Henry (Normandie) of England (1068 - 1135)

Born 1068 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Eadgith (Dunkeld) of Scotland — married 11 Nov 1100 (to 1 May 1118) in Westminster Abbey, Westminster, Middlesex, England

Husband of Adeliza (Brabant) of Louvain — married 29 Jan 1121 in Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England

Descendants

Died 1 Dec 1135 at about age 67 in Eure, Normandy, France

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Biography

Birth

Henry I, King of the English, was the youngest son of William, Duke of Normandy and King of the English - "the Conqueror" - and his wife Matilda, daughter of Baudouin Count of Flanders. ^{[1] [2]} He was born some time in 1068, the only son born in England after his father's 1066 conquest of the kingdom, although the exact date and place are not known. Local tradition has claimed Selby in Yorkshire as his birthplace, but no evidence supports this claim. Rather than being given a traditional Norman name, he was named after his maternal grandfather, Henri I, King of the Franks. ^{[3] [4]}

As the youngest son, Henry was not originally expected to inherit his father's domains, and it is possible that at one time he might have been intended for the church, for which his education would have fitted him. Contemporary accounts, (such as William of Malmsbury ^[5]) record him as being educated in Latin and the liberal arts. Later historians called him "Beauclerc" - well-educated - but there is no evidence that he was known by this name during his lifetime. Instead, on 24 May 1086, at age eighteen, he was knighted at Winchester in England by his father, suggesting that any thoughts of a church career had been superseded. ^[6]

Henry's surviving brothers, Robert Curthose (b. c. 1052) and William Rufus (b. c. 1058) were considerably older, and quarrelsome - in particular Robert, who more than once rebelled against his father and unhorsed him in battle in 1079. In 1087, Robert was again in arms against his father, allied with French King Philippe I, when King William was fatally injured on campaign against the French. ^[7] The Conqueror died on 9 September 1087, leaving the duchy of Normandy to Robert and England to William Rufus. Henry received a disappointing bequest of silver coin - variously described as five thousand pounds of silver or three thousand marks. While it was a large sum, it was not land - the real basis of power and honor at that age. ^{[8] [9]}

Henry had indeed been bequeathed land in England - in Gloucestershire and Buckinghamshire - by his mother, who had died in 1083. However, by the time he came of age in 1089, it was in the hands of his brother William Rufus, then king, who refused to turn it over to him. ^[10] In 1088, he used a large part of his silver treasury to purchase the Cotenin region in Normandy from his brother the duke, who wanted the money for an army to invade England and displace William Rufus as king. ^[11] Henry thus acquired the title of count, but in doing so he had placed himself between his two hostile brothers, who were not beyond aligning themselves against him and making him again landless. ^[12]

King of the English

Henry's fortunes changed In 1095, when Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade, exhorting "those, who formerly contended against brothers and relations, (to) rightly fight barbarians;" ^[13] Urban II might well have been referring to the FitzWilliam brothers. Robert Curthose, being again moneyless, mortgaged his dukedom to his brother William Rufus to finance a crusader army. Without the aggravating presence of Robert, Henry joined William's court and was with him in England on 2 August 1100 when the king was shot and killed while hunting.

On the principle of cui bono, Henry has been suspected of assassinating his brother, although there is no proof the death was anything but a hunting accident. ^{[14] [15]} Regardless, William had no son to inherit, the throne of England was empty, and although many of the Norman magnates in England were sworn to Robert (just then on his way back home from the crusade with a new wife and her dowry), Henry was already at hand. By 5 August, he had gathered his supporters, seized the royal treasury, and ridden to Westminster, where he was crowned.^[16] The ceremony was performed in haste by Maurice, Bishop of London, as neither archbishop was available. ^[17]

Following his coronation, he issued a charter, sometimes now known as the Charter of Liberties, promising to "take away the bad customs by which the Kingdom of England was unjustly oppressed" - in particular the church. He also pledged to restore the law of King Edward, i.e., the sainted Saxon king Edward the Confessor. This charter, making the king subject to the law, has been regarded as a precursor to the Magna Carta of the next century. ^{[18] [19]}

Queen and Heirs

Another tie that Henry made with the displaced Saxon dynasty of England was in his marriage to Eadgith, (Edith) daughter of Malcolm, King of the Scots. Her mother was (St) Margaret of the house of Wessex. whose father had been Edward the Ætheling, or heir presumptive, to Edward the Confessor - "of the true royal family of England", according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. ^[20] By the time of his marriage on 11 November 1100, Henry was over thirty years of age and already the father of several illegitimate children. It is likely that he had postponed any marriage until he was in a position to make a favorable alliance such as he now did - a reigning king to the daughter of a king.

Edith and her younger sister had been sent by their mother to be raised in a convent, "to protect her from the lust of the Normans." ^[21] This threatened her marriage prospects, as a suspected professed nun, but Archbishop Anselm ruled otherwise. At some point, she took the ubiquitous Norman name Matilda. The marriage produced two children: ^[1]

Matilda - b. February 1102; m. (1) 1114 Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (2) 1128 Geoffrey d'Anjou; d. 1167.

William - b. c. August 1103, known as Adelin, a Norman variation of the Saxon Atheling; m. 1119 Isabella d'Anjou (Alice, Matilda), daughter of Fulk V, Count of Anjou; d. 25 November 1125 in the wreck of the White Ship off Barfleur.

Henry and the Church

Henry did not wait to be crowned by Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, as was customary, because Anselm was then overseas in exile as the result of a quarrel with William Rufus. Henry wrote immediately to Anselm explaining his need for haste and inviting his return. Relations between king and prelate were generally supportive, although marred by the persistent Investiture Controversy part of the wider dispute between the Papacy and secular rulers over the authority of the Pope and the reforms of Pope Gregory VII. Eventually, by the time Anselm died in 1109, Henry was forced to concede most of his claims of supremacy over the church, although the bishops of England were required to swear homage for their temporal possessions.

At that time, bishops and abbots were feudal magnates with armed retainers, and in 1101, when Robert Curthose invaded England to seize its throne from his brother Henry, Anselm was the king's strongest supporter. The chronicler Eadmer wrote that Anselm camped out in the field with his own knights, and, if not for the archbishop, "King Henry would at that time have lost the English throne." ^[22] Henry later took the side of Anselm in his argument for the primacy of Canterbury over the archbishopric of York.

Except when it involved the supremacy of the throne over the church, Henry favored reform. In 1102 at Westminster he called a council that condemned such practices as simony and clerical marriage; a number of abbots were deposed at that time for corruption. ^[23] Eventually new bishops and abbots were consecrated. Later in his life, following the death of his son and heir and influenced by the pious example of his first queen, Henry generously supported reformed religious institutions, religious houses for women, and in 1121 founded Reading Abbey, where he would be buried. ^[24]

Dukedom of Normandy

Although Robert Curthose made a half-hearted attempt to oppose Henry's seizure of power in England, Henry's reign there was not seriously threatened after the 1101 treaty of Alton, when Robert renounced any claim to England and recognized Henry as king .^[25] In doing so, Robert revealed himself as weak and vulnerable to attack. Many of the powerful men in Normandy had supported Robert because of his weakness, as a stronger duke might curb their aggressive activities. But by 1104, having consolidated his power and expelled his enemies from England, Henry was building up support among the magnates of Normandy, making alliances by means of his marriageable illegitimate daughters ^{[26] [27]} and finally, in 1105, giving up his dispute with Anselm, who had threatened to excommunicate him. ^[28] Henry chose the battle he could win, because few Christian knights would follow an excommunicated king.

After two indecisive years of warfare, Henry crossed the channel again in 1106. On 28 September, at the siege of Tinchebray, Duke Robert decided to take the field himself, and Henry won a decisive victory, taking his brother prisoner. ^[29] Duke Robert would remain a prisoner in England for the next 27 years, until his death in 1134. Some reports claimed that Robert was blinded after an attempted escape - this was not uncommon at the time - but Green says these reports were not contemporary and might have confused Robert with another prisoner. ^[30]

Although Henry was able to style himself as Duke of the Normans from 1106, his realm was not at peace. His brother Robert's son, known as William Clito, (from the Greek "kleito" , i.e. "celebrated"), whom Henry had spared as a child, served as a locus of discontent and rebellion within the duchy until his own death in 1128. ^[31] The neighboring rulers, notably the newly-crowned Louis IV of France and Fulk V of Anjou, began aggressive moves against his territory, with Louis supporting William Clito's claim to the dukedom of Normandy. Henry bid for the support of Anjou in 1113 by betrothing his legitimate son and heir, William Adelin, to Fulk's daughter Matilda (Isabella),^{[32] [33]} but the peace it produced did not last, as supporters of WIlliam Clito renewed their activity and rebellion spread throughout Normandy, including members of Henry's own family. In 1119, Henry once again sought peace by renewing the betrothal of his son William Adelin with Fulk's daughter, and the marriage took place in June. ^[34]

Henry's felicity was short-lived. His beloved wife Matilda had died in 1118, while he was too beset by rebellion in Normandy to return for her burial in Westminster Abbey. On 25 November 1120, while Henry's court was embarking for England, his heir William Adelin drowned after his overloaded vessel, the White Ship, manned by a drunken crew, was wrecked on a rock outside Barfleur. Not only William, but his half-sister Matilda Countess of Perche, and half-brother Richard of Lincoln, were among the victims. ^[35]

Succession Crisis

Henry suddenly found himself with his nephew and enemy William Clito as his apparent heir. William Adelin had been the king's only legitimate son, and he died without issue. His only legitimate daughter, Matilda, wife of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, had no issue with him. Henry remarried on 29 January 1121 in hopes of engendering another legitimate son, but his second wife, Adeliza of Louvain, produced no issue with him. ^[1]

Then unexpectedly the Empress Matilda was left a widow after the death of Emperor Henry V in May 1125, and her father summoned her to return to Normandy. Matilda was his last chance for an heir, if he failed to produce one with his second wife. ^[36] On 1 January 1127, at Westminster, Henry had all the magnates of England take an oath to acknowledge Matilda if he died without any other heir. The terms of the oath were not clear - whether Matilda would take the throne of England, or take England and Normandy, whether a husband would rule in her stead or whether her right would be superseded by a son. On 17 June 1128, Matilda unwillingly married Geoffrey of Anjou, underage son of Henry's longterm enemy Fulk V. A month later came the news that William Clito, then Count of Flanders, had died. ^[37]

Henry would have been wrong to suppose that his succession problems were now over. The marriage between the Empress and Geoffrey of Anjou broke down in 1129, soon after it began - perhaps because Geoffrey came to suspect - correctly - that he was not intended to succeed Henry as king and duke.^[38] However, the couple were reconciled by September 1131, at which time Henry insisted on summoning his council to take another oath of fealty to Matilda (and not her husband).^{[39] [40]} The reconciliation took, as by 5 March 1133, her heir Henry (Henry II) was born, quickly followed by a second son Geoffrey in June 1134. (A third son William was born in 1136, after his grandfather's death.) ^[41] There was probably another oath of fealty given at this time. However, the reconciled couple then began to make common cause against Henry, who refused to transfer to them the Norman castles that had been nominally given in Matida's dowry and refused to take an oath confirming Geoffrey's place in the succession. ^{[42] [43]}

Henry died after falling ill on 25 November 1135. Before taking his final breath on 1 December, he orally bequeathed his domains to his daughter. But before his body could arrive at his burial place in England, his nephew Stephen of Blois, following Henry's own example, had already, on 22 December, had himself crowned King of the English. ^[44]

Burial

The chroniclers of that time were wont to embellish such events as the death of a great king. It is not necessary to believe their tales of prophetic dreams and a "surfeit of lampreys". Henry was 68 years of age. He apparently lingered long enough to make a number of deathbed pronouncements, including the matter of the succession, but also concerning the state of his soul and the place of his burial, which he wished to be at Reading Abbey in England.

Henry I Memorial - Reading Abbey

The king's entrails were removed and buried at Notre-Dame-du-Pré and his body embalmed for the journey to England, which was too long delayed by the weather for the process to be effective. When in January the body was finally shipped to England, King Stephen met the cortege and carried the bier on his own shoulders to the abbey, where it was buried before the high altar. ^[45] Henry's queen Adeliza chose to be buried there after her own death in 1151. ^[46]

Aftermath

When King Henry died . . . the peace and harmony of the kingdom were buried with him. - Gesta Stephani. ^[47]

Illegitimate Children

Henry I had a large number of acknowledged illegitimate children, possibly as many as 24 - probably more than any other English monarch - ^[48] with an unknown number of women, many unidentified. ^[49] These children could be valuable assets for a king - the sons as loyal lieutenants, "likely to support rather than challenge the succession of a legitimate heir"; the daughters as prospects for marriage alliances to strengthen his borders.

Complete Peerage 2nd ed. has a special appendix by G H White about the subject.^[50] Other lists of Henry's children include: ^{[51] [52] [53]} These sources are not all in agreement with one another, but a consensus list can be compiled that includes the best-attested of the royal offspring.

Documented Sons

• Robert FitzRoy, or Robert of Caen, later Earl of Gloucester. The strongest supporter of the Empress Matilda during the wars of the Anarchy after Henry's death. m. Mabel, daughter of Robert FitzHamon, Earl of Gloucester; d. 1147.
• Richard FitzRoy, or Richard of Lincoln. Drowned in the White Ship 1120, unmarried.
• Reginald (or Reynald etc) de Dunstanville, later 1st Earl of Cornwall. m. Mabel, daughter of Richard FitzWillam, lord of Cardinham. d. 1175.
• Robert FitzRoy or FitzEdith, named as "Rodberto filio Edæ et Henrici regis notho" and “Robertus Henrici regis filius”. m. Matilda, daughter of Robert d'Avranches, lord of Okehampton. d. after 1172.

Documented Daughters

• Matilda de Perche, m. 1103 Routrou de Perche, Comte du Perche; d. 1120 in wreck of the White Ship
• Juliane (Juliana) de Breteuil, m. 1103 Eustache, lord of Pacy and Breteuil; rebelled against Henry 1119; became nun of Fontevrault Abbey; d. after 1139.
• Sibylla, m. Alexander I, King of Scotland; d. 1122.
• Matilda, abbess of Montvilliers
• Matilda, m. 1113 Conan Duke of Brittany
• Aline (Alice), m. Mathieu de Montmorency, Constable of France
• Isabel, granddaughter of Robert de Beaumont Comte de Meulan, Earl of Leicester and Isabelle de Vermandois, died unmarried
• Constance, m. Roscelin De Beaumont, Vicomte of Beaumont-en-Maine

Possible Children

• Fulk (or Foulques etc), probably died young.
• Henry FitzRoy
• GIlbert FItzRoy
• William de Tracy
• Emma, m. Guy de Laval
•  ? Mabel, m. Guillaume de Gouet
• Adeliza
• Rohese
• Gundred
•  ? m. Fergus Lord of Galloway

Also see illegitimate children in mistresses of Henry I.

Note on Sources

The reign of Henry I was documented by a number of contemporary chroniclers. Notable among these were:

Eadmer, Historia Novorum in Anglia

Henry of Huntington, Historia Anglorum

Orderic VItalis, Historia Ecclesiastica

Robert of Torigini, Chronique

William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regnum Anglorum, Historia Novella

These sources are extensively cited in the recent biographies of C. Warren Hollister and Judith A Green.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England [https://fasg.org/projects/henryproject/data/henry001.htm Henry I
2. ↑ RIchardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry (2013). Vol. I, p. 8.
3. ↑ Hollister, C. Warren (2003). Frost, Amanda Clark (ed.). Henry I. pp. 30-32. New Haven, US and London, UK: Yale University Press.
4. ↑ Green, Judith (2009). Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy. pp. 20-21. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
5. ↑ Hollister, p. 33-34, n. #23.
6. ↑ Hollister, p. 37
7. ↑ Hollister, p. 39.
8. ↑ Hollister, pp. 38-39.
9. ↑ Green, pp. 24-25.
10. ↑ Hollister, p. 40/
11. ↑ Hollister, pp. 49-52.
12. ↑ Green, pp. 28-33.
13. ↑ Winks, Robin W. et. al., A History of Civilization: Prehistory to the Present (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992), p. 239. Crusade
14. ↑ Hollister, pp. 102-105.
15. ↑ Green. pp. 43-50.
16. ↑ Hollister, pp. 103-107.
17. ↑ Hollister, p. 106.
18. ↑ Medieval Sourcebook: Charter of Liberties of Henry I, 1100 Charter
19. ↑ Hollister, pp. 109-112.
20. ↑ Hollister, p. 126.
21. ↑ Green, p. 54.
22. ↑ Hollister, p. 137-138.
23. ↑ Green, p. 72.
24. ↑ Hollister, pp. 434.
25. ↑ Hollister, pp. 140-142.
26. ↑ Green, p. 74.
27. ↑ Hollister pp. 178-184.
28. ↑ Green, p. 85.
29. ↑ Hollister, pp. 199-203.
30. ↑ Green, pp. 215-217.
31. ↑ Hollister, p. 227.
32. ↑ Green, p. 116.
33. ↑ Hollister, pp. 30-233.
34. ↑ Hollister, p. 261.
35. ↑ Hollister, pp. 276-277.
36. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 3: Matilda (1102-1167) by Kate Norgate Matilda
37. ↑ Green, pp. 190-205.
38. ↑ Green, p. 206.
39. ↑ Green, p. 212.
40. ↑ Hollister, p. 463.
41. ↑ Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families, pp. 59-60. London: Vintage Books, 2008.
42. ↑ Hollister, p. 467.
43. ↑ Green, pp. 217-219.
44. ↑ Green, p. 222.
45. ↑ Green, p. 222.
46. ↑ Hollister, p. 440-1.
47. ↑ Cited by Hollister, p. 475. [1]
48. ↑ Hollister, p. 41.
49. ↑ See: Unknown Mistresses of King Henry I of England. [2]
50. ↑ Geoffrey H. White, "Henry I's Illegitimate children", CP 11, Appendix D (pp. 105-121). A recent critique is Kathleen Thompson, "Affairs of State: the illegitimate children of Henry I", Journal of Medieval History 29 (2003): 129-151. Also see "Some corrections and additions to the Complete Peerage: Volume 11: Henry I's Illegitimate Children" at [3]
51. ↑ The Henry Project: The Ancestors of King Henry II of England HenryProject
52. ↑ Medieval Lands Medlands
53. ↑ Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families pp. 49-50. London: Vintage Press, 2008.

See also:

• Royal Tombs of Medieval England M. Duffy 2003 page 22, 51, 52
• Bartlett, R. (2000). "The struggle for succession 1075 - 1225." England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075 - 1225. Oxford: Clarendon Press. eBook. ISBN 0-19-822741-8.
• Stuart, R.W. (1992). Royalty for Commoners, (pp.68). Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co.
• Weis, F.L. (1999). The Magna Charta Sureties 1215, (5th ed pp: 161-9).
• Weis, F.L. (1999). Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, (7th ed, pp: 262-27, 33a-23).
• Wikipedia:Henry I of England