kingdom of France, which was then a loose
collection of counties and smaller polities, under only the minimal control of the king.[3] Henry's mother,
Matilda of Flanders, was the granddaughter of Robert II of France, and she probably named Henry after her
uncle, King Henry I of France.[4]
Henry was the youngest of William and Matilda's four sons. Physically he resembled his older brothers Robert
Curthose, Richard and William Rufus, being, as historian David Carpenter describes, "short, stocky and barrelchested,"
with black hair.[5] As a result of their age differences and Richard's early death, Henry would have
probably seen relatively little of his older brothers.[6] He probably knew his sister, Adela, well, as the two were
close in age.[7] There is little documentary evidence for his early years; historians Warren Hollister and
Kathleen Thompson suggest he was brought up predominantly in England, while Judith Green argues he was
initially brought up in the Duchy.[8][nb 2] He was probably educated by the Church, possibly by Bishop
Osmund, the King's chancellor, at Salisbury Cathedral; it is uncertain if this indicated an intent by his parents
for Henry to become a member of the clergy.[10][nb 3] It is also uncertain how far Henry's education extended,
but he was probably able to read Latin and had some background in the liberal arts.[11] He was given military
training by an instructor called Robert Achard, and Henry was knighted by his father on 24 May 1086.[12]
Inheritance, 1087–88
In 1087, William was fatally injured during a campaign in the Vexin.[13]
Henry joined his dying father near Rouen in September, where the King
partitioned his possessions among his sons.[14] The rules of succession
in western Europe at the time were uncertain; in some parts of France,
primogeniture, in which the eldest son would inherit a title, was
growing in popularity.[15] In other parts of Europe, including Normandy
and England, the tradition was for lands to be divided up, with the eldest
son taking patrimonial lands – usually considered to be the most
valuable – and younger sons given smaller, or more recently acquired,
partitions or estates.[15]
In dividing his lands, William appears to have followed the Norman
tradition, distinguishing between Normandy, which he had inherited,
and England, which he had acquired through war.[16] William's second
son, Richard, had died in a hunting accident, leaving Henry and his two brothers to inherit William's estate.
Robert, the eldest, despite being in armed rebellion against his father at the time of his death, received
Normandy.[17] England was given to William Rufus, who was in favour with the dying king.[17] Henry was
given a large sum of money, usually reported as £5,000, with the expectation that he would also be given his
mother's modest set of lands in Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire.[18][nb 4] William's funeral at Caen was
marred by angry complaints from a local man, and Henry may have been responsible for resolving the dispute
by buying off the protester with silver.[20]
Robert returned to Normandy, expecting to have been given both the Duchy and England, to find that William
Rufus had crossed the Channel and been crowned king, as William II.[21] The two brothers disagreed
fundamentally over the inheritance, and Robert soon began to plan an invasion of England to seize the
kingdom, helped by a rebellion by some of the leading nobles against William Rufus.[22] Henry remained in
Normandy and took up a role within Robert's court, possibly either because he was unwilling to openly side
with William Rufus, or because Robert might have taken the opportunity to confiscate Henry's inherited money
if he had tried to leave.[21][nb 5] William Rufus sequestered Henry's new estates in England, leaving Henry
landless.[24]
Depiction of Bishop Odo (centre) who
imprisoned Henry from 1088–89
In 1088, Robert's plans for the invasion of England began to falter, and he turned to Henry, proposing that his
brother lend him some of his inheritance, which Henry refused.[25] Henry and Robert then came to an
alternative arrangement, in which Robert would make Henry the count of western Normandy, in exchange for
£3,000.[25][nb 6] Henry's lands were a new countship based around a delegation of the ducal authority in the
Cotentin, but it extended across the Avranchin, with control over the bishoprics of both.[27] This also gave
Henry influence over two major Norman leaders, Hugh d'Avranches and Richard de Redvers, and the abbey of
Mont Saint-Michel, whose lands spread out further across the Duchy.[28] Robert's invasion force failed to leave
Normandy, leaving William Rufus secure in England.[29]
Count of the Cotentin, 1088–90
Henry quickly established himself as count, building up a network of
followers from western Normandy and eastern Brittany, whom historian
John Le Patourel has characterised as "Henry's gang".[30] His early
supporters included Roger of Mandeville, Richard of Redvers, Richard
d'Avranches and Robert Fitzhamon, along with the churchman Roger of
Salisbury.[31] Robert attempted to go back on his deal with Henry and
re-appropriate the county, but Henry's grip was already sufficiently firm
to prevent this.[32] Robert's rule of the Duchy was chaotic, and parts of
Henry's lands became almost independent of central control from
Rouen.[33]
During this period, neither William nor Robert seems to have trusted
Henry.[34] Waiting until the rebellion against William Rufus was safely over, Henry returned to England in July
1088.[35] He met with the King but was unable to persuade him to grant him their mother's estates, and
travelled back to Normandy in the autumn.[36] While he had been away, however, Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux,
who regarded Henry as a potential competitor, had convinced Robert that Henry was conspiring against the
duke with William Rufus.[37] On landing, Odo seized Henry and imprisoned him in Neuilly-la-Forêt, and
Robert took back the county of the Cotentin.[38] Henry was held there over the winter, but in the spring of 1089
the senior elements of the Normandy nobility prevailed upon Robert to release him.[39]
Although no longer formally the Count of Cotentin, Henry continued to control the west of Normandy.[40] The
struggle between Henry's brothers continued. William Rufus continued to put down resistance to his rule in
England, but began to build a number of alliances against Robert with barons in Normandy and neighbouring
Ponthieu.[41] Robert allied himself with Philip I of France.[42] In late 1090 William Rufus encouraged Conan
Pilatus, a powerful burgher in Rouen, to rebel against Robert; Conan was supported by most of Rouen and
made appeals to the neighbouring ducal garrisons to switch allegiance as well.[43]
Robert issued an appeal for help to his barons, and Henry was the first to arrive in Rouen in November.[44]
Violence broke out, leading to savage, confused street fighting as both sides attempted to take control of the
city.[44] Robert and Henry left the castle to join the battle, but Robert then retreated, leaving Henry to continue
the fighting.[45] The battle turned in favour of the ducal forces and Henry took Conan prisoner.[45] Henry was
angry that Conan had turned against his feudal lord. He had him taken to the top of Rouen Castle and then,
despite Conan's offers to pay a huge ransom, threw him off the top of the castle to his death.[46] Contemporaries
considered Henry to have acted appropriately in making an example of Conan, and Henry became famous for
his exploits in the battle.[47]
Fall and rise, 1091–99
Mont Saint-Michel, site of the 1091
siege
In the aftermath, Robert forced Henry to leave Rouen, probably because
Henry's role in the fighting had been more prominent than his own, and
possibly because Henry had asked to be formally reinstated as the count
of the Cotentin.[48] In early 1091, William Rufus invaded Normandy
with a sufficiently large army to bring Robert to the negotiating
table.[49] The two brothers signed a treaty at Rouen, granting William
Rufus a range of lands and castles in Normandy. In return, William
Rufus promised to support Robert's attempts to regain control of the
neighbouring county of Maine, once under Norman control, and help in
regaining control over the Duchy, including Henry's lands.[49] They
nominated each other as heirs to England and Normandy, excluding
Henry from any succession while either one of them lived.[50]
War now broke out between Henry and his brothers.[51] Henry mobilised a mercenary army in the west of
Normandy, but as William Rufus and Robert's forces advanced, his network of baronial support melted
away.[52] Henry focused his remaining forces at Mont Saint-Michel, where he was besieged, probably in March
1091.[53] The site was easy to defend, but lacked fresh water.[54] The chronicler William of Malmesbury
suggested that when Henry's water ran short, Robert allowed his brother fresh supplies, leading to
remonstrations between Robert and William Rufus.[55] The events of the final days of the siege are unclear: the
besiegers had begun to argue about the future strategy for the campaign, but Henry then abandoned Mont Saint-
Michel, probably as part of a negotiated surrender.[56][nb 7] He left for Brittany and crossed over into France.[57]
Henry's next steps are not well documented; one chronicler, Orderic Vitalis, suggests that he travelled in the
French Vexin, along the Normandy border, for over a year with a small band of followers.[58] By the end of the
year, Robert and William Rufus had fallen out once again, and the Treaty of Rouen had been abandoned.[59] In
1092, Henry and his followers seized the Normandy town of Domfront.[60] Domfront had previously been
controlled by Robert of Bellême, but the inhabitants disliked his rule and invited Henry to take over the town,
which he did in a bloodless coup.[61] Over the next two years, Henry re-established his network of supporters
across western Normandy, forming what Judith Green terms a "court in waiting".[62] By 1094, he was
allocating lands and castles to his followers as if he were the Duke of Normandy.[63] William Rufus began to
support Henry with money, encouraging his campaign against Robert, and Henry used some of this to construct
a substantial castle at Domfront.[64]
William Rufus crossed into Normandy to take the war to Robert in 1094, and when progress stalled, called
upon Henry for assistance.[65] Henry responded, but travelled to London instead of joining the main campaign
further east in Normandy, possibly at the request of the King, who in any event abandoned the campaign and
returned to England.[66][nb 8] Over the next few years, Henry appears to have strengthened his power base in
western Normandy, visiting England occasionally to attend at William Rufus's court.[68] In 1095 Pope Urban II
called the First Crusade, encouraging knights from across Europe to join.[67] Robert joined the Crusade,
borrowing money from William Rufus to do so, and granting the King temporary custody of his part of the
Duchy in exchange.[69] The King appeared confident of regaining the remainder of Normandy from Robert,
and Henry appeared ever closer to William Rufus, the pair campaigning together in the Norman Vexin between
1097 and 1098.[70]
Early reign, 1100–06
Taking the throne, 1100
A 17th-century manuscript
drawing of Henry's
coronation.
Henry became King of England following the death of William Rufus, who had
been shot while hunting.[71] On the afternoon of 2 August 1100, the King had
gone hunting in the New Forest, accompanied by a team of huntsmen and a
number of the Norman nobility, including Henry.[72] An arrow was fired,
possibly by the baron Walter Tirel, which hit and killed William Rufus.[73]
Numerous conspiracy theories have been put forward suggesting that the King
was killed deliberately; most modern historians reject these, as hunting was a
risky activity, and such accidents were common.[74][nb 9] Chaos broke out, and
Tirel fled the scene for France, either because he had fired the fatal shot, or
because he had been incorrectly accused and feared that he would be made a
scapegoat for the King's death.[73]
Henry rode to Winchester, where an argument ensued as to who now had the
best claim to the throne.[76] William of Breteuil championed the rights of
Robert, who was still abroad, returning from the Crusade, and to whom Henry
and the barons had given homage in previous years.[77] Henry argued that,
unlike Robert, he had been born to a reigning king and queen, thereby giving him a claim under the right of
porphyrogeniture.[78] Tempers flared, but Henry, supported by Henry de Beaumont and Robert of Meulan, held
sway and persuaded the barons to follow him.[79] He occupied Winchester Castle and seized the royal
treasury.[80]
Henry was hastily crowned king in Westminster Abbey on 5 August by Maurice, the Bishop of London, as
Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, had been exiled by William Rufus, and Thomas, the Archbishop of
York, was in the north of England at Ripon.[81] In accordance with English tradition and in a bid to legitimise
his rule, Henry issued a coronation charter laying out various commitments.[82] The new king presented
himself as having restored order to a trouble-torn country.[83] He announced that he would abandon William
Rufus's policies towards the Church, which had been seen as oppressive by the clergy; he promised to prevent
royal abuses of the barons' property rights, and assured a return to the gentler customs of Edward the
Confessor; he asserted that he would "establish a firm peace" across England and ordered "that this peace shall
henceforth be kept".[84]
In addition to his existing circle of supporters, many of whom were richly rewarded with new lands, Henry
quickly co-opted many of the existing administration into his new royal household.[85] William Giffard,
William Rufus's chancellor, was made the Bishop of Winchester, and the prominent sheriffs Urse d'Abetot,
Haimo Dapifer and Robert Fitzhamon continued to play a senior role in government.[85] By contrast, the
unpopular Ranulf Flambard, the Bishop of Durham and a key member of the previous regime, was imprisoned
in the Tower of London and charged with corruption.[86] The late king had left many church positions unfilled,
and Henry set about nominating candidates to these, in an effort to build further support for his new
government.[87] The appointments needed to be consecrated, and Henry wrote to Anselm, apologising for
having been crowned while the Archbishop was still in France and asking him to return at once.[88]
Marriage to Matilda, 1100
On 11 November 1100 Henry married Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland.[89] Henry was now
around 31 years old, but late marriages for noblemen were not unusual in the 11th century.[90] The pair had
probably first met earlier the previous decade, possibly being introduced through Bishop Osmund of
Salisbury.[91] Historian Warren Hollister argues that Henry and Matilda were emotionally close, but their union
was also certainly politically motivated.[92][nb 10] Matilda had originally been named Edith, an Anglo-Saxon
name, and was a member of the West Saxon royal family, being the niece of Edgar the Ætheling, the greatHenry's
first wife, Matilda of Scotland
Early 14th-century depiction of Henry
granddaughter of Edmund Ironside and a descendant of Alfred the
Great.[94] For Henry, marrying Matilda gave his reign increased
legitimacy, and for Matilda, an ambitious woman, it was an opportunity
for high status and power in England.[95]
Matilda had been educated in a sequence of convents, however, and
may well have taken the vows to formally become a nun, which formed
an obstacle to the marriage progressing.[96] She did not wish to be a nun
and appealed to Anselm for permission to marry Henry, and the
Archbishop established a council at Lambeth Palace to judge the
issue.[96] Despite some dissenting voices, the council concluded that
although Matilda had lived in a convent, she had not actually become a
nun and was therefore free to marry, a judgement that Anselm then
affirmed, allowing the marriage to proceed.[96][nb 11] Matilda proved an
effective queen for Henry, acting as a regent in England on occasion, addressing and presiding over councils,
and extensively supporting the arts.[98] The couple soon had two children, Matilda, born in 1102, and William
Adelin, born in 1103; it is possible that they also had a second son, Richard, who died young.[99][nb 12]
Following the birth of these children, Matilda preferred to remain based in Westminster while Henry travelled
across England and Normandy, either for religious reasons or because she enjoyed being involved in the
machinery of royal governance.[101]
Henry had a considerable sexual appetite and enjoyed a substantial number of sexual partners, resulting in a
large number of illegitimate children, at least nine sons and 13 daughters, many of whom he appears to have
recognised and supported.[102] It was normal for unmarried Anglo-Norman noblemen to have sexual relations
with prostitutes and local women, and kings were also expected to have mistresses.[103][nb 13] Some of these
relationships occurred before Henry was married, but many others took place after his marriage to Matilda.[104]
Henry had a wide range of mistresses from a range of backgrounds, and the relationships appear to have been
conducted relatively openly.[101] He may have chosen some of his noble mistresses for political purposes, but
the evidence to support this theory is limited.[105]
Treaty of Alton, 1101–02
By early 1101, Henry's new regime was established and functioning, but
many of the Anglo-Norman elite still supported Robert, or would be
prepared to switch sides if Henry's elder brother appeared likely to gain
power in England.[106] In February, Flambard escaped from the Tower
of London and crossed the Channel to Normandy, where he injected
fresh direction and energy to Robert's attempts to mobilise an invasion
force.[107] By July, Robert had formed an army and a fleet, ready to
move against Henry in England.[108] Raising the stakes in the conflict,
Henry seized Flambard's lands and, with the support of Anselm,
Flambard was removed from his position as bishop.[109] Henry held
court in April and June, where the nobility renewed their oaths of
allegiance to him, but their support still appeared partial and shaky.[110]
With the invasion imminent, Henry mobilised his forces and fleet
outside Pevensey, close to Robert's anticipated landing site, training
some of them personally in how to counter cavalry charges.[111] Despite
English levies and knights owing military service to the Church arriving in considerable numbers, many of his
barons did not appear.[112] Anselm intervened with some of the doubters, emphasising the religious importance
The village of Tinchebray in 2008
of their loyalty to Henry.[113] Robert unexpectedly landed further up the coast at Portsmouth on 20 July with a
modest force of a few hundred men, but these were quickly joined by many of the barons in England.[114]
However, instead of marching into nearby Winchester and seizing Henry's treasury, Robert paused, giving
Henry time to march west and intercept the invasion force.[115]
The two armies met at Alton where peace negotiations began, possibly initiated by either Henry or Robert, and
probably supported by Flambard.[115] The brothers then agreed to the Treaty of Alton, under which Robert
released Henry from his oath of homage and recognised him as king; Henry renounced his claims on western
Normandy, except for Domfront, and agreed to pay Robert £2,000 a year for life; if either brother died without
a male heir, the other would inherit his lands; the barons whose lands had been seized by either the King or the
Duke for supporting his rival would have them returned, and Flambard would be reinstated as bishop; the two
brothers would campaign together to defend their territories in Normandy.[116][nb 14] Robert remained in
England for a few months more with Henry before returning to Normandy.[118]
Despite the treaty, Henry set about inflicting severe penalties on the barons who had stood against him during
the invasion.[119] William de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey, was accused of fresh crimes, which were not covered
by the Alton amnesty, and was banished from England.[120] In 1102 Henry then turned against Robert of
Bellême and his brothers, the most powerful of the barons, accusing him of 45 different offences.[121] Robert
escaped and took up arms against Henry.[122] Henry besieged Robert's castles at Arundel, Tickhill and
Shrewsbury, pushing down into the south-west to attack Bridgnorth.[123] His power base in England broken,
Robert accepted Henry's offer of banishment and left the country for Normandy.[124]
Conquest of Normandy, 1103–06
Henry's network of allies in Normandy became stronger during
1103.[125] Henry married Juliana, one of his illegitimate daughters, to
Eustace of Breteuil, and another illegitimate daughter, Matilda, to
Rotrou, the Count of Perche, on the Normandy border.[126] Henry
attempted to win over other members of the Normandy nobility and
gave other English estates and lucrative offers to key Norman lords.[127]
Duke Robert continued to fight Robert of Bellême, but the Duke's
position worsened, until by 1104, he had to ally himself formally with
Bellême to survive.[128] Arguing that Duke Robert had broken the terms
of their treaty, Henry crossed over the Channel to Domfront, where he
met with senior barons from across Normandy, eager to ally themselves with the King.[129] Henry confronted
his brother and accused him of siding with his enemies, before returning to England.[130]
Normandy continued to disintegrate into chaos.[131] In 1105, Henry sent his friend Robert Fitzhamon and a
force of knights into the Duchy, apparently to provoke a confrontation with Duke Robert.[132] Fitzhamon was
captured, and Henry used this as an excuse to invade, promising to restore peace and order.[131] Henry had the
support of most of the neighbouring counts around Normandy's borders, and King Philip of France was
persuaded to remain neutral.[133] Henry occupied western Normandy, and advanced east on Bayeux, where
Fitzhamon was held.[134] The city refused to surrender, and Henry besieged it, burning it to the ground.[134]
Terrified of meeting the same fate, the town of Caen switched sides and surrendered, allowing Henry to
advance on Falaise, which he took with some casualties.[135] Henry's campaign stalled, and the King instead
began peace discussions with Robert.[136] The negotiations were inconclusive and the fighting dragged on until
Christmas, when Henry returned to England.[137]
Henry's royal seal, showing the King on horseback (l) and seated on
his throne (r)
Henry invaded again in July 1106, hoping to provoke a decisive battle.[138] After some initial tactical successes,
he turned south-west towards the castle of Tinchebray.[139] He besieged the castle and Duke Robert, supported
by Robert of Bellême, advanced from Falaise to relieve it.[139] After attempts at negotiation failed, the Battle of
Tinchebray took place, probably on 28 September.[140][nb 15] The battle lasted around an hour, and began with a
charge by Duke Robert's cavalry; the infantry and dismounted knights of both sides then joined the battle.[142]
Henry's reserves, led by Elias, the Count of Maine and Alan, the Duke of Brittany, attacked the enemy's flanks,
routing first Bellême's troops and then the bulk of the ducal forces.[143] Duke Robert was taken prisoner, but
Bellême escaped.[143]
Henry mopped up the remaining resistance in Normandy, and Robert ordered his last garrisons to
surrender.[144] Reaching Rouen, Henry reaffirmed the laws and customs of Normandy and took homage from
the leading barons and citizens.[145] The lesser prisoners taken at Tinchebray were released, but Robert and
several other leading nobles were imprisoned indefinitely.[146] Henry's nephew, Robert's son William Clito, was
only three years old and was released to the care of Helias of Saint-Saens, a Norman baron.[147] Henry
reconciled himself with Robert of Bellême, who gave up the ducal lands he had seized and rejoined the royal
court.[148] Henry had no way of legally removing the Duchy from his brother Robert, and initially Henry
avoided using the title "duke" at all, emphasising that, as the King of England, he was only acting as the
guardian of the troubled Duchy.[149]
Government, family and household
Government, law and court
Henry inherited the kingdom of England
from William Rufus, giving him a claim of
suzerainty over Wales and Scotland, and
acquired the Duchy of Normandy, a
complex entity with troubled borders.[150]
The borders between England and Scotland
were still uncertain during Henry's reign,
with Anglo-Norman influence pushing
northwards through Cumbria, but Henry's
relationship with King David I of Scotland
was generally good, partially due to Henry's
marriage to his sister.[151] In Wales, Henry
used his power to coerce and charm the
indigenous Welsh princes, while Norman
Marcher Lords pushed across the valleys of
South Wales.[152] Normandy was controlled via various interlocking networks of ducal, ecclesiastical and
family contacts, backed by a growing string of important ducal castles along the borders.[153] Alliances and
relationships with neighbouring counties along the Norman border were particularly important to maintaining
the stability of the Duchy.[154]
Henry ruled through the various barons and lords in England and Normandy, whom he manipulated skilfully
for political effect.[155] Political friendships, termed amicitia in Latin, were important during the 12th century,
and Henry maintained a wide range of these, mediating between his friends in various factions across his realm
when necessary, and rewarding those who were loyal to him.[156] Henry also had a reputation for punishing
those barons who stood against him, and he maintained an effective network of informers and spies who
reported to him on events.[157] Henry was a harsh, firm ruler, but not excessively so by the standards of the
day.[158] Over time, he increased the degree of his control over the barons, removing his enemies and bolstering
his friends until the "reconstructed baronage", as historian Warren Hollister describes it, was predominantly
loyal and dependent on the King.[159]
Henry's itinerant royal court comprised various parts.[160] At the heart was Henry's domestic household, called
the domus; a wider grouping was termed the familia regis, and formal gatherings of the court were termed
curia.[161] The domus was divided into several parts. The chapel, headed by the chancellor, looked after the
royal documents, the chamber dealt with financial affairs and the master-marshal was responsible for travel and
accommodation.[162] The familia regis included Henry's mounted household troops, up to several hundred
strong, who came from a wider range of social backgrounds, and could be deployed across England and
Normandy as required.[163] Initially Henry continued his father's practice of regular crown-wearing ceremonies
at his curia, but they became less frequent as the years passed.[164] Henry's court was grand and ostentatious,
financing the construction of large new buildings and castles with a range of precious gifts on display, including
the King's private menagerie of exotic animals, which he kept at Woodstock Palace.[165] Despite being a lively
community, Henry's court was more tightly controlled than those of previous kings.[166] Strict rules controlled
personal behaviour and prohibited members of the court from pillaging neighbouring villages, as had been the
norm under William Rufus.[166]
Henry was responsible for a substantial expansion of the royal justice system.[167][nb 16] In England, Henry
drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxes, but strengthened it with
additional central governmental institutions.[169] Roger of Salisbury began to develop the royal exchequer after
1110, using it to collect and audit revenues from the King's sheriffs in the shires.[170] Itinerant justices began to
emerge under Henry, travelling around the country managing eyre courts, and many more laws were formally
recorded.[171] Henry gathered increasing revenue from the expansion of royal justice, both from fines and from
fees.[172] The first Pipe Roll that is known to have survived dates from 1130, recording royal expenditures.[173]
Henry reformed the coinage in 1107, 1108 and in 1125, inflicting harsh corporal punishments to English
coiners who had been found guilty of debasing the currency.[174][nb 17] In Normandy, Henry restored law and
order after 1106, operating through a body of Norman justices and an exchequer system similar to that in
England.[176] Norman institutions grew in scale and scope under Henry, although less quickly than in
England.[177] Many of the officials that ran Henry's system were termed "new men", relatively low-born
individuals who rose through the ranks as administrators, managing justice or the royal revenues.[178][nb 18]
Relations with the chur ch
Church and the King
Henry's ability to govern was intimately bound up with the Church, which formed the key to the administration
of both England and Normandy, and this relationship changed considerably over the course of his reign.[180]
William the Conqueror had reformed the English Church with the support of his Archbishop of Canterbury,
Lanfranc, who became a close colleague and advisor to the King.[181][nb 19] Under William Rufus this
arrangement had collapsed, the King and Archbishop Anselm had become estranged and Anselm had gone into
exile. Henry also believed in Church reform, but on taking power in England he became embroiled in the
investiture controversy.[183]
The argument concerned who should invest a new bishop with his staff and ring: traditionally, this had been
carried out by the king in a symbolic demonstration of royal power, but Pope Urban II had condemned this
practice in 1099, arguing that only the papacy could carry out this task, and declaring that the clergy should not
give homage to their local temporal rulers.[184] Anselm returned to England from exile in 1100 having heard
Urban's pronouncement, and informed Henry that he would be complying with the Pope's wishes.[185] Henry
The seal of Archbishop Anselm of
Canterbury
was in a difficult position. On one hand, the symbolism and homage
was important to him; on the other hand, he needed Anselm's support in
his struggle with his brother Duke Robert.[186]
Anselm stuck firmly to the letter of the papal decree, despite Henry's
attempts to persuade him to give way in return for a vague assurance of
a future royal compromise.[187] Matters escalated, with Anselm going
back into exile and Henry confiscating the revenues of his estates.
Anselm threatened excommunication, and in July 1105 the two men
finally negotiated a solution.[188] A distinction was drawn between the
secular and ecclesiastical powers of the prelates, under which Henry
gave up his right to invest his clergy, but retained the custom of
requiring them to come and do homage for the temporalities, the landed
properties they held in England.[189] Despite this argument, the pair
worked closely together, combining to deal with Duke Robert's invasion
of 1101, for example, and holding major reforming councils in 1102 and
1108.[190]
A long-running dispute between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York flared up under Anselm's successor,
Ralph d'Escures.[191] Canterbury, traditionally the senior of the two establishments, had long argued that the
Archbishop of York should formally promise to obey their Archbishop, but York argued that the two
episcopates were independent within the English Church and that no such promise was necessary. Henry
supported the primacy of Canterbury, to ensure that England remained under a single ecclesiastical
administration, but the Pope preferred the case of York.[191] The matter was complicated by Henry's personal
friendship with Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, and the King's desire that the case should not end up in a
papal court, beyond royal control.[191] Henry badly needed the support of the Papacy in his struggle with Louis
of France, however, and therefore allowed Thurstan to attend the Council of Rheims in 1119, where Thurstan
was then consecrated by the Pope with no mention of any duty towards Canterbury.[192] Henry believed that
this went against assurances Thurstan had previously made and exiled him from England until the King and
Archbishop came to a negotiated solution the following year.[193]
Even after the investiture dispute, the King continued to play a major role in the selection of new English and
Norman bishops and archbishops.[194] Henry appointed many of his officials to bishoprics and, as historian
Martin Brett suggests, "some of his officers could look forward to a mitre with all but absolute
confidence".[195] Henry's chancellors, and those of his queens, became bishops of Durham, Hereford, London,
Lincoln, Winchester and Salisbury.[196] Henry increasingly drew on a wider range of these bishops as advisors
– particularly Roger of Salisbury – breaking with the earlier tradition of relying primarily on the Archbishop of
Canterbury.[197] The result was a cohesive body of administrators through which Henry could exercise careful
influence, holding general councils to discuss key matters of policy.[198] This stability shifted slightly after
1125, when Henry began to inject a wider range of candidates into the senior positions of the Church, often
with more reformist views, and the impact of this generation would be felt in the years after Henry's death.[199]
Personal beliefs and piety
Like other rulers of the period, Henry donated to the Church and patronised various religious communities, but
contemporary chroniclers did not consider him an unusually pious king.[200] His personal beliefs and piety
may, however, have developed during the course of his life. Henry had always taken an interest in religion, but
in his later years he may have become much more concerned about spiritual affairs.[201] If so, the major shifts
in his thinking would appear to have occurred after 1120, when his son William Adelin died, and 1129, when
his daughter's marriage teetered on the verge of collapse.[202][nb 20]
The ruined chapter house of Reading
Abbey in 2008
Denier coin of Henry's rival, Louis VI
of France
As a proponent of religious reform, Henry gave extensively to reformist
groups within the Church.[204] He was a keen supporter of the Cluniac
order, probably for intellectual reasons.[205] He donated money to the
abbey at Cluny itself, and after 1120 gave generously to Reading
Abbey, a Cluniac establishment.[205] Construction on Reading began in
1121, and Henry endowed it with rich lands and extensive privileges,
making it a symbol of his dynastic lines.[206] He also focused effort on
promoting the conversion of communities of clerks into Augustinian
canons, the foundation of leper hospitals, expanding the provision of
nunneries, and the charismatic orders of the Savigniacs and
Tironensians.[207] He was an avid collector of relics, sending an
embassy to Constantinople in 1118 to collect Byzantine items, some of which were donated to Reading
Abbey.[208]
Later reign, 1107–35
Continental and Welsh politics, 1108–14
Normandy faced an increased threat from France, Anjou and Flanders after 1108.[209] Louis VI succeeded to
the French throne in 1108 and began to reassert central royal power.[209] Louis demanded Henry give homage
to him and that two disputed castles along the Normandy border be placed into the control of neutral
castellans.[210] Henry refused, and Louis responded by mobilising an army.[211] After some arguments, the two
kings negotiated a truce and retreated without fighting, leaving the underlying issues unresolved.[211][nb 21]
Fulk V assumed power in Anjou in 1109 and began to rebuild Angevin authority.[213] Fulk also inherited the
county of Maine, but refused to recognise Henry as his feudal lord and instead allied himself with Louis.[214]
Robert II of Flanders also briefly joined the alliance, before his death in 1111.[215]
In 1108, Henry betrothed his eight-year-old daughter, Matilda, to Henry
V, the future Holy Roman Emperor.[216] For King Henry, this was a
prestigious match; for Henry V, it was an opportunity to restore his
financial situation and fund an expedition to Italy, as he received a
dowry of £6,666 from England and Normandy.[217][nb 22] Raising this
money proved challenging, and required the implementation of a special
"aid", or tax, in England.[219] Matilda was crowned Henry V's queen in
1110.[220]
Henry responded to the French and Angevin threat by expanding his
own network of supporters beyond the Norman borders.[221] Some
Norman barons deemed unreliable were arrested or dispossessed, and
Henry used their forfeited estates to bribe his potential allies in the
neighbouring territories, in particular Maine.[222] Around 1110, Henry
attempted to arrest the young William Clito, but William's mentors
moved him to the safety of Flanders before he could be taken.[223] At about this time, Henry probably began to
style himself as the Duke of Normandy.[224][nb 23] Robert of Bellême turned against Henry once again, and
when he appeared at Henry's court in 1112 in a new role as a French ambassador, he was arrested and
imprisoned.[226]
Rebellions broke out in France and Anjou between 1111 and 1113, and Henry crossed into Normandy to
support his nephew, Count Theobald of Blois, who had sided against Louis in the uprising.[227] In a bid to
diplomatically isolate the French King, Henry betrothed his young son, William Adelin, to Fulk's daughter
Silver pennies of Henry I, struck at
the Oxford mint
Matilda, and married his illegitimate daughter Matilda to Conan III, the Duke of Brittany, creating alliances
with Anjou and Brittany respectively.[228] Louis backed down and in March 1113 met with Henry near Gisors
to agree a peace settlement, giving Henry the disputed fortresses and confirming Henry's overlordship of
Maine, Bellême and Brittany.[229]
Meanwhile, the situation in Wales was deteriorating. Henry had conducted a campaign in South Wales in 1108,
pushing out royal power in the region and colonising the area around Pembroke with Flemings.[230] By 1114,
some of the resident Norman lords were under attack, while in Mid-Wales, Owain ap Cadwgan blinded one of
the political hostages he was holding, and in North Wales Gruffudd ap Cynan threatened the power of the Earl
of Chester.[231] Henry sent three armies into Wales that year, with Gilbert Fitz Richard leading a force from the
south, Alexander, King of Scotland, pressing from the north and Henry himself advancing into Mid-Wales.[231]
Owain and Gruffudd sued for peace, and Henry accepted a political compromise.[232] Henry reinforced the
Welsh Marches with his own appointees, strengthening the border territories.[233]
Rebellion, 1115–20
Concerned about the succession, Henry sought to persuade Louis VI to
accept his son, William Adelin, as the legitimate future Duke of
Normandy, in exchange for his son's homage.[234] Henry crossed into
Normandy in 1115 and assembled the Norman barons to swear loyalty;
he also almost successfully negotiated a settlement with King Louis,
affirming William's right to the Duchy in exchange for a large sum of
money, but the deal fell through and Louis, backed by his ally Baldwin
of Flanders, instead declared that he considered William Clito the
legitimate heir to the Duchy.[235]
War broke out after Henry returned to Normandy with an army to
support Theobald of Blois, who was under attack from Louis.[236]
Henry and Louis raided each other's towns along the border, and a wider conflict then broke out, probably in
1116.[236][nb 24] Henry was pushed onto the defensive as French, Flemish and Angevin forces began to pillage
the Normandy countryside.[238] Amaury III of Montfort and many other barons rose up against Henry, and
there was an assassination plot from within his own household.[238] Henry's wife, Matilda, died in early 1118,
but the situation in Normandy was sufficiently pressing that Henry was unable to return to England for her
funeral.[239]
Henry responded by mounting campaigns against the rebel barons and deepening his alliance with
Theobald.[240] Baldwin of Flanders was wounded in battle and died in September 1118, easing the pressure on
Normandy from the north-east.[241] Henry attempted to crush a revolt in the city of Alençon, but was defeated
by Fulk and the Angevin army.[242] Forced to retreat from Alençon, Henry's position deteriorated alarmingly, as
his resources became overstretched and more barons abandoned his cause.[243] Early in 1119, Eustace of
Breteuil and Henry's daughter, Juliana, threatened to join the baronial revolt.[244] Hostages were exchanged in a
bid to avoid conflict, but relations broke down and both sides mutilated their captives.[245] Henry attacked and
took the town of Breteuil, despite Juliana's attempt to kill her father with a crossbow.[245][nb 25] In the
aftermath, Henry dispossessed the couple of almost all of their lands in Normandy.[247]
Henry's situation improved in May 1119 when he enticed Fulk to switch sides by finally agreeing to marry
William Adelin to Fulk's daughter, Matilda, and paying Fulk a large sum of money.[248] Fulk left for the
Levant, leaving the County of Maine in Henry's care, and the King was free to focus on crushing his remaining
enemies.[249] During the summer Henry advanced into the Norman Vexin, where he encountered Louis's army,
resulting in the Battle of Brémule.[250] Henry appears to have deployed scouts and then organised his troops
Early 14th-century depiction of the
sinking of the White Ship on 25
November 1120
into several carefully formed lines of dismounted knights.[251] Unlike Henry's forces, the French knights
remained mounted; they hastily charged the Anglo-Norman positions, breaking through the first rank of the
defences but then becoming entangled in Henry's second line of knights.[252] Surrounded, the French army
began to collapse.[251] In the melee, Henry was hit by a sword blow, but his armour protected him.[253] Louis
and William Clito escaped from the battle, leaving Henry to return to Rouen in triumph.[254]
The war slowly petered out after this battle, and Louis took the dispute over Normandy to Pope Callixtus II's
council in Reims that October.[255] Henry faced a number of French complaints concerning his acquisition and
subsequent management of Normandy, and despite being defended by Geoffrey, the Archbishop of Rouen,
Henry's case was shouted down by the pro-French elements of the council.[256] Callixtus declined to support
Louis, however, and merely advised the two rulers to seek peace.[257] Amaury de Montfort came to terms with
Henry, but Henry and William Clito failed to find a mutually satisfactory compromise.[258] In June 1120, Henry
and Louis formally made peace on terms advantageous to the English King: William Adelin gave homage to
Louis, and in return Louis confirmed William's rights to the Duchy.[259]
Succession crisis, 1120–23
Henry's succession plans were thrown into chaos by the sinking of the
White Ship on 25 November 1120.[260] Henry had left the port of
Barfleur for England in the early evening, leaving William Adelin and
many of the younger members of the court to follow on that night in a
separate vessel, the White Ship.[261] Both the crew and passengers were
drunk and, just outside the harbour, the ship hit a submerged
rock.[262][nb 26] The ship sank, killing as many as 300 people, with only
one survivor, a butcher from Rouen.[262] Henry's court was initially too
scared to report William's death to the King. When he was finally told,
he collapsed with grief.[264]
The disaster left Henry with no legitimate son, his various nephews now
the closest male heirs.[265] Henry announced he would take a new wife,
Adeliza of Louvain, opening up the prospect of a new royal son, and the
two were married at Windsor Castle in January 1121.[266][nb 27] Henry
appears to have chosen her because she was attractive and came from a
prestigious noble line. Adela seems to have been fond of Henry and
joined him in his travels, probably to maximise the chances of her
conceiving a child.[268] The White Ship disaster initiated fresh conflict in Wales, where the drowning of
Richard, Earl of Chester, encouraged a rebellion led by Maredudd ap Bleddyn.[269] Henry intervened in North
Wales that summer with an army and, although the King was hit by a Welsh arrow, the campaign reaffirmed
royal power across the region.[269]
With William dead, Henry's alliance with Anjou – which had been based on his son marrying Fulk's daughter –
began to disintegrate.[270] Fulk returned from the Levant and demanded that Henry return Matilda and her
dowry, a range of estates and fortifications in Maine.[270] Matilda left for Anjou, but Henry argued that the
dowry had in fact originally belonged to him before it came into the possession of Fulk, and so declined to hand
the estates back to Anjou.[271] Fulk married his daughter Sibylla to William Clito, and granted them Maine.[272]
Once again, conflict broke out, as Amaury de Montfort allied himself with Fulk and led a revolt along the
Norman-Anjou border in 1123.[272] Amaury was joined by several other Norman barons, headed by Waleran de
Beaumont, one of the sons of Henry's old ally, Robert of Meulan.[273][nb 28]
Henry dispatched Robert of Gloucester and Ranulf le Meschin to Normandy and then intervened himself in late
1123.[275] Henry began the process of besieging the rebel castles, before wintering in the Duchy.[276] In the
spring, campaigning began again. Ranulf received intelligence that the rebels were returning to one of their
bases at Vatteville, allowing him to ambush them en route at Rougemontiers; Waleran charged the royal forces,
but his knights were cut down by Ranulf's archers and the rebels were quickly overwhelmed.[277] Waleran was
captured, but Amaury escaped.[277] Henry mopped up the remainder of the rebellion, blinding some of the rebel
leaders – considered, at the time, a more merciful punishment than execution – and recovering the last rebel
castles.[278] Henry paid Pope Callixtus a large amount of money, in exchange for the Papacy annulling the
marriage of William Clito and Sibylla on the grounds of consanguinity.[279][nb 29]
Planning the succession, 1 124–34
Henry and his new wife did not conceive any children, generating prurient speculation as to the possible
explanation, and the future of the dynasty appeared at risk.[281][nb 30] Henry may have begun to look among his
nephews for a possible heir. He may have considered Stephen of Blois as a possible option and, perhaps in
preparation for this, he arranged a beneficial marriage for Stephen to a wealthy heiress, Matilda.[283] Theobald
of Blois, his close ally, may have also felt that he was in favour with Henry.[284] William Clito, who was King
Louis's preferred choice, remained opposed to Henry and was therefore unsuitable.[285] Henry may have also
considered his own illegitimate son, Robert of Gloucester, as a possible candidate, but English tradition and
custom would have looked unfavourably on this.[286]
Henry's plans shifted when the Empress Matilda's husband, the Emperor Henry, died in 1125.[287] King Henry
recalled his daughter to England the next year and declared that, should he die without a male heir, she was to
be his rightful successor.[288] The Anglo-Norman barons were gathered together at Westminster on Christmas
1126, where they swore to recognise Matilda and any future legitimate heir she might have.[288][nb 31] Putting
forward a woman as a potential heir in this way was unusual: opposition to Matilda continued to exist within
the English court, and Louis was vehemently opposed to her candidacy.[290]
Fresh conflict broke out in 1127, when Charles, the childless Count of Flanders, was murdered, creating a local
succession crisis.[291] Backed by King Louis, William Clito was chosen by the Flemings to become their new
ruler.[292] This development potentially threatened Normandy, and Henry began to finance a proxy war in
Flanders, promoting the claims of William's Flemish rivals.[293] In an effort to disrupt the French alliance with
William, Henry mounted an attack into France in 1128, forcing Louis to cut his aid to William.[294] William
died unexpectedly in July, removing the last major challenger to Henry's rule and bringing the war in Flanders
to a halt.[295] Without William, the baronial opposition in Normandy lacked a leader. A fresh peace was made
with France, and the King was finally able to release the remaining prisoners from the revolt of 1123, including
Waleran of Meulan, who was rehabilitated into the royal court.[296]
Meanwhile, Henry rebuilt his alliance with Fulk of Anjou, this time by marrying Matilda to Fulk's eldest son,
Geoffrey.[297] The pair were betrothed in 1127 and married the following year.[298] It is unknown whether
Henry intended Geoffrey to have any future claim on England or Normandy, and he was probably keeping his
son-in-law's status deliberately uncertain. Similarly, although Matilda was granted a number of Normandy
castles as part of her dowry, it was not specified when the couple would actually take possession of them.[299]
Fulk left Anjou for Jerusalem in 1129, declaring Geoffrey the Count of Anjou and Maine.[300] The marriage
proved difficult, as the couple did not particularly like each other and the disputed castles proved a point of
contention, resulting in Matilda returning to Normandy later that year.[301] Henry appears to have blamed
Geoffrey for the separation, but in 1131 the couple were reconciled.[302] Much to the pleasure and relief of
Henry, Matilda then gave birth to a sequence of two sons, Henry and Geoffrey, in 1133 and 1134.[303]
Early 14th-century depiction of Henry
mourning the death of his son
Death and legacy
Death, 1135
Relations between Henry, Matilda, and Geoffrey became increasingly
strained during the King's final years. Matilda and Geoffrey suspected
that they lacked genuine support in England. In 1135 they urged Henry
to hand over the royal castles in Normandy to Matilda whilst he was
still alive, and insisted that the Norman nobility swear immediate
allegiance to her, thereby giving the couple a more powerful position
after Henry's death.[304] Henry angrily declined to do so, probably out
of concern that Geoffrey would try to seize power in Normandy.[305] A
fresh rebellion broke out amongst the barons in southern Normandy, led
by William, the Count of Ponthieu, whereupon Geoffrey and Matilda
intervened in support of the rebels.[306]
Henry campaigned throughout the autumn, strengthening the southern
frontier, and then travelled to Lyons-la-Forêt in November to enjoy
some hunting, still apparently healthy.[307] There Henry fell ill –
according to the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, he ate a number of
lampreys against his physician's advice – and his condition worsened
over the course of a week.[308] Once the condition appeared terminal, Henry gave confession and summoned
Archbishop Hugh of Amiens, who was joined by Robert of Gloucester and other members of the court.[309] In
accordance with custom, preparations were made to settle Henry's outstanding debts and to revoke outstanding
sentences of forfeiture.[310] The King died on 1 December 1135, and his corpse was taken to Rouen
accompanied by the barons, where it was embalmed; his entrails were buried locally at Port-du-Salut Abbey,
and the preserved body was taken on to England, where it was interred at Reading Abbey.[311]
Despite Henry's efforts, the succession was disputed. When news began to spread of the King's death, Geoffrey
and Matilda were in Anjou supporting the rebels in their campaign against the royal army, which included a
number of Matilda's supporters such as Robert of Gloucester.[15] Many of these barons had taken an oath to
stay in Normandy until the late king was properly buried, which prevented them from returning to England.[312]
The Norman nobility discussed declaring Theobald of Blois king.[313] Theobald's younger brother, Stephen of
Blois, quickly crossed from Boulogne to England, however, accompanied by his military household.[314] With
the help of his brother, Henry of Blois, he seized power in England and was crowned king on 22
December.[315] The Empress Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, leading to the
prolonged civil war known as the Anarchy between 1135 and 1153.[316]
Historiography
Historians have drawn on a range of sources on Henry, including the accounts of chroniclers; other
documentary evidence, including early pipe rolls; and surviving buildings and architecture.[317] The three main
chroniclers to describe the events of Henry's life were William of Malmesbury, Orderic Vitalis, and Henry of
Huntingdon, but each incorporated extensive social and moral commentary into their accounts and borrowed a
range of literary devices and stereotypical events from other popular works.[318] Other chroniclers include
Eadmer, Hugh the Chanter, Abbot Suger, and the authors of the Welsh Brut.[319] Not all royal documents from
the period have survived, but there are a number of royal acts, charters, writs, and letters, along with some early
financial records.[320] Some of these have since been discovered to be forgeries, and others had been
subsequently amended or tampered with.[321]
Part of the Welsh Brut, one of the
chronicler sources for Henry's reign
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Henry I of
England.
Late medieval historians seized on the accounts of selected chroniclers
regarding Henry's education and gave him the title of Henry
"Beauclerc", a theme echoed in the analysis of Victorian and Edwardian
historians such as Francis Palgrave and Henry Davis.[322] The historian
Charles David dismissed this argument in 1929, showing the more
extreme claims for Henry's education to be without foundation.[323]
Modern histories of Henry commenced with Richard Southern's work in
the early 1960s, followed by extensive research during the rest of the
20th century into a wide number of themes from his reign in England,
and a much more limited number of studies of his rule in
Normandy.[324] Only two major, modern biographies of Henry have
been produced, Warren Hollister's posthumous volume in 2001, and
Judith Green's 2006 work.[325]
Interpretation of Henry's personality by historians has altered over time. Earlier historians such as Austin Poole
and Richard Southern considered Henry as a cruel, draconian ruler.[326] More recent historians, such as
Hollister and Green, view his implementation of justice much more sympathetically, particularly when set
against the standards of the day, but even Green has noted that Henry was "in many respects highly
unpleasant", and Alan Cooper has observed that many contemporary chroniclers were probably too scared of
the King to voice much criticism.[327] Historians have also debated the extent to which Henry's administrative
reforms genuinely constituted an introduction of what Hollister and John Baldwin have termed systematic,
"administrative kingship", or whether his outlook remained fundamentally traditional.[328]
Henry's burial at Reading Abbey is marked by a local cross, but Reading Abbey was slowly demolished during
the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century.[329] The exact location is uncertain, but the most likely
location of the tomb itself is now in a built-up area of central Reading, on the site of the former abbey
choir.[329] A plan to locate his remains was announced in March 2015, with support from English Heritage and
Philippa Langley, who aided with the successful exhumation of Richard III.[330]
Family and children
Legitimate
Henry and his first wife, Matilda, had at least two legitimate children:
1. Matilda, born in 1102, died 1167.[89]
2. William Adelin, born in 1103, died 1120.[89]
3. Possibly Richard, who, if he existed, died young.[100]
Henry and his second wife, Adeliza, had no children.
Illegitimate
Henry had a number of illegitimate children by various mistresses.[nb 32]
Sons
1. Robert of Gloucester, born in the 1090s.[332]
2. Richard, born to Ansfride, brought up by Robert Bloet, the Bishop of Lincoln.[333]
3. Reginald de Dunstanville, Earl of Cornwall, born in the 1110s or early 1120s, possibly to Sibyl
Corbet.[334]
4. Robert the King's son, born to Ede, daughter of Forne.[335]
5. Gilbert FitzRoy, possibly born to an unnamed sister or daughter of Walter of Gand.[336]
6. William de Tracy, possibly born in the 1090s.[336]
7. Henry the King's son, possibly born to Nest ferch Rhys.[335][nb 33]
8. Fulk the King's son, possibly born to Ansfride.[335]
9. William, the brother of Sybilla de Normandy, probably the brother of Reginald de Dunstanville.[337]
Daughters
1. Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche.[338]
2. Matilda FitzRoy, Duchess of Brittany.[338]
3. Juliane, wife of Eustace of Breteuil, possibly born to Ansfrida.[339]
4. Mabel, wife of William Gouet.[340]
5. Constance, Vicountess of Beaumont-sur-Sarthe.[341]
6. Aline, wife of Matthew de Montmorency.[342]
7. Isabel, daughter of Isabel de Beaumont, Countess of Pembroke.[342]
8. Sybilla de Normandy, Queen of Scotland, probably born before 1100.[342][nb 34]
9. Matilda Fitzroy, Abbess of Montvilliers.[342]
10. Gundrada de Dunstanville.[342]
11. Possibly Rohese, wife of Henry de la Pomerai.[342][nb 35]
12. Emma, wife of Guy of Laval.[343]
13. Adeliza, the King's daughter.[343]
14. The wife of Fergus of Galloway.[343]
15. Possibly Sibyl of Falaise.[343][nb 36]
Ancestors
Ancestors of Henry I of England[344]
16. Richard I, Duke of Normandy
8. Richard II, Duke of Normandy
17. Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy
4. Robert I, Duke of Normandy
18. Conan I of Rennes
9. Judith of Brittany
19. Ermengarde of Anjou
2. William I of England
10. Fulbert of Falaise
5. Herleva
1. Henry I of
England
24. Arnulf II, Count of Flanders
12. Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders
25. Rozala of Italy
6. Baldwin V, Count of Flanders
26. Frederick of Luxembour g
13. Ogive of Luxembour g
3. Matilda of Flanders
28. Hugh Capet
14. Robert II of France
29. Adelaide of Aquitaine
7. Adela of France
30. William I of Provence
15. Constance of Arles
31. Adelaide of Anjou
Notes
1. The dating of Henry's birth depends on comparing chronicler accounts and the various travels of his parentsi lWliam and
Matilda; these give only limited periods in which Henry could have been conceived and born. Historiana Wrren
Hollister prefers the summer of 1068, Judith Green the end of the ye,a ralthough it is just possible that Henry could have
been born in early 1069. The possible birthplace of Selby is based upon a local traditio[n1].
2. The chronicler Orderic Vitalis describes a colourful quarrel that is said to have occurred bweteen Henry and his brothers
Robert and William Rufus in the town of l'Aigle; modern historians, including Judith Green and Warren Hollister, are
inclined to doubt the veracity of the story.[9]
3. Historian Warren Hollister doubts that Henryw as ever destined for the clegr y; Judith Green is less certain.[10]
4. Chroniclers varied in reporting the sum as either £2,000 or £5,000, although £5,000 is the more commonly cited figure
amongst later historians.[19]
5. £5,000 would have formed around 1.5 million silver pennies, a dfiifcult sum to move easily out of the Duchy if
opposed.[23]
6. Western Normandy had originally been intended for Henry's late brother Richard, and was suitably remote from the
capital in Rouen.[26]
7. Chroniclers vary in their description of the length of the siege, suggesting either a duration of 15 days and six weeks.
Warren Hollister prefers six weeks; Judith Gren, 15 days.[56]
8. Henry's decision not to join the main campaign may have been because Robert's forces were sfuicfiently strong to
prevent him joining William Rufus at Eu.[67]
9. David Carpenter regards William Rufus's death as "almost certainly an accident"; Warren Hollister considers "by far the
likeliest explanation for the killing is simply ... that it was a hunting accident"; Judith Greeng aures that "on balance it
seems most likely that Rufus died because of an accident". Emma Mason is more suspicious, giving credence to the
theory that William Rufus was murdered, either by Henry or by agents of the French King.h Te minority view was also
held by Austin Poole, who considered Henry a "usurper"; writing earlier in the 20th centu, rhye argued that the facts
"look ugly" – in particular Tirel's departure from the scene, Henry's potential motive and apparent disregard for his
brother – and "seem to suggest a plot."[.75]
10. The chroniclers Eadmer, Mamesbury and Oderic describe the couple as close, with Eadmenro ting that they were in
love.[93]
11. Anselm was criticised in some quarters for permitting the royal marriage to procee[d97. ]
12. The only chronicler to suggest a second son isG ervase of Canterbury.[100]
13. Bisexuality was also common amongst this social group, but there is no evidence to suggest that Henry had male
partners.[103]
14. Most chroniclers reported this sum as 3,000m arks, equivalent to £2,000, but Orderic recorded the agreed amount as
£3,000.[117]
15. Contemporary chroniclers provided several possible dates for the battle, suggesting either 27, 28 or 29 Septem.b Terhe
28 September is more commonly used by modern historians, although historian Judith Green is less certa[i1n4.1]
16. Geoffrey of Monmouth memorably likened Henry to the "Lion of Justice" in hiHs istoria Regum Britanniae, in a section
in which he recounts the prophecies ofM erlin. Despite Henry not being named in the document itself, historians are
broadly agreed that Geofrey intended to refer to him, but there are differing interpretations of the simile itself. Judith
Green, for example, argues that the description was a positive one; Alan Cooper is far mor ceautious, noting that, in this
period, lions were considered to be strong but also brutal and cruel, and that the surrounding context in the section is
certainly not flattering about its subject[.168]
References
17. In 1124, Henry received reports from his soldeirs that they had been paid in substandard English silver pennies. Henry
instructed Roger of Salisbury to investigate, and ordered that any coiners found guilty were to have their right hands and
genitals chopped off. The sentence was carried out at Salisbury by the Bishop. Contemporyar chroniclers approved of
Henry's firm action.[175]
18. Historian David Crouch has noted that many of Henry's key advisers and foifcials later regretted their actions on behalf
of the King, observing that "life at King Henry's court tended to put a burden on the consciences of its inmate[s1"7.9]
19. Anselm used the metaphor of the government being a plough pulled by two oxen, the King and the Archbishop, ruling
through temporal and religious right respectivel.y[182]
20. Assessing Henry's personal attitude towards religion later in his life is challenging. Historian Richard Southerng uared in
favour of the two shifts being in 1120 and 1129, although Martin Brett dismissed 120 as a probable date, preferring
1129 as the key date. Judith Green is more cautious, observing that the fashion among chroniclers during the later period
was to focus more of their writing on the themes of repenting and confession, and this may have given a false
impression of a shift in Henry's thinking. Henry May-rHarting also doubts the extent of the evidence for a mid-life
change, but draws out more of his earlier piety, suggesting that Henry was always more religiously inclined than was
once thought.[203]
21. The chronicler Abbot Suger suggested that the incident was embarrassing for Hen,r ysince he had refused battle, but it
was a sound military decision.[212]
22. The dowry was 10,000 marks in silver, equivalent to £6,666.[218]
23. In Latin, the ducal title wasd ux Normannorum, literally "Duke of the Normans"[.225]
24. The dating of this campaign is uncertain; Judith Green places it firmly in1 116, while Warren Hollister is less certain,
opting for it falling between 1116 and 1118.[237]
25. In February 1119, Eustace and Juliana of Breteuil, formerly allies of Henr,y threatened to rebel unless they were given
the castle of Ivry-la-Bataille.[244] Henry promised Eustace the fortress and, to show good intent, exchanged hostages,
Eustace and Juliana's daughters being exchanged with the son of the castle's constabl[2e4.4] According to the chronicler
Orderic Vitalis, Eustace then blinded the constable's son, whereupon Henry allowed the daguhters – his illegitimate
granddaughters – to be blinded and mutilated[.245] Eustace attempted to mobilise his forces and defend Breteuil against
an attack by Henry; despite this, Henry took the city and Juliana, after attempting to kill Henry with a crossb,ow
fled.[246]
26. The submerged rock was probably either the Quillebouef Rock, or the Raz de Barfle.u[2r63]
27. The speed with which Henry's second marriage took place may indicate that Henry had been planning to remarry
anyway, even before the White Ship disaster.[267]
28. It is uncertain what led Waleran de Beaumont to rebel against Henry. Waleran may have genuinely believed that William
Clito had a rightful claim to the Duchy, and have thought that he was unlikely to benefit under Henry's rule.[274]
29. Medieval Church law at the time forbade marriage within seven degrees. In practice most of the upper classes were
related in this way, but the law could be invoked on occasion to annul marriage[s2.80]
30. It is not known precisely what the rumours about Henry's failure to bear children were, and whether the issue lay with
one or both partners.[282]
31. Medieval chroniclers' accounts of this oath vary on the points of detail. William of Malmesbury described that those
present recognised Matilda as the legitimate heir on the basis of her paternal and maternal royal descenJto;h n of
Worcester described the inheritance of England as being conditional on Matilda having a legitimate male heir; the
Anglo-Saxon chronicle suggested that an oath was given concerning the inheritance of both England and Normandy;
neither Orderic or Henry of Huntingdon recorded the event at all. Some chronicler accounts may have been influenced
by Stephen's acquisition of the throne in 135 and the later events of the Anarchy.[289]
32. Work by historian Geoffrey White in the 1940s produced an extensive list of Henry's illegitimate children, which forms
the basis of the most recent academic research, by Kathleen Thompso[n3.31]
33. Traditionally Henry's mother has been given as Nest ferch Rhys, although more recent wo rbky Kathleen Thompson
casts doubt on this theory.[335]
34. White argued that Sibyl's mother was Sibyl Corbet, although more recent research by Kateheln Thompson discredits this
theory.[342]
35. Rohese may have been Henry's daughte,r but it is more probable that her father was Herber ftitz Herbert.[342]
36. Sibyl may have been Henry's daughte,r but it is more probable that her father was Duke Roebrt of Normandy.[343]
1. Hollister 2003, pp. 30–31; Green 2009, p. 20
2. Newman 1988, pp. 21–22; Carpenter 2004, pp. 125–126
3. Hallam & Everard 2001, pp. 62–64, 114–118
4. Hollister 2003, pp. 32, 40
5. Carpenter 2004, p. 128
6. Green 2009, p. 21
7. Newman 1988, p. 54
8. Hollister 2003, p. 35; Green 2009, p. 21; Thompson 2007, pp. 16–17.
9. Green 2009, p. 21; Hollister 2003, pp. 35–36
10. Hollister 2003, pp. 36–37; Green 2009, p. 22
11. Hollister 2003, pp. 33–34
12. Hollister 2003, p. 37; Green 2009, p. 23
13. Hollister 2003, p. 37
14. Hollister 2003, pp. 37–38
15. Barlow 1999, p. 162
16. Hollister 2003, p. 38
17. Hollister 2003, pp. 38–39
18. Hollister 2003, pp. 39–40, 46
19. Hollister 2003, p. 39; Green 2009, p. 25
20. Hollister 2003, p. 39
21. Hollister 2003, p. 48
22. Hollister 2003, pp. 48–49
23. Thompson 2007, p. 17
24. Hollister 2003, pp. 40, 47
25. Hollister 2003, p. 49
26. Green 2009, p. 28
27. Hollister 2003, pp. 51–53; Thompson 2007, p. 19
28. Hollister 2003, p. 53
29. Hollister 2003, p. 50
30. Hollister 2003, pp. 56–58, 61
31. Hollister 2003, pp. 57–59
32. Hollister 2003, p. 56
33. Hollister 2003, p. 54
34. Green 2009, p. 29
35. Hollister 2003, p. 61
36. Hollister 2003, p. 62
37. Hollister 2003, p. 65
38. Hollister 2003, pp. 65–66
39. Hollister 2003, pp. 66–68
40. Hollister 2003, p. 68
41. Hollister 2003, pp. 6–69
42. Hollister 2003, p. 69
43. Hollister 2003, p. 70
44. Hollister 2003, p. 71
45. Hollister 2003, p. 72
46. Hollister 2003, p. 73
47. Hollister 2003, pp. 74–76
48. Hollister 2003, p. 76
49. Hollister 2003, pp. 76–77
50. Hollister 2003, p. 77
51. Hollister 2003, pp. 78–79
52. Hollister 2003, p. 79
53. Hollister 2003, p. 80
54. Hollister 2003, pp. 80–81
55. Hollister 2003, pp. 81–82
56. Hollister 2003, p. 82; Green 2009, p. 32
57. Hollister 2003, pp. 82–83
58. Hollister 2003, p. 82
59. Hollister 2003, p. 85
60. Hollister 2003, pp. 85–86
61. Hollister 2003, pp. 86–88
62. Green 2009, p. 33; Hollister 2003, p. 89
63. Hollister 2003, p. 89
64. Hollister 2003, pp. 90–91
65. Hollister 2003, p. 96
66. Hollister 2003, pp. 96–97
67. Green 2009, p. 35
68. Hollister 2003, p. 99
69. Green 2009, p. 36
70. Hollister 2003, pp. 98–101; Green 2009, pp. 36–37
71. Hollister 2003, p. 102
72. Hollister 2003, pp. 102–103
73. Hollister 2003, p. 103
74. Hollister 2003, pp. 103–104; Carpenter 2004, p. 134; Green pp.39–41.
75. Carpenter 2004, p. 134; Hollister 2003, p. 104; Mason 2008, pp. 228–231; Green 2009, p. 41; Poole 1993, pp. 113–114
76. Hollister 2003, pp. 103–105
77. Hollister 2003, p. 104
78. Hollister 2003, p. 105
79. Hollister 2003, pp. 104–105; Green 2009, p. 43
80. Hollister 2003, pp. 104–105
81. Holister, p.106.
82. Hollister 2003, p. 19; Green 2009, p. 45
83. Green 2009, pp. 45–50
84. Hollister 2003, pp. 110–112
85. Hollister 2003, p. 116
86. Hollister 2003, pp. 116–117
87. Hollister 2003, p. 117
88. Green 2009, pp. 51–52
89. Hollister 2003, p. 130
90. Hollister 2003, p. 43; Thompson 2003, p. 134; Green 2009, p. 26
91. Thompson 2007, p. 24; Huneycutt 2003, p. 27
92. Hollister 2003, pp. 126–127; Green 2009, p. 58
93. Hollister 2003, p. 127
94. Hollister 2003, pp. 126–127
95. Hollister 2003, pp. 127–128; Thompson 2003, p. 137
96. Hollister 2003, pp. 128–129
97. Green 2009, p. 55
98. Hollister 2003, p. 130; Thompson 2003, p. 137
99. Hollister 2003, p. 130; Green 2009, p. 75
100. Green 2009, p. 75
101. Thompson 2003, p. 137
102. Hollister 2003, p. 43; Green 2009, pp. 26–27; 307–309
103. Hollister 2003, p. 45; Thompson 2003, p. 135
104. Thompson 2003, p. 135
105. Thompson 2003, pp. 130–133
106. Hollister 2003, pp. 132–133; Green 2009, p. 61
107. Hollister 2003, pp. 133–134
108. Hollister 2003, pp. 134–135
109. Hollister 2003, pp. 135–136
110. Hollister 2003, p. 125
111. Hollister 2003, p. 137; Green 2009, p. 63
112. Hollister 2003, p. 137
113. Hollister 2003, pp. 137–138
114. Hollister 2003, p. 138
115. Hollister 2003, pp. 139–140
116. Hollister 2003, pp. 142–143
117. Green 2009, p. 64
118. Hollister 2003, p. 145
119. Hollister 2003, p. 143
120. Hollister 2003, pp. 143–144
121. Hollister 2003, p. 157
122. Hollister 2003, pp. 157–158
123. Hollister 2003, pp. 158–162
124. Hollister 2003, pp. 164–165
125. Green 2009, pp. 74–77
126. Hollister 2003, pp. 178–179
127. Hollister 2003, pp. 182–183
128. Hollister 2003, pp. 183–184
129. Hollister 2003, p. 184; Green 2009, p. 78
130. Green 2009, pp. 80–81
131. Hollister 2003, p. 185
132. Hollister 2003, pp. 184–185; Green 2009, p. 82
133. Hollister 2003, p. 186
134. Hollister 2003, p. 188
135. Hollister 2003, pp. 188–189
136. Hollister 2003, pp. 189–190
137. Hollister 2003, p. 190; Green 2009, p. 85
138. Hollister 2003, p. 198; Green 2009, pp. 88–89
139. Hollister 2003, p. 199
140. Hollister 2003, pp. 199–200
141. Green 2009, p. 93; Hollister 2003, pp. 199–200
142. Hollister 2003, pp. 199–201
143. Hollister 2003, p. 201
144. Hollister 2003, pp. 204–207
145. Hollister 2003, p. 207
146. Hollister 2003, p. 205
147. Hollister 2003, p. 206
148. Hollister 2003, pp. 208–209
149. Green 2009, p. 96; Green 2003, p. 64
150. Green 2009, pp. 224–225
151. Green 2009, pp. 226–227; Hollister 2003, p. 126
152. Green 2009, p. 226; Davies 1990, pp. 11–12; 48–49
153. Green 2009, pp. 98, 105
154. Green 2009, p. 228
155. Green 2009, pp. 232–233
156. Mayr-Harting 2011, pp. 47–48; Green 2009, p. 231
157. Green 2009, pp. 232–233; Crouch 2008, p. 17
158. Green 2009, p. 314; Hollister 2003, pp. 332, 334
159. Hollister 2003, pp. 329, 324–347
160. Green 2009, pp. 285–286; Mayr-Harting 2011, p. 69
161. Green 2009, pp. 285–286
162. Green 2009, pp. 286–287
163. Chibnall 1992, pp. 86–89; Prestwich 1992, pp. 102–3, 118
164. Green 2009, pp. 289–290
165. Green 2009, pp. 294–295; 304–305
166. Hollister 2003, pp. 330–331
167. Hollister 2003, p. 350
168. Green 2009, p. 239; Cooper 2001, pp. 47–51
169. Hollister 2003, pp. 351, 356
170. Hollister 2003, pp. 356–357
171. Hollister 2003, pp. 358–359; Green 2009, p. 319; Newman 1988, p. 24
172. Hollister 2003, p. 358
173. Hollister 2003, p. 356
174. Hollister 2003, p. 354
175. Green 2009, pp. 188–189
176. Haskins 1918, pp. 86, 93, 105–106
177. Newman 1988, p. 20
178. Green 2009, pp. 242–243
179. Crouch 2008, p. 3
180. Vaughn 2007, p. 134
181. Green 2009, p. 255
182. Vaughn 2007, p. 135
183. Green 2009, p. 273
184. Mayr-Harting 2011, pp. 51–53
185. Mayr-Harting 2011, pp. 52–53
186. Mayr-Harting 2011, p. 53; Green 2009, p. 53
187. Mayr-Harting 2011, p. 53; Vaughn 2007, p. 142
188. Mayr-Harting 2011, p. 53; Vaughn 2007, p. 142; Green 2009, pp. 84–88; Hollister 2003, p. 196
189. Hollister 2003, p. 196
190. Vaughn 2007, pp. 139–140, 144
191. Mayr-Harting 2011, pp. 58–59
192. Mayr-Harting 2011, pp. 61–62
193. Mayr-Harting 2011, p. 62; Hollister 2003, pp. 272–273
194. Green 2009, pp. 262–265
195. Brett 1975, p. 106
196. Brett 1975, pp. 106–107
197. Vaughn 2007, p. 148
198. Hollister 2003, pp. 371, 379; Brett 1975, pp. 110–111
199. Brett 1975, pp. 111–112
200. Green 2009, p. 14
201. Mayr-Harting 2011, pp. 44–45; Brett 1975, p. 112
202. Brett 1975, p. 112
203. Mayr-Harting 2011, pp. 46; Southern 1962, pp. 155, 163, cited in Brett 1975, p. 112; Green 2009, p. 282
204. Green 2009, pp. 277–280
205. Green 2009, p. 278
206. Hollister 2003, pp. 435–438
207. Green 2009, pp. 278–280
208. Green 2009, p. 14; Bethell 1971, p. 69
209. Hollister 2003, p. 221
210. Hallam & Everard 2001, p. 153; Hollister 2003, p. 223
211. Hollister 2003, p. 223
212. Green 2009, p. 120
213. Hollister 2003, pp. 221, 224; Hallam & Everard 2001, p. 67
214. Hollister 2003, p. 224
215. Hollister 2003, pp. 224–225
216. Hollister 2003, p. 216
217. Hollister 2003, pp. 216–217; Green 2009, p. 118
218. Green 2009, p. 118
219. Hollister 2003, p. 217
220. Hollister 2003, p. 218
221. Hollister 2003, p. 225
222. Hollister 2003, pp. 225, 228; Green 2009, p. 121
223. Hollister 2003, pp. 227–228
224. Green 2003, p. 65
225. Green 2003, p. 645
226. Hollister 2003, pp. 226–227
227. Green 2009, p. 123; Hollister 2003, p. 229
228. Hollister 2003, p. 230
229. Hollister 2003, pp. 231–232
230. Carpenter 2004, pp. 38, 140
231. Green 2009, p. 132
232. Green 2009, pp. 132–133
233. Green 2009, p. 133
234. Hollister 2003, p. 238
235. Hollister 2003, pp. 239–240
236. Hollister 2003, p. 246; Green 2009, p. 135
237. Hollister 2003, p. 246; Green 2009, pp. 135, 138
238. Hollister 2003, pp. 246–248; Green 2009, pp. 135, 143
239. Green 2009, pp. 139–140; Hollister 2003, p. 247
240. Hollister 2003, pp. 250–251
241. Hollister 2003, p. 251
242. Hollister 2003, p. 252
243. Hollister 2003, p. 253; Green 2009, pp. 143, 146
244. Hollister 2003, p. 253
245. Hollister 2003, pp. 253–254
246. Hollister 2003, p. 254
247. Hollister 2003, pp. 254–255
248. Hollister 2003, p. 261
249. Hollister 2003, p. 261; Green 2009, p. 149
250. Hollister 2003, pp. 263–264
251. Hollister 2003, p. 264
252. Hollister 2003, p. 264; Green 2009, p. 152
253. Hollister 2003, pp. 264–265
254. Hollister 2003, p. 265
255. Hollister 2003, pp. 265–266; Green 2009, pp. 153–154
256. Hollister 2003, p. 267; Green 2009, p. 157
257. Hollister 2003, pp. 267–268
258. Hollister 2003, pp. 268–269
259. Hollister 2003, p. 274
260. Hollister 2003, pp. 276–279
261. Hollister 2003, pp. 276–277
262. Hollister 2003, pp. 277–278
263. Green 2009, p. 66
264. Hollister 2003, p. 278; Green 2009, p. 167
265. Hollister 2003, p. 280; Green 2009, p. 168
266. Hollister 2003, p. 280
267. Green 2009, p. 169
268. Hollister 2003, p. 281; Thompson 2003, p. 137; Green 2009, p. 169
269. Hollister 2003, p. 282
270. Hollister 2003, p. 290
271. Hollister 2003, p. 291.
272. Hollister 2003, p. 292
273. Hollister 2003, pp. 292–293; Green 2009, p. 179
274. Green 2009, pp. 179–180; Crouch 2008, p. 15
275. Hollister 2003, pp. 293–294
276. Hollister 2003, pp. 297–298; Green 2009, p. 184
277. Hollister 2003, p. 300
278. Hollister 2003, pp. 302–303; Green 2009, pp. 186–187
279. Hollister 2003, p. 306
280. Ward 2006, p. 20
281. Hollister 2003, pp. 308–309; Green 2009, p. 170
282. Green 2009, pp. 170
283. Hollister 2003, p. 310
284. Green 2009, p. 168
285. Hollister 2003, pp. 312–313
286. Hollister 2003, pp. 311–312
287. Hollister 2003, p. 396
288. Hollister 2003, p. 309
289. Green 2009, pp. 193–194
290. Hollister 2003, p. 318; Green 2009, p. 191
291. Green 2009, pp. 196–197
292. Green 2009, p. 197
293. Hollister 2003, pp. 319–321; Green 2009, pp. 197–198
294. Hollister 2003, p. 321
295. Hollister 2003, pp. 325–326
296. Hollister 2003, p. 326; Newman 1988, pp. 57–58
297. Hollister 2003, p. 323
298. Hollister 2003, p. 324
299. Hollister 2003, pp. 324–325; Green 2009, pp. 202–203
300. Chibnall 1993, pp. 56, 60
301. Hollister 2003, p. 463; Chibnall 1993, p. 57
302. Hollister 2003, p. 463; Green 2009, pp. 58–61
303. Hollister 2003, p. 465; Green 2009, p. 213
304. King 2010, pp. 38–39
305. Green 2009, pp. 216–217; King 2010, p. 38; Crouch 2008, p. 162
306. Barlow 1999, p. 162; Hollister 2003, p. 467
307. Hollister 2003, pp. 467, 473
308. Hollister 2003, pp. 467–468, 473
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Henry I of England
House of Normandy
Born: 1068/1069 Died: 1 December 1135
Regnal titles
Preceded by
William II
King of England
1100–1135 Succeeded by
Preceded by Stephen
William Adelin
Duke of Normandy
1120–1135
Preceded by
Robert Curthose
Duke of Normandy
1106–1120
Succeeded by
William Adelin
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_I_of_England&oldid=785448488"
Categories: Henry I of England 1060s births 1135 deaths 11th-century English people
12th-century English people English people of French descent House of Normandy Dukes of Normandy
English monarchs Roman Catholic monarchs English Roman Catholics French Roman Catholics
People from Selby Deaths from food poisoning Burials at Reading Abbey
Christians of the Norwegian Crusade 12th-century monarchs in Europe
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Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England was born in September 1068 at Selby, Yorkshire, North Riding, England, the son of William I 'the Conqueror', King of England and Matihilde van Vlaanderen. He married, firstly, Editha of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III 'Caennmor', King of Scotland and Saint Margaret 'the Exile' on 11 November 1100 at Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England. He married, secondly, Adeliza de Louvain, daughter of Godefroi I de Louvain, Duc de Basse-Lorraine and Ida de Namur, Comtesse de Namur, on 29 January 1121 at Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England. He died on 1 December 1135 at age 67 at Saintt-Denis-le-Fermont, Picardie, France, food poisioning, after supposedly overeating lampreys. He was buried at Reading Abbey, Reading, Berkshire, England. He gained the title of Lord of Domfront in 1092. He gained the title of Comte de Bayeaux in 1096. He gained the title of Comte de Coutances in 1096. He succeeded to the title of King Henry I of England on 2 August 1100. He was crowned King of England on 5 August 1100 at Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, England, and styled 'Dei Gratiâ Rex Anglorum.' He succeeded to the title of 9th Duc de Normandie on 28 September 1106, after defeating his brother Robert in battle. He fought in the Battle of Tinchebrai on 28 September 1106. Strangely, at the time William 'Rufus' was shot in the New Forest, Henry was also hunting there and this may or may not be coincidence. Henry was in turn in some danger from his brother Robert who claimed the throne for himself. Robert was captured at the battle of Tinchebrai in 1106 and Henry imprisoned him in Cardiff Castle for the rest of his life. Henry was successful in keeping the peace in England despite spending much time in Normandy. He developed the English system of justice and organised the civil service of the time, particularly the taxation department. He was unpopular with the church leaders. He had only one legitimate son, William and a legitimate daughter Matilda, but over twenty illegitimate children. His sons William and Richard were drowned in 1120 aboard his personal vessel the 'White Ship' when it struck a rock off the Normandy coast. He wanted his successor to be his daughter Matilda whom the English called Maud. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.
Children of Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England and Isabella of Meulan: Matilda of Montvilliers, Isabella b. 1120: Children of Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England and Edith Sigulfson: Adeliza fitz Edith, Robert fitz Edith, Baron of Okenhampton b. 1093, d. 31 May 1172,
children of Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England, Matilda,Constance, Alice, Joan, Emma, Elizabeth, Sybilla of Falaise b. bt 1084 - 1136,
Gilbert b. c 1130, d. 1142. Children of Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England and Sybilla Corbet;ohese d. 1176, Robert de Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester+ b. c 1090, d. 31 Oct 1147, Sybilla de Normandie7 b. c 1092, d. 12 Jul 1122, William, Constable7 b. b 1105, d. a 1187
Rainald de Dunstanville, Earl of Cornwall+10 b. c 1110, d. 1 Jul 1175
Gundred b. 1114, d. 1146, Child of Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England and Gieva de Tracey, William de Tracy+7 d. a 1135
Children of Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England and Ansfride , Juliana de Fontevrault+7 b. c 1090, d. a 1136, Fulk b. c 1092, Richard of Lincoln11 b. c 1094, d. 25 Nov 1120
Child of Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England and Edith (?)
Matilda (?)+7 b. c 1090, d. 25 Nov 1120
Children of Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England and Editha of Scotland
Euphemia of England7 b. Jul 1101
Matilda 'the Empress' of England+ b. c Aug 1102, d. 10 Sep 1167
William 'the Aetheling', 10th Duc de Normandie11 b. b 5 Aug 1103, d. 25 Nov 1120
Child of Henry I 'Beauclerc', King of England and Nesta, Princess of Deheubarth
Henry fitz Henry+7 b. c 1103, d. c 1157
Abstract from the Peerage.

"HENRY of England, son of WILLIAM I "the Conqueror" King of England & his wife Mathilde de Flandre ([Selby, Yorkshire Sep 1068]-Château de Lyon-la-Forêt, near Rouen 1 Dec 1135, bur Reading Abbey, Berkshire). Orderic Vitalis names “Rotbertum...et Ricardum, Willermum et Henricum” as the sons of “Willermus Normanniæ dux” and his wife “Mathildem Balduini ducis Flandrensium filiam, neptem...ex sorore Henrici regis Francorum, (Cawley, 2006).

Other Events and Attributes:

• Physical Description: He was described as burly, with a harsh guttural voice, At about 5'10", with excessive corpulence in middle years, exceptional physical strength, and in good health. He had Russet hair, long arms and legs. Said to be of medium height, corpulent, but majes
• Appointments / Titles: Count of Nevers
• Nickname: The Conquerer
• FSID: LRCQ-HCL
• Religion: Catholic
• Appointments / Titles: Between 1035 and 1087; 7th Duke of Normandy
• Appointments / Titles: Between 1066 and 1087; King of England

Notes:

William the Conqueror
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William the Conqueror

William as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry during the Battle of Hastings, lifting his helm to show that he is still alive
King of England
Reign 25 December 1066 – 9 September 1087
Coronation 25 December 1066
Predecessor Edgar the Ætheling (uncrowned) (in reality) Harold Godwinson
Successor William Rufus Duke of Normandy
Reign 3 July 1035 – 9 September 1087
Predecessor Robert the Magnificent
Successor Robert Curthose

Born About 1028
Falaise, Normandy
Died 9 September 1087 (aged about 59)
Priory of Saint Gervase, Rouen, Normandy
Burial Saint-Étienne de Caen, Normandy
Spouse Matilda of Flanders
Issue
Detail Robert Curthose
Richard
William Rufus
Matilda
Cecilia
Henry I of England
Adeliza
Constance
Adela, Countess of Blois
Agatha (existence doubtful)
House Norman dynasty
Father Robert the Magnificent
Mother Herleva of Falaise
William I[a] (c. 1028 – 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard,[b] was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy (as Duke William II) from 1035 onward. After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England six years later. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands and by difficulties with his eldest son.

William was the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy, by Robert's mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and his youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, as did the anarchy that plagued the first years of his rule. During his childhood and adolescence, members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke and for their own ends. In 1047 William was able to quash a rebellion and begin to establish his authority over the duchy, a process that was not complete until about 1060. His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with a powerful ally in the neighboring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointments of his supporters as bishops and abbots in the Norman church. His consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and by 1062 William was able to secure control of the neighboring county of Maine.

In the 1050s and early 1060s William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by the childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, who was named the next king by Edward on the latter's deathbed in January 1066. William argued that Edward had previously promised the throne to him, and that Harold had sworn to support William's claim. William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066, decisively defeating and killing Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066, in London. He made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by 1075 William's hold on England was mostly secure, allowing him to spend the majority of the rest of his reign on the continent.

William's final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey listing all the landholders in England along with their holdings. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen. His reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, but instead continued to administer each part separately. William's lands were divided after his death: Normandy went to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, and his second surviving son, William Rufus, received England.

Contents

[hide]
1 Background
2 Early life
3 Duke of Normandy
3.1 Challenges
3.2 Consolidation of power
3.3 Appearance and character
3.4 Norman administration
4 English and continental concerns
5 Invasion of England
5.1 Harold's preparations
5.2 William's preparations
5.3 Tostig and Hardrada's invasion
5.4 Battle of Hastings
5.5 March on London
6 Consolidation
6.1 First actions
6.2 English resistance
6.3 Church affairs
7 Troubles in England and the continent
7.1 Danish raids and rebellion
7.2 Revolt of the Earls
7.3 Troubles at home and abroad
7.4 Last years
8 William as king
8.1 Changes in England
8.2 Administration
8.3 Domesday Book
9 Death and aftermath
10 Legacy
11 Family and children
12 Notes
13 Citations
14 References
15 External links
Background

Norsemen first began raiding in what became Normandy in the late 8th century. Permanent Scandinavian settlement occurred before 911, when Rollo, one of the Viking leaders, and King Charles the Simple of France reached an agreement surrendering the county of Rouen to Rollo. The lands around Rouen became the core of the later duchy of Normandy. Normandy may have been used as a base when Scandinavian attacks on England were renewed at the end of the 10th century, which would have worsened relations between England and Normandy. In an effort to improve matters, King Æthelred the Unready took Emma of Normandy, sister of Duke Richard II, as his second wife in 1002.

Danish raids on England continued, and Æthelred sought help from Richard, taking refuge in Normandy in 1013 when King Swein I of Denmark drove Æthelred and his family from England. Swein's death in 1014 allowed Æthelred to return home, but Swein's son Cnut contested Æthelred's return. Æthelred died unexpectedly in 1016, and Cnut became king of England. Æthelred and Emma's two sons, Edward and Alfred, went into exile in Normandy while their mother, Emma, became Cnut's second wife.

After Cnut's death in 1035 the English throne fell to Harold Harefoot, his son by his first wife, while Harthacnut, his son by Emma, became king in Denmark. England remained unstable. Alfred returned to England in 1036 to visit his mother and perhaps to challenge Harold as king. One story implicates Earl Godwin of Wessex in Alfred's subsequent death, but others blame Harold. Emma went into exile in Flanders until Harthacnut became king following Harold's death in 1040, and his half-brother Edward followed Harthacnut to England; Edward was proclaimed king after Harthacnut's death in June 1042.[c]

Early life

Château de Falaise in Falaise, Lower Normandy, France; William was born in an earlier building here.
William was born in 1027 or 1028 at Falaise, Normandy, most likely towards the end of 1028.[d] He was the only son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy, son of Richard II, Duke of Normandy.[e] His mother, Herleva, was the daughter of Fulbert of Falaise; Fulbert may have been a tanner or embalmer. She was possibly a member of the ducal household, but did not marry Robert. Instead, she later married Herluin de Conteville, with whom she had two sons – Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain – and a daughter whose name is unknown.[f] One of Herleva's brothers, Walter, became a supporter and protector of William during his minority.[g] Robert also had a daughter, Adelaide of Normandy, by another mistress.

Robert became Duke of Normandy on 6 August 1027, succeeding his elder brother Richard III, who had only succeeded to the title the previous year. Robert and his brother had been at odds over the succession, and Richard's death was sudden. Robert was accused by some writers of killing his brother, a plausible but now unprovable charge. Conditions in Normandy were unsettled, as noble families despoiled the Church and Alan III of Brittany waged war against the duchy, possibly in an attempt to take control. By 1031 Robert had gathered considerable support from noblemen, many of whom would become prominent during William's life. They included Robert's uncle, Robert the archbishop of Rouen, who had originally opposed the duke, Osbern, a nephew of Gunnor the wife of Duke Richard I, and Count Gilbert of Brionne, a grandson of Richard I. After his accession, Robert continued Norman support for the English princes Edward and Alfred, who were still in exile in northern France.

There are indications that Robert may have been briefly betrothed to a daughter of King Cnut, but no marriage took place. It is unclear if William would have been supplanted in the ducal succession if Robert had had a legitimate son. Earlier dukes had been illegitimate, and William's association with his father on ducal charters appears to indicate that William was considered Robert's most likely heir. In 1034 Duke Robert decided to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Although some of his supporters tried to dissuade him from undertaking the journey, Robert convened a council in January 1035 and had the assembled Norman magnates swear fealty to William as his heir before leaving for Jerusalem. He died in early July at Nicea, on his way back to Normandy.

Duke of Normandy

Challenges

Diagram showing William's family relationships. Names with "---" under them were opponents of William, and names with "+++" were supporters of William. Some relatives switched sides over time, and are marked with both symbols.
William faced several challenges on becoming duke, including his illegitimate birth and his youth: the evidence indicates that he was either seven or eight years old at the time.[16][17][h] He enjoyed the support of his great-uncle, Archbishop Robert, as well as the king of France, Henry I, enabling him to succeed to his father's duchy.[20] The support given to the exiled English princes in their attempt to return to England in 1036 shows that the new duke's guardians were attempting to continue his father's policies, but Archbishop Robert's death in March 1037 removed one of William's main supporters, and conditions in Normandy quickly descended into chaos.[20]

The anarchy in the duchy lasted until 1047,[21] and control of the young duke was one of the priorities of those contending for power. At first, Alan of Brittany had custody of the duke, but when Alan died in either late 1039 or October 1040, Gilbert of Brionne took charge of William. Gilbert was killed within months, and another guardian, Turchetil, was also killed around the time of Gilbert's death.[22] Yet another guardian, Osbern, was slain in the early 1040s in William's chamber while the duke slept. It was said that Walter, William's maternal uncle, was occasionally forced to hide the young duke in the houses of peasants,[23] although this story may be an embellishment by Orderic Vitalis. The historian Eleanor Searle speculates that William was raised with the three cousins who later became important in his career – William fitzOsbern, Roger de Beaumont, and Roger of Montgomery.[24] Although many of the Norman nobles engaged in their own private wars and feuds during William's minority, the viscounts still acknowledged the ducal government, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy was supportive of William.[25]

Column at the site of the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes
King Henry continued to support the young duke,[26] but in late 1046 opponents of William came together in a rebellion centred in lower Normandy, led by Guy of Burgundy with support from Nigel, Viscount of the Cotentin, and Ranulf, Viscount of the Bessin. According to stories that may have legendary elements, an attempt was made to seize William at Valognes, but he escaped under cover of darkness, seeking refuge with King Henry.[27] In early 1047 Henry and William returned to Normandy and were victorious at the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes near Caen, although few details of the actual fighting are recorded.[28] William of Poitiers claimed that the battle was won mainly through William's efforts, but earlier accounts claim that King Henry's men and leadership also played an important part. William assumed power in Normandy, and shortly after the battle promulgated the Truce of God throughout his duchy, in an effort to limit warfare and violence by restricting the days of the year on which fighting was permitted.[29] Although the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes marked a turning point in William's control of the duchy, it was not the end of his struggle to gain the upper hand over the nobility. The period from 1047 to 1054 saw almost continuous warfare, with lesser crises continuing until 1060.[30]

Consolidation of power

William's next efforts were against Guy of Burgundy, who retreated to his castle at Brionne, which William besieged. After a long effort, the duke succeeded in exiling Guy in 1050.[31] To address the growing power of the Count of Anjou, Geoffrey Martel,[32] William joined with King Henry in a campaign against him, the last known cooperation between the two. They succeeded in capturing an Angevin fortress, but accomplished little else.[33] Geoffrey attempted to expand his authority into the county of Maine, especially after the death of Hugh IV of Maine in 1051. Central to the control of Maine were the holdings of the Bellême family, who held Bellême on the border of Maine and Normandy, as well as the fortresses at Alençon and Domfort. Bellême's overlord was the king of France, but Domfort was under the overlordship of Geoffrey Martel and Duke William was Alençon's overlord. The Bellême family, whose lands were quite strategically placed between their three different overlords, were able to play each of them against the other and secure virtual independence for themselves.[32]

Image from the Bayeux Tapestry showing William with his half-brothers. William is in the centre, Odo is on the left with empty hands, and Robert is on the right with a sword in his hand.
On the death of Hugh of Maine, Geoffrey Martel occupied Maine in a move contested by William and King Henry; eventually they succeeded in driving Geoffrey from the county, and in the process, William was able to secure the Bellême family strongholds at Alençon and Domfort for himself. He was thus able to assert his overlordship over the Bellême family and compel them to act consistently in Norman interests.[34] But in 1052 the king and Geoffrey Martel made common cause against William at the same time as some Norman nobles began to contest William's increasing power. Henry's about-face was probably motivated by a desire to retain dominance over Normandy, which was now threatened by William's growing mastery of his duchy.[35] William was engaged in military actions against his own nobles throughout 1053,[36] as well as with the new Archbishop of Rouen, Mauger.[37] In February 1054 the king and the Norman rebels launched a double invasion of the duchy. Henry led the main thrust through the county of Évreux, while the other wing, under the French king's brother Odo, invaded eastern Normandy.[38]

William met the invasion by dividing his forces into two groups. The first, which he led, faced Henry. The second, which included some who became William's firm supporters, such as Robert, Count of Eu, Walter Giffard, Roger of Mortemer, and William de Warenne, faced the other invading force. This second force defeated the invaders at the Battle of Mortemer. In addition to ending both invasions, the battle allowed the duke's ecclesiastical supporters to depose Mauger from the archbishopric of Rouen. Mortemer thus marked another turning point in William's growing control of the duchy,[39] although his conflict with the French king and the Count of Anjou continued until 1060.[40] Henry and Geoffrey led another invasion of Normandy in 1057 but were defeated by William at the Battle of Varaville. This was the last invasion of Normandy during William's lifetime.[41] In 1058, William invaded the County of Dreux and took Tillières-sur-Avre and Thimert. Henry attempted to dislodge William, but the Siege of Thimert dragged on for two years until Henry's death.[41] The deaths of Count Geoffrey and the king in 1060 cemented the shift in the balance of power towards William.[41]

The signatures of William I and Matilda are the first two large crosses on the Accord of Winchester from 1072.
One factor in William's favour was his marriage to Matilda of Flanders, the daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders. The union was arranged in 1049, but Pope Leo IX forbade the marriage at the Council of Rheims in October 1049.[i] The marriage nevertheless went ahead some time in the early 1050s,[43][j] possibly unsanctioned by the pope. According to a late source not generally considered to be reliable, papal sanction was not secured until 1059, but as papal-Norman relations in the 1050s were generally good, and Norman clergy were able to visit Rome in 1050 without incident, it was probably secured earlier.[45] Papal sanction of the marriage appears to have required the founding of two monasteries in Caen – one by William and one by Matilda.[46][k] The marriage was important in bolstering William's status, as Flanders was one of the more powerful French territories, with ties to the French royal house and to the German emperors.[45] Contemporary writers considered the marriage, which produced four sons and five or six daughters, to be a success.[48]

Appearance and character

No authentic portrait of William has been found; the contemporary depictions of him on the Bayeux Tapestry and on his seals and coins are conventional representations designed to assert his authority.[49] There are some written descriptions of a burly and robust appearance, with a guttural voice. He enjoyed excellent health until old age, although he became quite fat in later life.[50] He was strong enough to draw bows that others were unable to pull and had great stamina.[49] Geoffrey Martel described him as without equal as a fighter and as a horseman.[51] Examination of William's femur, the only bone to survive when the rest of his remains were destroyed, showed he was approximately 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) in height.[49]

There are records of two tutors for the young duke during the late 1030s and early 1040s, but the extent of William's literary education is unclear. He was not known as a patron of authors, and there is little evidence that he sponsored scholarship or other intellectual activities. Orderic Vitalis records that William tried to learn to read Old English late in life, but he was unable to devote sufficient time to the effort and quickly gave up.[52] William's main hobby appears to have been hunting. His marriage to Matilda appears to have been quite affectionate, and there are no signs that he was unfaithful to her – unusual in a medieval monarch. Medieval writers criticised William for his greed and cruelty, but his personal piety was universally praised by contemporaries.

Norman administration

Norman government under William was similar to the government that had existed under earlier dukes. It was a fairly simple administrative system, built around the ducal household,[53] which consisted of a group of officers including stewards, butlers, and marshalls.[54] The duke travelled constantly around the duchy, confirming charters and collecting revenues.[55] Most of the income came from the ducal lands, as well as from tolls and a few taxes. This income was collected by the chamber, one of the household departments.[54]

William cultivated close relations with the church in his duchy. He took part in church councils and made several appointments to the Norman episcopate, including the appointment of Maurilius as Archbishop of Rouen.[56] Another important appointment was that of William's half-brother Odo as Bishop of Bayeux in either 1049 or 1050. He also relied on the clergy for advice, including Lanfranc, a non-Norman who rose to become one of William's prominent ecclesiastical advisors in the late 1040s and remained so throughout the 1050s and 1060s. William gave generously to the church;[56] from 1035 to 1066, the Norman aristocracy founded at least 20 new monastic houses, including William's two monasteries in Caen, a remarkable expansion of religious life in the duchy.[57]

English and continental concerns

Family relationships of the claimants to the English throne in 1066, and others involved in the struggle. Kings of England are shown in bold.
In 1051 the childless King Edward of England appears to have chosen William as his successor to the English throne.[58] William was the grandson of Edward's maternal uncle, Richard II, Duke of Normandy.[58] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in the "D" version, states that William visited England in the later part of 1051, perhaps to secure confirmation of the succession,[59] or perhaps William was attempting to secure aid for his troubles in Normandy.[60] The trip is unlikely given William's absorption in warfare with Anjou at the time. Whatever Edward's wishes, it was likely that any claim by William would be opposed by Godwin, the Earl of Wessex, a member of the most powerful family in England.[59] Edward had married Edith, Godwin's daughter, in 1043, and Godwin appears to have been one of the main supporters of Edward's claim to the throne.[61] By 1050, however, relations between the king and the earl had soured, culminating in a crisis in 1051 that led to the exile of Godwin and his family from England. It was during this exile that Edward offered the throne to William.[62] Godwin returned from exile in 1052 with armed forces, and a settlement was reached between the king and the earl, restoring the earl and his family to their lands and replacing Robert of Jumièges, a Norman whom Edward had named Archbishop of Canterbury, with Stigand, the Bishop of Winchester.[63] No English source mentions a supposed embassy by Archbishop Robert to William conveying the promise of the succession, and the two Norman sources that mention it, William of Jumièges and William of Poitiers, are not precise in their chronology of when this visit took place.[60]

Count Herbert II of Maine died in 1062, and William, who had betrothed his eldest son Robert to Herbert's sister Margaret, claimed the county through his son. Local nobles resisted the claim, but William invaded and by 1064 had secured control of the area.[64] William appointed a Norman to the bishopric of Le Mans in 1065. He also allowed his son Robert Curthose to do homage to the new Count of Anjou, Geoffrey the Bearded.[65] William's western border was thus secured, but his border with Brittany remained insecure. In 1064 William invaded Brittany in a campaign that remains obscure in its details. Its effect, though, was to destabilise Brittany, forcing the duke, Conan II, to focus on internal problems rather than on expansion. Conan's death in 1066 further secured William's borders in Normandy. William also benefited from his campaign in Brittany by securing the support of some Breton nobles who went on to support the invasion of England in 1066.[66]

Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry whose text indicates William supplying weapons to Harold during Harold's trip to the continent in 1064
In England, Earl Godwin died in 1053 and his sons were increasing in power: Harold succeeded to his father's earldom, and another son, Tostig, became Earl of Northumbria. Other sons were granted earldoms later: Gyrth as Earl of East Anglia in 1057 and Leofwine as Earl of Kent some time between 1055 and 1057.[67] Some sources claim that Harold took part in William's Breton campaign of 1064 and that Harold swore to uphold William's claim to the English throne at the end of the campaign,[65] but no English source reports this trip, and it is unclear if it actually occurred. It may have been Norman propaganda designed to discredit Harold, who had emerged as the main contender to succeed King Edward.[68] Meanwhile, another contender for the throne had emerged – Edward the Exile, son of Edmund Ironside and a grandson of Æthelred II, returned to England in 1057, and although he died shortly after his return, he brought with him his family, which included two daughters, Margaret and Christina, and a son, Edgar the Ætheling.[69][l]

In 1065 Northumbria revolted against Tostig, and the rebels chose Morcar, the younger brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia, as earl in place of Tostig. Harold, perhaps to secure the support of Edwin and Morcar in his bid for the throne, supported the rebels and persuaded King Edward to replace Tostig with Morcar. Tostig went into exile in Flanders, along with his wife Judith, who was the daughter of Count Baldwin IV of Flanders. Edward was ailing, and he died on 5 January 1066. It is unclear what exactly happened at Edward's deathbed. One story, deriving from the Vita Edwardi, a biography of Edward, claims that Edward was attended by his wife Edith, Harold, Archbishop Stigand, and Robert FitzWimarc, and that the king named Harold as his successor. The Norman sources do not dispute the fact that Harold was named as the next king, but they declare that Harold's oath and Edward's earlier promise of the throne could not be changed on Edward's deathbed. Later English sources stated that Harold had been elected as king by the clergy and magnates of England.[71]

Invasion of England

Harold's preparations

Locations of some of the events in 1066
Harold was crowned on 6 January 1066 in Edward's new Norman-style Westminster Abbey, although some controversy surrounds who performed the ceremony. English sources claim that Ealdred, the Archbishop of York, performed the ceremony, while Norman sources state that the coronation was performed by Stigand, who was considered a non-canonical archbishop by the papacy.[72] Harold's claim to the throne was not entirely secure, however, as there were other claimants, perhaps including his exiled brother Tostig.[73][m] King Harald Hardrada of Norway also had a claim to the throne as the uncle and heir of King Magnus I, who had made a pact with Harthacnut in about 1040 that if either Magnus or Harthacnut died without heirs, the other would succeed.[77] The last claimant was William of Normandy, against whose anticipated invasion King Harold Godwinson made most of his preparations.[73]

Harold's brother Tostig made probing attacks along the southern coast of England in May 1066, landing at the Isle of Wight using a fleet supplied by Baldwin of Flanders. Tostig appears to have received little local support, and further raids into Lincolnshire and near the River Humber met with no more success, so he retreated to Scotland, where he remained for a time.[73] According to the Norman writer William of Jumièges, William had meanwhile sent an embassy to King Harold Godwinson to remind Harold of his oath to support William's claim, although whether this embassy actually occurred is unclear. Harold assembled an army and a fleet to repel William's anticipated invasion force, deploying troops and ships along the English Channel for most of the summer.[73]

William's preparations

Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry showing Normans preparing for the invasion of England
William of Poitiers describes a council called by Duke William, in which the writer gives an account of a great debate that took place between William's nobles and supporters over whether to risk an invasion of England. Although some sort of formal assembly probably was held, it is unlikely that any debate took place, as the duke had by then established control over his nobles, and most of those assembled would have been anxious to secure their share of the rewards from the conquest of England.[78] William of Poitiers also relates that the duke obtained the consent of Pope Alexander II for the invasion, along with a papal banner. The chronicler also claimed that the duke secured the support of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and King Sweyn II of Denmark. Henry was still a minor, however, and Sweyn was more likely to support Harold, who could then help Sweyn against the Norwegian king, so these claims should be treated with caution. Although Alexander did give papal approval to the conquest after it succeeded, no other source claims papal support prior to the invasion.[n][79] Events after the invasion, which included the penance William performed and statements by later popes, do lend circumstantial support to the claim of papal approval. To deal with Norman affairs, William put the government of Normandy into the hands of his wife for the duration of the invasion.

Throughout the summer, William assembled an army and an invasion fleet in Normandy. Although William of Jumièges's claim that the ducal fleet numbered 3,000 ships is clearly an exaggeration, it was probably large and mostly built from scratch. Although William of Poitiers and William of Jumièges disagree about where the fleet was built – Poitiers states it was constructed at the mouth of the River Dives, while Jumièges states it was built at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme – both agree that it eventually sailed from Valery-sur-Somme. The fleet carried an invasion force that included, in addition to troops from William's own territories of Normandy and Maine, large numbers of mercenaries, allies, and volunteers from Brittany, northeastern France, and Flanders, together with smaller numbers from other parts of Europe. Although the army and fleet were ready by early August, adverse winds kept the ships in Normandy until late September. There were probably other reasons for William's delay, including intelligence reports from England revealing that Harold's forces were deployed along the coast. William would have preferred to delay the invasion until he could make an unopposed landing.[79] Harold kept his forces on alert throughout the summer, but with the arrival of the harvest season he disbanded his army on 8 September.[80]

Tostig and Hardrada's invasion

Modern day site of the Battle of Stamford Bridge
Harold's brother Tostig and Harald Hardrada invaded Northumbria in September 1066 and defeated the local forces under Morcar and Edwin at the Battle of Fulford near York. King Harold received word of their invasion and marched north, defeating the invaders and killing Tostig and Hardrada on 25 September at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.[77] The Norman fleet finally set sail two days later, landing in England at Pevensey Bay on 28 September. William then moved to Hastings, a few miles to the east, where he built a castle as a base of operations. From there, he ravaged the interior and waited for Harold's return from the north, refusing to venture far from the sea, his line of communication with Normandy.[80]

Battle of Hastings

After defeating Harald Hardrada and Tostig, Harold left much of his army in the north, including Morcar and Edwin, and marched the rest south to deal with the threatened Norman invasion.[80] He probably learned of William's landing while he was travelling south. Harold stopped in London, and was there for about a week before marching to Hastings, so it is likely that he spent about a week on his march south, averaging about 27 miles (43 kilometres) per day,[81] for the distance of approximately 200 miles (320 kilometres).[82] Although Harold attempted to surprise the Normans, William's scouts reported the English arrival to the duke. The exact events preceding the battle are obscure, with contradictory accounts in the sources, but all agree that William led his army from his castle and advanced towards the enemy.[83] Harold had taken a defensive position at the top of Senlac Hill (present-day Battle, East Sussex), about 6 miles (9.7 kilometres) from William's castle at Hastings.[84]

Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings.
The battle began at about 9 am on 14 October and lasted all day, but while a broad outline is known, the exact events are obscured by contradictory accounts in the sources.[85] Although the numbers on each side were about equal, William had both cavalry and infantry, including many archers, while Harold had only foot soldiers and few, if any, archers.[86] The English soldiers formed up as a shield wall along the ridge and were at first so effective that William's army was thrown back with heavy casualties. Some of William's Breton troops panicked and fled, and some of the English troops appear to have pursued the fleeing Bretons until they themselves were attacked and destroyed by Norman cavalry. During the Bretons' flight, rumours swept through the Norman forces that the duke had been killed, but William succeeded in rallying his troops. Two further Norman retreats were feigned, to once again draw the English into pursuit and expose them to repeated attacks by the Norman cavalry.[87] The available sources are more confused about events in the afternoon, but it appears that the decisive event was Harold's death, about which differing stories are told. William of Jumièges claimed that Harold was killed by the duke. The Bayeux Tapestry has been claimed to show Harold's death by an arrow to the eye, but that may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform to 12th-century stories in which Harold was slain by an arrow wound to the head.[88]

Harold's body was identified the day after the battle, either through his armour or marks on his body. The English dead, who included some of Harold's brothers and his housecarls, were left on the battlefield. Gytha, Harold's mother, offered the victorious duke the weight of her son's body in gold for its custody, but her offer was refused.[o] William ordered that Harold's body was to be thrown into the sea, but whether that took place is unclear. Waltham Abbey, which had been founded by Harold, later claimed that his body had been secretly buried there.[92]

March on London

William may have hoped the English would surrender following his victory, but they did not. Instead, some of the English clergy and magnates nominated Edgar the Ætheling as king, though their support for Edgar was only lukewarm. After waiting a short while, William secured Dover, parts of Kent, and Canterbury, while also sending a force to capture Winchester, where the royal treasury was.[93] These captures secured William's rear areas and also his line of retreat to Normandy, if that was needed. William then marched to Southwark, across the Thames from London, which he reached in late November. Next he led his forces around the south and west of London, burning along the way. He finally crossed the Thames at Wallingford in early December. Archbishop Stigand submitted to William there, and when the duke moved on to Berkhamsted soon afterwards, Edgar the Ætheling, Morcar, Edwin, and Archbishop Ealdred also submitted. William then sent forces into London to construct a castle; he was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.[93]

Consolidation

First actions

William remained in England after his coronation and tried to reconcile the native magnates. The remaining earls – Edwin (of Mercia), Morcar (of Northumbria), and Waltheof (of Northampton) – were confirmed in their lands and titles.[94] Waltheof was married to William's niece Judith, daughter of Adelaide,[95] and a marriage between Edwin and one of William's daughters was proposed. Edgar the Ætheling also appears to have been given lands. Ecclesiastical offices continued to be held by the same bishops as before the invasion, including the uncanonical Stigand.[94] But the families of Harold and his brothers did lose their lands, as did some others who had fought against William at Hastings.[96] By March, William was secure enough to return to Normandy, but he took with him Stigand, Morcar, Edwin, Edgar, and Waltheof. He left his half-brother Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux, in charge of England along with another influential supporter, William fitzOsbern, the son of his former guardian.[94] Both men were also named to earldoms – fitzOsbern to Hereford (or Wessex) and Odo to Kent. Although he put two Normans in overall charge, he retained many of the native English sheriffs.[96] Once in Normandy the new English king went to Rouen and the Abbey of Fecamp,[94] and then attended the consecration of new churches at two Norman monasteries.

While William was in Normandy, a former ally, Eustace, the Count of Boulogne, invaded at Dover but was repulsed. English resistance had also begun, with Eadric the Wild attacking Hereford and revolts at Exeter, where Harold's mother Gytha was a focus of resistance.[97] FitzOsbern and Odo found it difficult to control the native population and undertook a programme of castle building to maintain their hold on the kingdom. William returned to England in December 1067 and marched on Exeter, which he besieged. The town held out for 18 days, and after it fell to William he built a castle to secure his control. Harold's sons were meanwhile raiding the southwest of England from a base in Ireland. Their forces landed near Bristol but were defeated by Eadnoth. By Easter, William was at Winchester, where he was soon joined by his wife Matilda, who was crowned in May 1068.[97]

English resistance

The remains of Baile Hill, the second motte-and-bailey castle built by William in York
In 1068 Edwin and Morcar revolted, supported by Gospatric. The chronicler Orderic Vitalis states that Edwin's reason for revolting was that the proposed marriage between himself and one of William's daughters had not taken place, but other reasons probably included the increasing power of William fitzOsbern in Herefordshire, which affected Edwin's power within his own earldom. The king marched through Edwin's lands and built a castle at Warwick. Edwin and Morcar submitted, but William continued on to York, building castles at York and Nottingham before returning south. On his southbound journey, the king began constructing castles at Lincoln, Huntingdon, and Cambridge. William placed supporters in charge of these new fortifications – among them William Peverel at Nottingham and Henry de Beaumont at Warwick. Then the king returned to Normandy late in 1068.[97]

Early in 1069, Edgar the Ætheling rose in revolt and attacked York. Although William returned to York and built another castle, Edgar remained free, and in the autumn he joined up with King Sweyn of Denmark.[p] The Danish king had brought a large fleet to England and attacked not only York, but Exeter and Shrewsbury. York was captured by the combined forces of Edgar and Sweyn. Edgar was proclaimed king by his supporters, but William responded swiftly, ignoring a continental revolt in Maine. William symbolically wore his crown in the ruins of York on Christmas Day 1069, and then proceeded to buy off the Danes. He marched to the River Tees, ravaging the countryside as he went. Edgar, having lost much of his support, fled to Scotland,[98] where King Malcolm III was married to Edgar's sister Margaret.[99] Waltheof, who had joined the revolt, submitted, along with Gospatric, and both were allowed to retain their lands. But William was not finished; he marched over the Pennines during the winter and defeated the remaining rebels at Shrewsbury before building castles at Chester and Stafford. This campaign, which included the burning and destruction of part of the countryside that the royal forces marched through, is usually known as the "Harrying of the North"; it was over by April 1070, when William wore his crown ceremonially for Easter at Winchester.[98]

Church affairs

While at Winchester in 1070, William met with three papal legates – John Minutus, Peter, and Ermenfrid of Sion – who had been sent by Pope Alexander. The legates ceremonially crowned William during the Easter court.[100] The historian David Bates sees this coronation as the ceremonial papal "seal of approval" for William's conquest. The legates and the king then proceeded to hold a series of ecclesiastical councils dedicated to reforming and reorganising the English church. Stigand and his brother, Æthelmær, the Bishop of Elmham, were deposed from their bishoprics. Some of the native abbots were also deposed, both at the council held near Easter and at a further one near Whitsun. The Whitsun council saw the appointment of Lanfranc as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas of Bayeux as the new Archbishop of York, to replace Ealdred, who had died in September 1069.[100] William's half-brother Odo perhaps expected to be appointed to Canterbury, but William probably did not wish to give that much power to a family member.[q] Another reason for the appointment may have been pressure from the papacy to appoint Lanfranc.[101] Norman clergy were appointed to replace the deposed bishops and abbots, and at the end of the process, only two native English bishops remained in office, along with several continental prelates appointed by Edward the Confessor.[100] In 1070 William also founded Battle Abbey, a new monastery at the site of the Battle of Hastings, partly as a penance for the deaths in the battle and partly as a memorial to those dead.

Troubles in England and the continent

Danish raids and rebellion

Although Sweyn had promised to leave England, he returned in spring 1070, raiding along the Humber and East Anglia toward the Isle of Ely, where he joined up with Hereward the Wake, a local thegn. Hereward's forces attacked Peterborough Abbey, which they captured and looted. William was able to secure the departure of Sweyn and his fleet in 1070,[102] allowing him to return to the continent to deal with troubles in Maine, where the town of Le Mans had revolted in 1069. Another concern was the death of Count Baldwin VI of Flanders in July 1070, which led to a succession crisis as his widow, Richilde, was ruling for their two young sons, Arnulf and Baldwin. Her rule, however, was contested by Robert, Baldwin's brother. Richilde proposed marriage to William fitzOsbern, who was in Normandy, and fitzOsbern accepted. But after he was killed in February 1071 at the Battle of Cassel, Robert became count. He was opposed to King William's power on the continent, thus the Battle of Cassel upset the balance of power in northern France in addition to costing William an important supporter.[103]

In 1071 William defeated the last rebellion of the north. Earl Edwin was betrayed by his own men and killed, while William built a causeway to subdue the Isle of Ely, where Hereward the Wake and Morcar were hiding. Hereward escaped, but Morcar was captured, deprived of his earldom, and imprisoned. In 1072 William invaded Scotland, defeating Malcolm, who had recently invaded the north of England. William and Malcolm agreed to peace by signing the Treaty of Abernethy, and Malcolm probably gave up his son Duncan as a hostage for the peace. Perhaps another stipulation of the treaty was the expulsion of Edgar the Ætheling from Malcolm's court.[104] William then turned his attention to the continent, returning to Normandy in early 1073 to deal with the invasion of Maine by Fulk le Rechin, the Count of Anjou. With a swift campaign, William seized Le Mans from Fulk's forces, completing the campaign by 30 March 1073. This made William's power more secure in northern France, but the new count of Flanders accepted Edgar the Ætheling into his court. Robert also married his half-sister Bertha to the king of France, Philip I, who was opposed to Norman power.[105]

William returned to England to release his army from service in 1073 but quickly returned to Normandy, where he spent all of 1074.[106] He left England in the hands of his supporters, including Richard fitzGilbert and William de Warenne,[107] as well as Lanfranc.[108] William's ability to leave England for an entire year was a sign that he felt that his control of the kingdom was secure.[107] While William was in Normandy, Edgar the Ætheling returned to Scotland from Flanders. The French king, seeking a focus for those opposed to William's power, then proposed that Edgar be given the castle of Montreuil-sur-Mer on the Channel, which would have given Edgar a strategic advantage against William.[109] Edgar was forced to submit to William shortly thereafter, however, and he returned to William's court.[106][r] Philip, although thwarted in this attempt, turned his attentions to Brittany, leading to a revolt in 1075.[109]

Revolt of the Earls

Norwich Castle. The keep dates to after the Revolt of the Earls, but the castle mound is earlier.[110]
In 1075, during William's absence, Ralph de Gael, the Earl of Norfolk, and Roger de Breteuil, the Earl of Hereford, conspired to overthrow William in the "Revolt of the Earls".[108] Ralph was at least part Breton and had spent most of his life prior to 1066 in Brittany, where he still had lands.[111] Roger was a Norman, son of William fitzOsbern, but had inherited less authority than his father held.[112] Ralph's authority seems also to have been less than his predecessors in the earldom, and this was likely the cause of the revolt.[111]

The exact reason for the rebellion is unclear, but it was launched at the wedding of Ralph to a relative of Roger, held at Exning in Suffolk. Another earl, Waltheof, although one of William's favourites, was also involved, and there were some Breton lords who were ready to rebel in support of Ralph and Roger. Ralph also requested Danish aid. William remained in Normandy while his men in England subdued the revolt. Roger was unable to leave his stronghold in Herefordshire because of efforts by Wulfstan, the Bishop of Worcester, and Æthelwig, the Abbot of Evesham. Ralph was bottled up in Norwich Castle by the combined efforts of Odo of Bayeux, Geoffrey de Montbray, Richard fitzGilbert, and William de Warenne. Ralph eventually left Norwich in the control of his wife and left England, finally ending up in Brittany. Norwich was besieged and surrendered, with the garrison allowed to go to Brittany. Meanwhile, the Danish king's brother, Cnut, had finally arrived in England with a fleet of 200 ships, but he was too late as Norwich had already surrendered. The Danes then raided along the coast before returning home.[108] William returned to England later in 1075 to deal with the Danish threat, leaving his wife Matilda in charge of Normandy. He celebrated Christmas at Winchester and dealt with the aftermath of the rebellion.[113] Roger and Waltheof were kept in prison, where Waltheof was executed in May 1076. Before this, William had returned to the continent, where Ralph had continued the rebellion from Brittany.[108]

Troubles at home and abroad

Earl Ralph had secured control of the castle at Dol, and in September 1076 William advanced into Brittany and laid siege to the castle. King Philip of France later relieved the siege and defeated William at Dol, forcing him to retreat back to Normandy. Although this was William's first defeat in battle, it did little to change things. An Angevin attack on Maine was defeated in late 1076 or 1077, with Count Fulk le Rechin wounded in the unsuccessful attack. More serious was the retirement of Simon de Crépy, the Count of Amiens, to a monastery. Before he became a monk, Simon handed his county of the Vexin over to King Philip. The Vexin was a buffer state between Normandy and the lands of the French king, and Simon had been a supporter of William.[s] William was able to make peace with Philip in 1077 and secured a truce with Count Fulk in late 1077 or early 1078.[114]

In late 1077 or early 1078 trouble began between William and his eldest son, Robert. Although Orderic Vitalis describes it as starting with a quarrel between Robert and his two younger brothers, William and Henry, including a story that the quarrel was started when William and Henry threw water at Robert, it is much more likely that Robert was feeling powerless. Orderic relates that he had previously demanded control of Maine and Normandy and had been rebuffed. The trouble in 1077 or 1078 resulted in Robert leaving Normandy accompanied by a band of young men, many of them the sons of William's supporters. Included among them was Robert of Belleme, William de Breteuil, and Roger, the son of Richard fitzGilbert. This band of young men went to the castle at Remalard, where they proceeded to raid into Normandy. The raiders were supported by many of William's continental enemies.[115] William immediately attacked the rebels and drove them from Remalard, but King Philip gave them the castle at Gerberoi, where they were joined by new supporters. William then laid siege to Gerberoi in January 1079. After three weeks, the besieged forces sallied from the castle and managed to take the besiegers by surprise. William was unhorsed by Robert and was only saved from death by an Englishman. William's forces were forced to lift the siege, and the king returned to Rouen. By 12 April 1080, William and Robert had reached an accommodation, with William once more affirming that Robert would receive Normandy when he died.[116]

Map showing William's lands in 1087 (the light pink areas were controlled by William).
Word of William's defeat at Gerberoi stirred up difficulties in northern England. In August and September 1079 King Malcolm of Scots raided south of the River Tweed, devastating the land between the River Tees and the Tweed in a raid that lasted almost a month. The lack of Norman response appears to have caused the Northumbrians to grow restive, and in the spring of 1080 they rebelled against the rule of Walcher, the Bishop of Durham and Earl of Northumbria. The bishop was killed on 14 May 1080, and William dispatched his half-brother Odo to deal with the rebellion.[117] William departed Normandy in July 1080,[118] and in the autumn William's son Robert was sent on a campaign against the Scots. Robert raided into Lothian and forced Malcolm to agree to terms, building a fortification at Newcastle-on-Tyne while returning to England.[117] The king was at Gloucester for Christmas 1080 and at Winchester for Whitsun in 1081, ceremonially wearing his crown on both occasions. A papal embassy arrived in England during this period, asking that William do fealty for England to the papacy, a request that William rejected.[118] William also visited Wales during 1081, although the English and the Welsh sources differ on the exact purpose of the visit. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that it was a military campaign, but Welsh sources record it as a pilgrimage to St Davids in honour of Saint David. William's biographer David Bates argues that the former explanation is more likely, explaining that the balance of power had recently shifted in Wales and that William would have wished to take advantage of the changed circumstances to extend Norman power. By the end of 1081, William was back on the continent, dealing with disturbances in Maine. Although he led an expedition into Maine, the result was instead a negotiated settlement arranged by a papal legate.[119]

Last years

Sources for William's actions between 1082 and 1084 are meagre. According to the historian David Bates, this probably means that little happened of note, and that because William was on the continent, there was nothing for the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to record.[120] In 1082 William ordered the arrest of his half-brother Odo. The exact reasons are unclear, as no contemporary author recorded what caused the quarrel between the half-brothers. Orderic Vitalis later recorded that Odo had aspirations to become pope. Orderic also related that Odo had attempted to persuade some of William's vassals to join Odo on an invasion of southern Italy. This would have been considered tampering with the king's authority over his vassals, which William would not have tolerated. Although Odo remained in confinement for the rest of William's reign, his lands were not confiscated. More difficulties struck in 1083, when William's eldest son Robert rebelled once more with support from the French king. A further blow was the death of Matilda, William's wife, on 2 November 1083. William was always described as close to his wife, and her death would have added to his problems.[121]

Maine continued to be difficult, with a rebellion by Hubert de Beaumont-au-Maine, probably in 1084. Hubert was besieged in his castle at Sainte-Suzanne by William's forces for at least two years, but he eventually made his peace with the king and was restored to favour. William's movements during 1084 and 1085 are unclear – he was in Normandy at Easter 1084 but may have been in England before then to collect the danegeld assessed that year for the defence of England against an invasion by King Cnut IV of Denmark. Although English and Norman forces remained on alert throughout 1085 and into 1086, the invasion threat was ended by Cnut's death in July 1086.[122]

William as king

Changes in England

The White Tower in London, begun by William[123]
As part of his efforts to secure England, William ordered many castles, keeps, and mottes built – among them the central keep of the Tower of London, the White Tower. These fortifications allowed Normans to retreat into safety when threatened with rebellion and allowed garrisons to be protected while they occupied the countryside. The early castles were simple earth and timber constructions, later replaced with stone structures.[124]

At first, most of the newly settled Normans kept household knights and did not settle their retainers with fiefs of their own, but gradually these household knights came to be granted lands of their own, a process known as subinfeudation. William also required his newly created magnates to contribute fixed quotas of knights towards not only military campaigns but also castle garrisons. This method of organising the military forces was a departure from the pre-Conquest English practice of basing military service on territorial units such as the hide.[125]

By William's death, after weathering a series of rebellions, most of the native Anglo-Saxon aristocracy had been replaced by Norman and other continental magnates. Not all of the Normans who accompanied William in the initial conquest acquired large amounts of land in England. Some appear to have been reluctant to take up lands in a kingdom that did not always appear pacified. Although some of the newly rich Normans in England came from William's close family or from the upper Norman nobility, others were from relatively humble backgrounds.[126] William granted some lands to his continental followers from the holdings of one or more specific Englishmen; at other times, he granted a compact grouping of lands previously held by many different Englishmen to one Norman follower, often to allow for the consolidation of lands around a strategically placed castle.[127]

The medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury says that the king also seized and depopulated many miles of land (36 parishes), turning it into the royal New Forest region to support his enthusiastic enjoyment of hunting. Modern historians have come to the conclusion that the New Forest depopulation was greatly exaggerated. Most of the lands of the New Forest are poor agricultural lands, and archaeological and geographic studies have shown that the New Forest was likely sparsely settled when it was turned into a royal forest.[128] William was known for his love of hunting, and he introduced the forest law into areas of the country, regulating who could hunt and what could be hunted.[129]

Administration

English coin of William the Conqueror
After 1066, William did not attempt to integrate his separate domains into one unified realm with one set of laws. His seal from after 1066, of which six impressions still survive, was made for him after he conquered England and stressed his role as king, while separately mentioning his role as Duke.[t] When in Normandy, William acknowledged that he owed fealty to the French king, but in England no such acknowledgement was made – further evidence that the various parts of William's lands were considered separate. The administrative machinery of Normandy, England, and Maine continued to exist separate from the other lands, with each one retaining its own forms. For example, England continued the use of writs, which were not known on the continent. Also, the charters and documents produced for the government in Normandy differed in formulas from those produced in England.[130]

William took over an English government that was more complex than the Norman system. England was divided into shires or counties, which were further divided into either hundreds or wapentakes. Each shire was administered by a royal official called a sheriff, who roughly had the same status as a Norman viscount. A sheriff was responsible for royal justice and collecting royal revenue.[54] To oversee his expanded domain, William was forced to travel even more than he had as duke. He crossed back and forth between the continent and England at least 19 times between 1067 and his death. William spent most of his time in England between the Battle of Hastings and 1072, and after that he spent the majority of his time in Normandy.[131][u] Government was still centred on William's household; when he was in one part of his realms, decisions would be made for other parts of his domains and transmitted through a communication system that made use of letters and other documents. William also appointed deputies who could make decisions while he was absent, especially if the absence was expected to be lengthy. Usually this was a member of William's close family – frequently his half-brother Odo or his wife Matilda. Sometimes deputies were appointed to deal with specific issues.[132]

William continued the collection of danegeld, a land tax. This was an advantage for William, as it was the only universal tax collected by western European rulers during this period. It was an annual tax based on the value of landholdings, and it could be collected at differing rates. Most years saw the rate of two shillings per hide, but in crises, it could be increased to as much as six shillings per hide.[133] Coinage between the various parts of his domains continued to be minted in different cycles and styles. English coins were generally of high silver content, with high artistic standards, and were required to be re-minted every three years. Norman coins had a much lower silver content, were often of poor artistic quality, and were rarely re-minted. Also, in England no other coinage was allowed, while on the continent other coinage was considered legal tender. Nor is there evidence that many English pennies were circulating in Normandy, which shows little attempt to integrate the monetary systems of England and Normandy.[130]

Besides taxation, William's large landholdings throughout England strengthened his rule. As King Edward's heir, he controlled all of the former royal lands. He also retained control of much of the lands of Harold and his family, which made the king the largest secular landowner in England by a wide margin.[v]

Domesday Book

A page from Domesday Book for Warwickshire
At Christmas 1085, William ordered the compilation of a survey of the landholdings held by himself and by his vassals throughout the kingdom, organised by counties. It resulted in a work now known as the Domesday Book. The listing for each county gives the holdings of each landholder, grouped by owners. The listings describe the holding, who owned the land before the Conquest, its value, what the tax assessment was, and usually the number of peasants, ploughs, and any other resources the holding had. Towns were listed separately. All the English counties south of the River Tees and River Ribble are included, and the whole work seems to have been mostly completed by 1 August 1086, when the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that William received the results and that all the chief magnates swore the Salisbury Oath, a renewal of their oaths of allegiance.[135] William's exact motivation in ordering the survey is unclear, but it probably had several purposes, such as making a record of feudal obligations and justifying increased taxation.

Death and aftermath

William left England towards the end of 1086. Following his arrival back on the continent he married his daughter Constance to Alan Fergant, the Duke of Brittany, in furtherance of his policy of seeking allies against the French kings. William's son Robert, still allied with the French king Philip I, appears to have been active in stirring up trouble, enough so that William led an expedition against the French Vexin in July 1087. While seizing Mantes, William either fell ill or was injured by the pommel of his saddle.[136] He was taken to the priory of Saint Gervase at Rouen, where he died on 9 September 1087. Knowledge of the events preceding his death is confused because there are two different accounts. Orderic Vitalis preserves a lengthy account, complete with speeches made by many of the principals, but this is likely more of an account of how a king should die than of what actually happened. The other, the De Obitu Willelmi, or On the Death of William, has been shown to be a copy of two 9th-century accounts with names changed.[136]

William's grave at Abbaye-aux-Hommes, Caen
William left Normandy to Robert, and the custody of England was given to William's second surviving son, also called William, on the assumption that he would become king. The youngest son, Henry, received money. After entrusting England to his second son, the elder William sent the younger William back to England on 7 or 8 September, bearing a letter to Lanfranc ordering the archbishop to aid the new king. Other bequests included gifts to the Church and money to be distributed to the poor. William also ordered that all of his prisoners be released, including his half-brother Odo.[136]

Disorder followed William's death; everyone who had been at his deathbed left the body at Rouen and hurried off to attend to their own affairs. Eventually, the clergy of Rouen arranged to have the body sent to Caen, where William had desired to be buried in his foundation of the Abbaye-aux-Hommes. The funeral, attended by the bishops and abbots of Normandy as well as his son Henry, was disturbed by the assertion of a citizen of Caen who alleged that his family had been illegally despoiled of the land on which the church was built. After hurried consultations the allegation was shown to be true, and the man was compensated. A further indignity occurred when the corpse was lowered into the tomb. The corpse was too large for the space, and when attendants forced the body into the tomb it burst, spreading a disgusting odour throughout the church.[137]

William's grave is currently marked by a marble slab with a Latin inscription dating from the early 19th century. The tomb has been disturbed several times since 1087, the first time in 1522 when the grave was opened on orders from the papacy. The intact body was restored to the tomb at that time, but in 1562, during the French Wars of Religion, the grave was reopened and the bones scattered and lost, with the exception of one thigh bone. This lone relic was reburied in 1642 with a new marker, which was replaced 100 years later with a more elaborate monument. This tomb was again destroyed during the French Revolution, but was eventually replaced with the current marker.[138][w]

Legacy

The immediate consequence of William's death was a war between his sons Robert and William over control of England and Normandy. Even after the younger William's death in 1100 and the succession of his youngest brother Henry as king, Normandy and England remained contested between the brothers until Robert's capture by Henry at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106. The difficulties over the succession led to a loss of authority in Normandy, with the aristocracy regaining much of the power they had lost to the elder William. His sons also lost much of their control over Maine, which revolted in 1089 and managed to remain mostly free of Norman influence thereafter.[140]

The impact on England of William's conquest was profound; changes in the Church, aristocracy, culture, and language of the country have persisted into modern times. The Conquest brought the kingdom into closer contact with France and forged ties between France and England that lasted throughout the Middle Ages. Another consequence of William's invasion was the sundering of the formerly close ties between England and Scandinavia. William's government blended elements of the English and Norman systems into a new one that laid the foundations of the later medieval English kingdom.[141] How abrupt and far-reaching were the changes is still a matter of debate among historians, with some such as Richard Southern claiming that the Conquest was the single most radical change in European history between the Fall of Rome and the 20th century. Others, such as H. G. Richardson and G. O. Sayles, see the changes brought about by the Conquest as much less radical than Southern suggests.[142] The historian Eleanor Searle describes William's invasion as "a plan that no ruler but a Scandinavian would have considered".[143]

William's reign has caused historical controversy since before his death. William of Poitiers wrote glowingly of William's reign and its benefits, but the obituary notice for William in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle condemns William in harsh terms.[142] In the years since the Conquest, politicians and other leaders have used William and the events of his reign to illustrate political events throughout English history. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, Archbishop Matthew Parker saw the Conquest as having corrupted a purer English Church, which Parker attempted to restore. During the 17th and 18th centuries some historians and lawyers saw William's reign as imposing a "Norman yoke" on the native Anglo-Saxons, an argument that continued during the 19th century with further elaborations along nationalistic lines. These various controversies have led to William being seen by some historians either as one of the creators of England's greatness or as inflicting one of the greatest defeats in English history. Others have viewed William as an enemy of the English constitution, or alternatively as its creator.[144]

Family and children

William and his wife Matilda of Flanders had at least nine children.[48] The birth order of the boys is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters.

Robert was born between 1051 and 1054, died 10 February 1134.[48] Duke of Normandy, married Sybilla of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey, Count of Conversano.[145]
Richard was born before 1056, died around 1075.[48]
William was born between 1056 and 1060, died 2 August 1100.[48] King of England, killed in the New Forest.[146]
Henry was born in late 1068, died 1 December 1135.[48] King of England, married Edith of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. His second wife was Adeliza of Louvain.[147]
Adeliza (or Adelida,[148] Adelaide[147]) died before 1113, reportedly betrothed to Harold II of England, probably a nun of Saint Léger at Préaux.[148]
Cecilia (or Cecily) was born before 1066, died 1127, Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen.[48]
Matilda[148] was born around 1061, died perhaps about 1086.[147] Mentioned in Domesday Book as a daughter of William.[48]
Constance died 1090, married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of Brittany.[48]
Adela died 1137, married Stephen, Count of Blois.[48]
(Possibly) Agatha, the betrothed of Alfonso VI of León and Castile.[x]
There is no evidence of any illegitimate children born to William.[152]

Notes

Old Norman: Williame I; Old English: Willelm I
He was regularly described as bastardus (bastard) in non-Norman contemporary sources.
Although the chronicler William of Poitiers claimed that Edward's succession was due to Duke William's efforts, this is highly unlikely, as William was at that time practically powerless in his own duchy.
The exact date of William's birth is confused by contradictory statements by the Norman chroniclers. Orderic Vitalis has William on his deathbed claim that he was 64 years old, which would place his birth around 1023. But elsewhere, Orderic states that William was 8 years old when he father left for Jerusalem in 1035, placing the year of birth in 1027. William of Malmesbury gives an age of 7 for William when his father left, giving 1028. Another source, De Obitu Willelmi, states that William was 59 years old when he died in 1087, allowing for either 1028 or 1029.
This made Emma of Normandy his great-aunt and Edward the Confessor his cousin.
This daughter later married William, lord of La Ferté-Macé.
Walter had two daughters. One became a nun, and the other, Matilda, married Ralph Tesson.
How illegitimacy was viewed by the church and lay society was undergoing a change during this period. The Church, under the influence of the Gregorian reform, held the view that the sin of extramarital sex tainted any offspring that resulted, but nobles had not totally embraced the Church's viewpoint during William's lifetime.[18] By 1135 the illegitimate birth of Robert of Gloucester, son of William's son Henry I of England, was enough to bar Robert's succession as king when Henry died without legitimate male heirs, even though he had some support from the English nobles.[19]
The reasons for the prohibition are not clear. There is no record of the reason from the Council, and the main evidence is from Orderic Vitalis. He hinted obliquely that William and Matilda were too closely related, but gave no details, hence the matter remains obscure.[42]
The exact date of the marriage is unknown, but it was probably in 1051 or 1052, and certainly before the end of 1053, as Matilda is named as William's wife in a charter dated in the later part of that year.[44]
The two monasteries are the Abbaye-aux-Hommes (or St Étienne) for men which was founded by William in about 1059, and the Abbaye aux Dames (or Sainte Trinité) for women which was founded by Matilda around four years later.[47]
Ætheling means "prince of the royal house" and usually denoted a son or brother of a ruling king.[70]
Edgar the Ætheling was another claimant,[74] but Edgar was young,[75] likely only 14 in 1066.[76]
The Bayeux Tapestry may depict a papal banner carried by William's forces, but this is not named as such in the tapestry.[79]
William of Malmesbury states that William did accept Gytha's offer, but William of Poitiers states that William refused the offer.[89] Modern biographers of Harold agree that William refused the offer.[90][91]
Medieval chroniclers frequently referred to 11th-century events only by the season, making more precise dating impossible.
The historian Frank Barlow points out that William had suffered from his uncle Mauger's ambitions while young and thus would not have countenanced creating another such situation.[101]
Edgar remained at William's court until 1086 when he went to the Norman principality in southern Italy.[106]
Although Simon was a supporter of William, the Vexin was actually under the overlordship of King Philip, which is why Philip secured control of the county when Simon became a monk.[114]
The seal shows a mounted knight and is the first extant example of an equestrian seal.[130]
Between 1066 and 1072, William spent only 15 months in Normandy and the rest in England. After returning to Normandy in 1072, William spent around 130 months in Normandy as against about 40 months in England.[131]
In Domesday Book, the king's lands were worth four times as much as the lands of his half-brother Odo, the next largest landowner, and seven times as much as Roger of Montgomery, the third-largest landowner.[134]
The thigh bone currently in the tomb is assumed to be the one that was reburied in 1642, but the Victorian historian E. A. Freeman was of the opinion that the bone had been lost in 1793.[139]
William of Poitiers relates that two brothers, Iberian kings, were competitors for the hand of a daughter of William, which led to a dispute between them.[149] Some historians have identified these as Sancho II of Castile and his brother García II of Galicia, and the bride as Sancho's documented wife Alberta, who bears a non-Iberian name.[150] The anonymous vita of Count Simon of Crépy instead makes the competitors Alfonso VI of León and Robert Guiscard, while William of Malmesbury and Orderic Vitalis both show a daughter of William to have been betrothed to Alfonso "king of Galicia" but to have died before the marriage. In his Historia Ecclesiastica, Orderic specifically names her as Agatha, "former fiancee of Harold".[149][150] This conflicts with Orderic's own earlier additions to the Gesta Normannorum Ducum, where he instead named Harold's fiance as William's daughter, Adelidis.[148] Recent accounts of the complex marital history of Alfonso VI have accepted that he was betrothed to a daughter of William named Agatha,[149][150][151] while Douglas dismisses Agatha as a confused reference to known daughter Adeliza.[48] Elisabeth van Houts is non-committal, being open to the possibility that Adeliza was engaged before becoming a nun, but also accepting that Agatha may have been a distinct daughter of William.[148]

Bet. 07 Jan 1087-06 Jan 1088 in Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France; Interred at the Abbey of Saint-Étienne. Unfortunately William"s original tombstone of black marble, the same kind as Matilda"s in the Abbaye aux Dames, was destroyed by the Calvinist iconoclasts in the 16th century and his bones scattered.

William married of Flanders, Matilda. Matilda (daughter of of Flanders, Count Baldwin V and de France, Adele) was born on 24 Nov 1031 in Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium; was christened after 24 Nov 1031 in Holy Trinity Abbey, Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France; died on 2 Nov 1083 in Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France; was buried after 2 Nov 1083 in Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Appointments / Titles: Countess of Flanders
• Appointments / Titles: Queen of England
• FSID: LCZK-V68
• Religion: Roman Catholic
• Appointments / Titles: Between 31 Dec 1066 and 8 Nov 1083; Queen Consort of England

Notes:

Matilda of Flanders (French: Mathilde de Flandre; Dutch: Mathilda van Vlaanderen) (c. 1031 – 2 November 1083) was the wife of William the Conqueror and, as such, Queen of England. She bore William nine or ten children who survived to adulthood, including two kings, William II and Henry I.

As a niece and granddaughter of kings of France, Matilda was of grander birth than William, who was illegitimate, and, according to some suspiciously romantic tales, she initially refused his proposal on this account. Her descent from the Anglo-Saxon royal House of Wessex was also to become a useful card. She was about 20 when they married in 1051/2. William was some three years older, and had been Duke of Normandy since he was about eight.

Matilda was about 35, and had already given birth to most of her children, when William embarked on the Norman conquest of England, sailing in his flagship Mora, which Matilda had given him. She governed the Duchy of Normandy in his absence, joining him in England only after more than a year, and subsequently returning to Normandy, where she spent most of the remainder of her life, while William was mostly in his new kingdom. She was about 51 when she died in Normandy in 1083.

Apart from governing Normandy and supporting her brother's interests in Flanders, Matilda took a close interest in the education of her children, who were unusually well educated for contemporary royalty. The boys were tutored by the Italian Lanfranc, who was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070, while the girls learned Latin in Sainte-Trinité Abbey in Caen, founded by William and Matilda as part of the papal dispensation allowing their marriage.

Matilda, or Maud, was the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders and Adèle of France, herself daughter of Robert II of France.

Like many royal marriages of the period, it breached the rules of consanguinity, then at their most restrictive. A papal dispensation was finally awarded in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II. Lanfranc, at the time prior of Bec Abbey, negotiated the arrangement in Rome and it came only after William and Matilda agreed to found two churches as penance.

Matilda and William had four sons and at least five daughters. The birth order of the boys is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters.

Sons
- Robert, born between 1051–1054, died 10 February 1134. Duke of Normandy, married Sybil of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey of Conversano.
- Richard, born c. 1054, died around 1075.
- William Rufus, born between 1056 and 1060, died 2 August 1100. King of England, killed in the New Forest.
- Henry, born late 1068, died 1 December 1135. King of England, married Edith of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. His second wife was Adeliza of Louvain.

Daughters
- Agatha, betrothed to Harold II of England, Alfonso VI of Castile, and possibly Herbert I, Count of Maine, but died unmarried.
- Adeliza (or Adelida, Adelaide), died before 1113, reportedly betrothed to Harold II of England, probably a nun of St Léger at Préaux.
- Cecilia (or Cecily), born c. 1056, died 1127. Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen.
- Matilda, "daughter of the King", born around 1061, may have died about 1086, (but to Trevor Foulds's suggestion, she may have been identical to Matilda d'Aincourt).
- Constance, died 1090, married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of Brittany.
- Adela, died 1137, married Stephen, Count of Blois. Mother of King Stephen of England.

There is no evidence of any illegitimate children born to William.

William was furious when he discovered she sent large sums of money to their exiled son Robert. She effected a truce between them at Easter 1080.

(See "Stories" under the Memories tag, or visit Wikipedia for additional information.)