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| Henry I A sly and clever King, Henry I may have played a part in his brother's death so that he could take the throne of England for himself |
The story I’m about to tell occurs at the
end of Henry I’s reign up till 1154. Many may wonder why I choose this period
to write about while ignoring the much more famous and significant 1066 Norman
Conquest . Do not fear! I shall write about that
soon if time permits (and if you are willing to read it, of course, as opposed to looking up a wealth of information on it out there already). The reason is that this
war-ridden period in British history has always fascinated me, caused so unexpectedly as it was by a series of luck and coincidence.
Henry I is the fourth and youngest son of
the famous William the Conqueror who established the Norman Dynasty (more
about that later!). His older brothers are Robert, Richard and William. Upon
their father’s death, Robert was granted the Duchy of Normandy, Richard was
already dead at that time (killed in the hunting accident in the New Forest), and
William received England and became William II. Henry was, however, left
landless, with only a handful of money. Some surmise that Henry got the throne
of England by plotting William II’s murder in the New Forest while both of them
were out hunting. William II was indeed killed (by a stray arrow shot by
Henry’s friend), but whether his death was planned remains uncertain
to this day. Indeed, the circumstances of his death are strikingly similar to
that of Richard a few decades earlier, making us wonder at this bizarre twist
of fate.
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| William Adelin, son and heir of Henry I |
Fast forward to 1116, a major rebellion
broke out in Normandy supported by Louis VI of France. Henry and his son
William Adelin defeated the French at the battle of Bremule, after which both
sides reached a peace settlement whereby William Adelin would be officially
invested with the Duchy in 1119.
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| Matilda, a fiery arrogant daughter of Henry I |
It is at this point that I must now
digress and talk a little bit about Henry’s two legitimate children. Under the
law of royal succession, only legitimate children could ascend the throne of
England. Now Henry I had many illegitimate sons and daughters (he took many
mistresses!), but no sons could be more important than William Adelin, whose
mother is Henry’s Queen, Matilda. His other legitimate child is a daughter
named Matilda, whom Henry married to Henry V the Holy Roman Emperor (remember
her as she will definitely become a major and significant character later in
the story). Thus Henry I only had one
legitimate son, on whom all his hope of establishing a secure line of
succession rested. But as you all could have guessed, history always has a
nasty surprise and ways of spicing thing up….
Henry I has been so far lucky. He has the
throne of England. He successfully quelled the rebellion in Normandy. He
defeated the French (always a British pride). His son was now invested with the
Duchy of Normandy. If there is only one thing left to achieve before he could
rest in peace that would be to see his son ready and well established to be the
next English King. However, Henry I will never live to see that day….
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| Henry is said never to smile again after the death of his son William Adelin after the White Ship disaster |
On the evening of 25 November 1120, Henry’s
only legitimate son and heir, the 16-year-old William Adelin and his party went
aboard the White Ship from Barfleur in Normandy bound for England. The
atmosphere was festive. The passengers were drunk. The crew were also
drunk. The helmsman was inattentive. As a result, the ship went straight onto a
large rock hidden just below the waterline (who could have guessed). The
fateful impact sank the ship, bringing down with it the English heir apparent and several other members of the nobility into the deep blue sea (by the way, the coast of
England is just in sight!). The only survivor is a butcher from Rouen. Another
survivor is Henry I’s nephew, Stephen, Count of Blois, who were suffering from
a severe diarrhea and declined to board the White Ship in the last minute (remember him, he
is also extremely important!). You see, fate always has a way of complicating
things, and it is fate which will ultimately dictate the worldly affairs and the course of history.
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| The White Ship |
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| Stephen of Blois, Henry I's nephew and Matilda's cousin |
After Henry’s death, arguably an
unthinkable happened. On learning of the King’s death, Stephen of Blois left
France, rode straight to London, acclaimed King by the people, and claimed the treasury
(yes, the same Stephen who had diarrhea just before he was about to board the White
Ship, and yes, the same Stephen who swore an oath to Matilda in 1127). He
believed in his luck. After all, he is a grandson of William the Conqueror, and
naturally a potential candidate for the English throne in the absence of any
royal heirs. He persuaded many leaders of the Kingdom to join his cause and
was crowned King in Westminster Abbey on 22 December 1135, three weeks after
Henry’s death. The reason for his success indeed stemmed from the unwillingness of
the nobility to be governed by a woman. No woman has ever ruled England as a
Monarch before and Matilda was known to be arrogant and of imperious temperament given she was Empress since 14 and enjoyed absolute royal power since.
What was Matilda then to do? Her throne was snatched from her by a disloyal
cousin. Filled with fiery temperament she inherited from her Norman forebears,
she arrived in England in 1139 with her supporters and troops, and with her arrival, the
beginning of a long struggle between cousins as they fought for the English
throne. The Anarchy has begun.
To be continued in the next blog
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