King Henry, I

Other Events:

• House: Norman Dynasty
• Reference Number: 5811
• Reign: Between 2 Aug 1100 and 1 Dec 1135, England; King of England
• Coronation: 5 Aug 1100, England; King of England
• Tenure: Between 1106 and 1 Dec 1135, Normandy, France; Duke of Normandy

Notes:

William II was followed on the throne by his younger brother, Henry. He was crowned three days after his brother's death, against the possibility that his eldest brother Robert might claim the English throne.

After the decisive battle of Tinchebrai in 1106 in France, Henry completed his conquest of Normandy from Robert, who then (unusually even for that time) spent the last 28 years of his life as his brother's prisoner.

An energetic, decisive and occasionally cruel ruler, Henry centralised the administration of England and Normandy in the royal court, using 'viceroys' in Normandy and a group of advisers in England to act on his behalf when he was absent across the Channel.

Henry successfully sought to increase royal revenues, as shown by the official records of his exchequer (the Pipe Roll of 1130, the first exchequer account to survive). He established peaceful relations with Scotland, through his marriage to Mathilda of Scotland.

Henry's name 'Beauclerc' denoted his good education (as the youngest son, his parents possibly expected that he would become a bishop); Henry was probably the first Norman king to be fluent in English.

In 1120, his legitimate sons William and Richard drowned in the White Ship which sank in the English Channel. This posed a succession problem, as Henry never allowed any of his illegitimate children to expect succession to either England or Normandy.

Henry had a legitimate daughter Matilda (widow of Emperor Henry V, subsequently married to the Count of Anjou). However, it was his nephew Stephen (reigned 1135-54), son of William the Conqueror's daughter Adela, who succeeded Henry after his death, allegedly caused by eating too many lampreys (fish) in 1135, as the barons mostly opposed the idea of a female ruler.

Buried:
Age: 68

Died:
Age: 67

King married Sibyl Corbet. Sibyl was born 1075, Warwickshire, England; died 1157, Blaen-y-cwm, Breconshire, Wales. [Group Sheet]

1. Robert Gloucester De Caen was born 1090, Caen, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France; died 31 Oct 1147, Somerset, England.

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 6586
• Reign: Between 3 Jul 1035 and 9 Sep 1087, Normandy, France; Duke of Normandy
• Coronation: 25 Dec 1066, England; King of England
• Reign: Between 25 Dec 1066 and 9 Sep 1087, England; King of England

Notes:

William I (Old Norman: Williame I; c. 1028[1] - 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard,[2][a] was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. The descendant of Viking raiders, he had been Duke of Normandy since 1035 under the style William II. After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England in 1066. 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.

King married Matilda of Flanders. Matilda was born Abt 1031; died 2 Nov 1083; was buried 1083, l'Abbaye aux Dames Caen, Normandy, France. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• House: House of Flanders
• Reference Number: 6587
• Religion: Roman Catholic
• Tenure: Between 25 Dec 1066 and 2 Nov 1083, England; Queen consort of England