Henry I - early English king with heaps of children
King Henry I ruled England from 1100 to 1135. Considered an effective but harsh ruler, he had many children, though ultimately no male heir. Memorably, one of his daughters tried to kill him with a crossbow, but his death was actually due to a surfeit of lampreys.
Henry was the fourth and youngest son of William the Conqueror. He was born in 1068 or 1069, after his father had taken the throne of England. His birthpalce was probably Selby in Yorkshire. As the youngest son, he was almost certainly expected to become a Bishop and was given rather more extensive schooling than was usual for a young nobleman of that time. His ability to read was considered notable by contemporary chroniclers, and he was the first Norman ruler to be fluent in the English language.
The young Henry moved a little closer to the throne in about 1075 when his father's second son, Richard, died in a hunting accident in the New Forest. Contemporary accounts suggest the three remaining sons did not get on well.
William the Conqueror died in 1087, leaving Normandy to his eldest son Robert and England to his son William Rufus. Henry was left landless.
Conveniently for any ambitions Henry may have had for the throne, King William Rufus did not marry or have children. Even more conveniently, he died in another hunting accident in the New Forest in 1100 in somewhat murky circumstances. Henry was present at the scene and left his brother lying on the ground to rush off to Winchester to seize the treasury. He then raced to London to get himself crowned before his eldest brother Robert heard the news whilst away on crusade.
Henry I married Matilda of Scotland and they had two surviving children, Matilda and William. Matilda was the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland (the man who had killed Macbeth and taken the Scottish throne). She was descended from Alfred the Great, and well educated - making her an astute choice for Henry I.
Henry also had many illegitimate children by numerous mistresses - it seems around 25!
Henry's brother Robert, unsurprisingly, disputed Henry's control of England and invaded from Normandy in 1101. This military campaign ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry as king. The peace was short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life.
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. His wife also ruled on his behalf when he was away from England.
Henry successfully sought to increase royal revenues, and established peaceful relations with Scotland, through his marriage to Matilda.
His administrative reforms used the skills of many relatively low-born but talented men. He was ahead of his time in this respect.
Henry was also known for some brutal acts. He once threw a traitorous burgher named Conan Pilatus from the tower of Rouen; the tower was known from then on as "Conan's Leap".
In another instance that took place in 1119, Henry's son-in-law, Eustace de Pacy, and Ralph Harnec, the constable of Ivry, exchanged their children as hostages. When Eustace blinded Harnec's son, Harnec demanded vengeance. King Henry allowed Harnec to blind and mutilate Eustace's two daughters, who were also Henry's own grandchildren through his illegitimate daughter Juliane.
Eustace and his wife, Juliane, were outraged and threatened to rebel. Henry arranged to meet his daughter at a parley at Breteuil, only for Juliane to draw a crossbow and attempt to assassinate her father. She was captured and confined to the castle, but escaped by leaping from a window into the moat below. Some years later Henry was reconciled with his daughter and son-in-law.
Henry's wife Matilda had died in 1118, and in 1120, Henry's son died in a shipwreck, causing a succession crisis. As ruler of both England and Normandy, Henry and his family and advisors spent much time on the Channel travelling between the countries. On 25th November 1120, the King set sail from the port of Barfleur in the late afternoon, leaving his son, two of his illegitimate children and many of the younger members of the court to follow on that night in a separate vessel, the White Ship. By the time the White Ship sailed it was dark and both the crew and passengers were drunk. Just outside the harbour, the ship hit a submerged rock and sank, killing all but one aboard and leaving King Henry I with no legitimate male heir.
Henry remarried, but no children were born of this union. He summoned his only other legitimate child Matilda back to England and made his barons pay homage to her as his heir.
In 1128, Matilda was married to Geoffrey Plantagenet, another member of the Angevin family.
In December 1135, Henry died in Normandy from eating a "surfeit of lampreys" (too many eels). His body was buried in Reading Abbey, which had been built by him and was later destroyed by the last King Henry of England.
English barons did not want to be ruled by a woman and an Angevin and on Henry's death, there was a succession crisis which led to civil war, with Henry's nephew Stephen contesting the throne.
Ultimately, the throne passed to Matilda's son, who became Henry II, the father of Richard the Lionheart and "Bad" King John.
Further reading
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