Henry I

1100 - 1135

aka Beauclerc

Henry was crowned King on 5th August 1100. This was not an event that Henry’s elder brothers had envisaged. Upon the death of their father, William the Conqueror, Robert and William, had fought over their legacies. Robert was Duke of Normandy and William King of England. Eventually they came to a peaceful solution. When William went off to fight in the first Crusade, Robert became care-taker in his absence. In the event of William’s death, they agreed that Robert would rule England permanently. They didn’t imagine that Henry would upset this plan. When William died in a hunting accident in the New Forest, Henry rode to Winchester Cathedral to take control of the treasury. From there he rode to claim the crown while Robert was still in Normandy and William’s lifeless body lay where it fell in the forest.

A year later, in 1101, Robert of Normandy attempted to take the throne from his brother Henry - he looked to the English barons for support for his invasion. Instead, the Anglo-saxons remained loyal to Henry. On becoming King, Henry had promised less punishments to his subjects and never to impose heavy taxes on them. In this way, through the institution of the Charter of Liberties, he was seen to be righting some of the injustices of the past. Life at Court under the previous King, Wllliam Rufus, had been flamboyant, irreverent and funded by his subjects. Henry’s noblemen were clean-shaven, short-haired and God fearing.

Without popular support, Robert’s invasion foundered. Instead he and Henry reached an agreement and signed the Treaty of Alton. In return for Henry relinquishing some of his land in Normandy, Henry was to remain the undisputed King of England. The peace didn’t last. Five years later, Henry took control of Normandy. Robert was blinded and imprisoned in Cardiff castle until he died almost 30 years later.

While Henry was generally regarded as a strong and intelligent ruler he was also capable of extreme cruelty. When false coins were issued, Henry ordered that all ninety-four suspects be mutilated, regardless of their innocence. His revenge could be terrible. He pushed a man to his death from the ramparts of Rouen castle for informing on his brother. Despite Henry’s animosity towards Robert, he didn’t appreciate treachery. Thankfully, he replaced maiming and inflicting pain with imposing fines as his love of money grew.

He married Edith (Eadgyth) who was a descendant of Alfred the Great and therefore Anglo-Saxon. It gained Henry even more popularity with his subjects. Edith and Henry’s alliance was increasingly reflected in the general population. Norman (French) words became integrated with the Anglo-Saxon (English) language. Henry fathered at least twenty eight children, but only two with his wife. His son and heir William drowned at sea when The White Ship hit a rock and sank. This is said to have broken Henry’s spirit and cast a shadow over the rest of his life. He took another wife, Adela of Louvain, after Matilda’s death but fathered no more heirs to the throne. Eventually he took the unusual step of naming his daughter, Matilda, as his successor. He was successful in gaining the support of the court for this decision.

Unusually for the time, Henry could read and write. He may well have been taught Latin during his childhood. This earned him the nickname of Beauclerc, or good scholar in English.

Henry I Factfile