Henry I 335Wheeler, ed., Listening to Heloise: The Voice of a Twelfth-
Century Woman(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000).
Henry I(1068–1135) king of England
Born in 1068, Henry was the third surviving son
of WILLIAMI THECONQUERORand Matilda of Flanders
(d. 1083). Henry I received a good education and could
read and write LATIN, an accomplishment rare among
the LAITY at that time. It earned him the nickname
“Beauclerc.” On his father’s death in 1089, Henry’s broth-
ers, Robert Curthose (r. 1087–1106) and WILLIAM II
RUFUS, inherited NORMANDYand ENGLAND, respectively;
Henry was left 5,000 pounds, with which he accumulated
more land in western Normandy. Robert proved unable to
govern efficiently; Henry therefore allied with William,
who in 1096 took over Normandy as security for a loan
he made to enable Robert for a CRUSADEventure.
KING; CAPTURE OF ROBERT;
ACCORD WITH THE CHURCHOn August 2, 1100, with Robert on his way home,
William was shot by Walter Tirel, possibly with Henry’s
connivance, while hunting in the New Forest. Henry
seized the royal treasure in nearby Winchester and was
hastily crowned three days later on August 5 at Westmin-
ster. He issued a charter promising reforms, to win sup-
port from the great landowners and the church. He
imprisoned William’s hated minister Ranulf Flambard (d.
1128) and recalled the exiled ANSELM, archbishop of
CANTERBURY. In November 1100 he married Edith, later
called Matilda (1080–1118), the daughter of Malcolm III
(r. 1058–93), king of Scotland. This marriage led to peace
with SCOTLANDand made Henry more acceptable to the
English. These measures helped Henry survive an attack
by Duke Robert from Normandy in 1101. In 1104 and
1105 Henry attacked Normandy and in 1106 finally
defeated his brother at Tinchebray and annexed the
duchy, keeping Robert a prisoner until his death in 1134.
In 1107 Henry reached a compromise with the pope and
the archbishop of Canterbury over the long dispute about
lay control of elections of bishops and abbots. That dis-
pute had caused Anselm to leave for a second period of
exile. Henry agreed to give up the custom of lay INVESTI-
TUREor the giving to prelates of the ring and staff that
were the symbols of their spiritual office. The pope
agreed that prelates should be elected in the king’s pres-
ence and then do homage for their property before conse-
cration. In this way Henry and his successors retained
basic control of church appointments in exchange for
accepting a formal but important ceremony.
PROTECTING NORMANDY;
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMSAlong with constant and necessary vigilance to suppress
rebellion in Normandy, Henry made diplomatic and
political moves to protect it from attack. In 1109 his
daughter, Matilda (1102–67), was pledged to marry the
Holy Roman Emperor Henry V (r. 1106–25). In 1113 he
agreed that his son and heir, William (1103–20), should
marry the daughter of FULKV, count of ANJOU, in 1119.
He paid a large pension to the count of FLANDERSand
gave substantial estates in England and Normandy to
his nephew, Stephen of Blois, the future king of England
(r. 1135–54), brother of another potential ally, the count
of Blois. So allied, he was able to repel several attacks
led by Louis VI (r. 1108–37), king of France, in support
of the claim to Normandy by Duke Robert’s son,
William Clito (1101–28). Though defeated at Brémule
in 1119, Louis continued to support William, making
him count of Flanders in 1127; however, William Clito
died in 1128.
Though Henry devoted much of his time to Nor-
mandy, his reign produced notable developments in the
machinery of the government of England. He increased
the number of professional administrators, employing
competent men, even if they were of humble origin.
Many of these were laymen; their chief was Roger,
bishop of Salisbury (d. 1139). Roger was the king’s most
important official and was responsible for the initial
organization of the EXCHEQUER. In judicial affairs more
cases were claimed and thus brought to the king’s court.
The king’s control was expanded and affirmed by send-
ing justices to tour the county courts and brutal punish-
ments of criminals.SUCCESSION
The great problem of the last years of Henry’s rule was
the succession to the throne. He had at least 20 illegiti-
mate children but only one legitimate son, William
(1103–20), and one legitimate daughter, Matilda.
William’s death by drowning in 1120 while crossing the
channel in the “White Ship” was a political disaster.
Henry, in hope of an heir, married in 1121 Adelia, the
daughter of the duke of Lower Lorraine, another poten-
tial ally against France, but the union was childless.
Matilda became a widow in 1125, so Henry summoned
his daughter home. In December 1126 he made the
nobles swear to accept her as lady of England and Nor-
mandy. He then arranged her marriage to Geoffrey, son of
the count of Anjou. But when Henry died at Angers on
December 1, 1135, after eating too many lampreys, his
nephew, Stephen, took the English throne. A civil war
was fought but ultimately won by HENRYII, Matilda’s son.
Further reading:L. J. Downer, ed. and trans., Leges
Henrici primi(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972); Michael
Brett, The English Church under Henry I(London: Oxford
University Press, 1975); Judith A. Green, The Government
of England under Henry I(Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-
sity Press, 1986); C. Warren Hollister, Henry I, ed.
Amanda Frost (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press,
2001); Charlotte A. Newman, The Anglo-Norman Nobility