Henry’s sister Adèle and the father-in-law of William the Conqueror. Soon afterward, the
king died prematurely at Vitry-aux-Loges near Orléans (August 4, 1060).
R.Thomas McDonald
[See also: ANNE OF KIEV; CONSTANCE OF ARLES; ROBERT II THE PIOUS]
Soehnee, Frédéric. Catalogues des actes de Henri Ier, roi de France (1031–1060). Paris:
Champion, 1907.
HENRY I
(1068–1135). As king of England (1100–35), Henry I played a significant role in French
warfare and diplomacy, especially after 1106, when he took over the governance of
Normandy. Although modern historians have sometimes characterized Henry’s rule as
harsh and oppressive, contemporaries were struck by Henry’s peaceful reign over a land
long accustomed to war.
Upon William the Conqueror’s death in 1087, Normandy went to Henry’s oldest
brother, Robert Curthose, and England to the second brother, William II Rufus. Henry
inherited 5,000 pounds of silver, out of which he purchased the Avranchin and Cotentin
from Robert. King William’s invasion of Normandy in 1091 forced Robert to cede
captured land, including lands previously sold to Henry. But by 1092, Henry became the
overlord of Domfront, which he used as his base to reconquer the Cotentin.
In 1096, Robert pawned Normandy to William and set off on crusade. As Robert was
returning in 1100, William was killed in a hunting accident and Henry seized the throne.
After trying for a year to capture the crown, Robert agreed to a treaty that recognized
Henry as king while Henry renounced most of his Norman possessions. But Robert could
not maintain order in Normandy, and when a French bishop wrote requesting help for
oppressed Norman churches, Henry received justification for military action. In July
1106, he launched an invasion, and on September 28, in a pitched battle at Tinchebrai,
Robert was captured.
Henry could not rest secure in his possession of Normandy. Robert’s son, William
Clito, also had a claim to the duchy, and Henry also had to contend with baronial revolts
and hostile princes. War erupted in 1111 between Henry and Louis VI of France, who
allied with the counts of Anjou and Flanders. By 1113, Henry was victorious and Louis
was forced to recognize English overlordship in Maine and Brittany. Hostilities resumed
in 1116, when Norman barons joined with France, Flanders, and Anjou to revolt in favor
of William Clito. With the Flemish count killed in 1119, Henry secured peace with Anjou
by marrying his son to Count Foulques’s daughter. Defeated both in battle and by the
English king’s diplomatic skills, Louis complained to the pope about Henry’s action, but
Calixtus II sided with Henry and by 1120 Normandy was at peace.
Henry’s only legitimate son, William, drowned in 1121, reopening William Clito’s
claim to Normandy. Although Henry suppressed Norman insurrection in 1123–24, Clito’s
position was strengthened by his marriage to Louis VI’s sister-in-law and further
enhanced when Louis named him to the Flemish countship. Clito was killed in 1128
while fighting to gain control of Flanders. Henry’s second marriage proved childless, and
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