Read Divorced, Beheaded, Died: The History of Britain's Kings and Queens in Bite-Sized Chunks for Free Online
Authors: Kevin Flude
state is quite startling and has led to suggestions that he was gay.
However, he was a strong warrior who conquered all whom he faced in battle, although he was more generous and less ruthless than his father. He was able to consolidate the Norman rule over England and to protect and extend the Normandy homelands, which had been given to his older brother, Robert. The two brothers intrigued and fought against each other constantly until 1096, when Robert leased Normandy to William in exchange for money which Robert needed in order to join the First Crusade.
William may have been an excellent king, but he was given an exceedingly bad write-up by the monks who recorded history. This is not surprising, given that throughout his reign he did much to antagonize the Church. He delayed appointing church leaders, so that he could enjoy their incomes, and fought with Rome over whether the King or the Pope had the final say when it came to church appointments. He eventually drove the saintly Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm, into exile.
There has been much speculation about William’s mysterious death, when he was struck by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest. William’s younger brother Henry was a member of the hunting party that day and had much to gain from his brother’s death.
H ENRY I
Reigned 1100–1135
Born in 1068 in Selby, Yorkshire, Henry was the youngest and only English-born son of William the Conqueror. Although his father denied him the kingdom he craved, Henry did inherit his ruthless determination. Neither of his older brothers, Robert and William, trusted him and they agreed that Henry would inherit neither Normandy nor England upon their deaths. However, in 1100, Henry’s opportunity came. Robert was away on the First Crusade when William II was killed in a ‘hunting accident’ in the New Forest. Henry was nearby and abandoned his brother’s corpse to gallop to the capital, Winchester, to secure the treasury and the throne for himself. Three days later, he was crowned.
Henry was clever, educated and a master diplomat. He used his English birth, along with generous gifts and bribes, to gain support from the English, who were still smarting from the Norman Conquest. He married Matilda, who was not only the great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside but also the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland, and their son William was given the Anglo-Saxon title of Atheling. One source gives Henry and Matilda the English nicknames ‘Gaffer Goodrich’ and ‘Goody Maud’. In reality, though, Henry was a Norman through and through.
Within six years of being crowned, Henry had defeated Robert in Normandy and reunited the two dominions. Robert was imprisoned for twenty-six years, eventually dying in Cardiff Castle. He was said to have been blinded after a failed escape attempt.
Much of the rest of his reign was spent protecting Normandy from threats and rebellions, many focusing on Robert’s son, who had been spared the fate of his father. Desperately short of money, Henry developed the English legal system and bureaucracy in order to fund his government, thereby limiting the independence of the rapacious Norman aristocracy. Among the King’s achievements, therefore, are the foundations of the English common law system and the development of a powerful treasury, or Exchequer (the name coming from the chequerboard table Henry used as an abacus when agreeing accounts with his subjects).
Henry had four legitimate children with Matilda, none with his second wife, Adeliza, and an astonishing twenty-five or more illegitimate offspring. But in 1120 hopes for a return to legitimate English rule under the Atheling, William, were dashed when he and his younger brother Richard were drowned in the ‘White Ship’, when it went down off the Normandy coast. They were Henry’s only legitimate sons, so he was forced to appoint his daughter Matilda as his heir. Henry died in 1135 of a ‘surfeit of Lamphreys’ (similar to
However, he was a strong warrior who conquered all whom he faced in battle, although he was more generous and less ruthless than his father. He was able to consolidate the Norman rule over England and to protect and extend the Normandy homelands, which had been given to his older brother, Robert. The two brothers intrigued and fought against each other constantly until 1096, when Robert leased Normandy to William in exchange for money which Robert needed in order to join the First Crusade.
William may have been an excellent king, but he was given an exceedingly bad write-up by the monks who recorded history. This is not surprising, given that throughout his reign he did much to antagonize the Church. He delayed appointing church leaders, so that he could enjoy their incomes, and fought with Rome over whether the King or the Pope had the final say when it came to church appointments. He eventually drove the saintly Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm, into exile.
There has been much speculation about William’s mysterious death, when he was struck by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest. William’s younger brother Henry was a member of the hunting party that day and had much to gain from his brother’s death.
H ENRY I
Reigned 1100–1135
Born in 1068 in Selby, Yorkshire, Henry was the youngest and only English-born son of William the Conqueror. Although his father denied him the kingdom he craved, Henry did inherit his ruthless determination. Neither of his older brothers, Robert and William, trusted him and they agreed that Henry would inherit neither Normandy nor England upon their deaths. However, in 1100, Henry’s opportunity came. Robert was away on the First Crusade when William II was killed in a ‘hunting accident’ in the New Forest. Henry was nearby and abandoned his brother’s corpse to gallop to the capital, Winchester, to secure the treasury and the throne for himself. Three days later, he was crowned.
Henry was clever, educated and a master diplomat. He used his English birth, along with generous gifts and bribes, to gain support from the English, who were still smarting from the Norman Conquest. He married Matilda, who was not only the great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside but also the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland, and their son William was given the Anglo-Saxon title of Atheling. One source gives Henry and Matilda the English nicknames ‘Gaffer Goodrich’ and ‘Goody Maud’. In reality, though, Henry was a Norman through and through.
Within six years of being crowned, Henry had defeated Robert in Normandy and reunited the two dominions. Robert was imprisoned for twenty-six years, eventually dying in Cardiff Castle. He was said to have been blinded after a failed escape attempt.
Much of the rest of his reign was spent protecting Normandy from threats and rebellions, many focusing on Robert’s son, who had been spared the fate of his father. Desperately short of money, Henry developed the English legal system and bureaucracy in order to fund his government, thereby limiting the independence of the rapacious Norman aristocracy. Among the King’s achievements, therefore, are the foundations of the English common law system and the development of a powerful treasury, or Exchequer (the name coming from the chequerboard table Henry used as an abacus when agreeing accounts with his subjects).
Henry had four legitimate children with Matilda, none with his second wife, Adeliza, and an astonishing twenty-five or more illegitimate offspring. But in 1120 hopes for a return to legitimate English rule under the Atheling, William, were dashed when he and his younger brother Richard were drowned in the ‘White Ship’, when it went down off the Normandy coast. They were Henry’s only legitimate sons, so he was forced to appoint his daughter Matilda as his heir. Henry died in 1135 of a ‘surfeit of Lamphreys’ (similar to
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