Normandy to England Ancestry

The Bayeux Tapestry

"An embroidered tapestry over two hundred feet long detailing the story of the Norman Conquest. It was commisoned from Kentish embroiderers in 1067 by Bishop Odo, the Earl of Kent and William the Conqueror's half-brother. The tapestry is displayed in the bishop's palace in Bayeux" (Source: King, p. 34).

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(Thanks to Wikipedia)

Henry, the youngest son of William the Conqueror was an aggressive and engergetic man. His reign was marked by his careful, harsh and methodical personality, and his mastery of the arts of government. He was also a plotter; when his elder brothers quarrelled he changed sides repeatedly, seeking his own advantage and eventually making himself thoroughly distrusted by both. In 1091 Robert and William made a treaty whereby they agreed if either died without leaving an heir, one would be succeeded by the other. The express intent of this treaty was to disinherit their brother.

When Duke Robert mortgaged Normandy and went on Crusade, Henry's chances seemed to improve, but by the summer of 1100 news came that Robert was returning from triumph in Jerusalem. Perhaps William II's death in the New Forest on August 2 was coincidental; it is worth noting, however, that Henry was also hunting in the forest that day. When he heard of his brother's death he quickly rode to Winchester to take possession of the Treasury, and from there to Westminster to be crowned on August 5.

Henry wisely restored the laws of Edward the Confessor and William the Conqueror which had been eroded during his brother's reign. He invited Anselm back to England, married Edith, the sister of King Edgar of Scotland, and pursued a policy of making concessions and granting favours to the English barons. Henry also secured alliances with France and Flanders. By all of this Henry ensured that when hsi brother Robert invaded in November of 1101 he could make little progress. Eventually a treaty was arranged between the bothers.

Over the next few years Henry, like William before him, gradulally expanded his influence in Normandy. In 1106 the issue was settled at the Battle of Tinchebral. Robert was captured and spent the last twenty eight years of his life as Henry's prisoner. The same fate befell other barons who fell into the king's hands.

In secular affairs Henry I was a tough and tenacious king who knew how to keep men loyal. He won few hearts, but his barons looked to him for reward and feared his wrath. The lesson he had taught in 1090 by pushing a man off the top of Rouen Castle for betraying an oath was not lost on his vassals.
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Henry's major accomplishment was developing an efficient civil service, in particular the court of the exchequer. Roger of Salisbury became the model bureaucrat, competent and discreet. He also ensured tha thte law was administered during his reign with strictness, and the mass of his subjects benefited from this.

After 1106 Henry spent much of his reign in France fighting the traditional enemies of Norman dukes. In 1118 he spent the entire year fighting the King of France, the Count of Anjou, and the Count of Flanders. There were many similar years, and England paid for the wars with numerous taxes. By 1119 Henry seemed secure. The king who never risked battle until he had won the diplomatic victory, beat King Louis VI of France at the Battle of Bremule. Angevin friendship was ensured by the marriage of William, his heir and only legitimate son, to the daughter of the Count of Anjou.

Unfortunately for Henry's plans, William drowned in the wreck of the White Ship in November 1120, ensuring that the remaining years of Henry's reign would be dominated by the problem of succession. It is said that Henry never smiled again on being told the news of his son's death. Only a cynic would suggest that his sorrow was more political than parental.

Soon after William's death, Henry married Adelaide of Louvaine (Edith had died in 1118) but no heir was born. The king's only legitimate child was his daughter Matilda, married to the Emperor of Germany. When the Emperor died in 1125, Henry recalled her to England and forced his barons to swear an oath to accept her if he died without a male heir.

To continue the Angevin alliance, Henry arranged a marriage between Matilda and Geoffrey of Anjou, then sixteen. THis marriage, coupled with Matilda's high-handed arrogance, did not please the Norman barons, or Matilda. Henry's stubborn refusal to give up any power to his daughter and her husband during his lifetime resulted in them going to war with him in 1135. Henry died in France on December 1 of that year, of dysentery caused by over-indulging in a feast of lampreys.
(Source: King, p. 9).