A History of England, Period I. Mediæval Monarchy

by J. Franck Bright

His position was, indeed, unusually strong. His son was contracted to the daughter of the Earl of Anjou; his natural daughter to Conan, son of Alan Fergant of Brittany; and, in the following year, his daughter Adelaide or Matilda was married to the German Emperor Henry V. He took this opportunity of securing the succession to his son William, to whom, in the years 1115-1116, he succeeded in inducing the barons both of England and Normandy to promise their allegiance. But this cessation of hostilities was not of long duration.

Renewal of the war.

Depression of Henry.

Battle of Brenneville, and complete prosperity. 1119.

The causes of war had not been removed. There was still chronic disaffection among the Norman barons, who disliked the firmness of Henry’s rule; constant jealousy upon the part of the French King; and the Pretender William, the Clito as he is called, was an ever-ready instrument for their hands. Thus the border warfare was renewed, and we hear of the disaffection, not only of the King’s great barons, but of his allies, both Robert of Flanders and Fulk of Anjou adopting William’s cause. Other distresses likewise came upon Henry. He lost his wife Matilda, and his firm and sagacious minister, Robert of Mellent. But, in 1118, prosperity again returned to him. The Count of Flanders was killed in an attack upon the Count of Eu. Money or negotiation won back the friendship of Fulk, and in the following year a battle between a few knights at Brenneville, at which both Henry and Louis were present in person, was regarded as so decisive a victory for the English, that, by the mediation of Pope Calixtus, a new Treaty was arranged, and William’s interest completely disregarded. Thus was triumphantly closed the second of Henry’s wars in France.

Death of Prince William and its consequences. 1120.

At this period of his greatest prosperity a blow fell upon Henry from which he is said never to have recovered. He was returning in triumph to England, when a certain Thomas Fitz-Stephen, whose father had conveyed the Conqueror to England, claimed the privilege of conveying the royal party. To gratify him, Prince William, with the king’s natural daughter Matilda, the Countess of Perche, and other young nobles, consented to embark in his ship called the “Blanche Nef.” They remained behind the rest of the fleet and celebrated the occasion in festivity, which ended in the drunkenness of the crew. As they rode upon the harbour of Barfleur in the moonlight they suddenly struck upon the rocks of the Ras de Catte, and there was barely time for the young Prince to escape in a boat from the sinking ship. The cries of his sister are said to have induced William to return towards the wreck, when the hurried rush of the despairing crew capsized his boat, and all on board were drowned. Of the whole crew of the ship one only, Berold, a butcher of Rouen, survived, owing his safety to the warmth afforded him by his rough garb of undressed sheepskins. With fear and trembling the news was broken to Henry by the young son of Count Theobald of Blois. Henry is said to have fallen fainting from his seat, and from that time onwards never to have relaxed into a smile.

Insurrection of the Duke of Anjou.

Death of William Clito.

The death of Prince William was not only a domestic misfortune. By it was broken also the tie which bound the Count of Anjou to Henry’s interests. It was a natural jealousy of his great neighbour, the Norman Duke, which had induced Fulk to act in alliance with Henry. When Robert’s imprisonment put Henry on the throne of Normandy, he in turn became the object of Fulk’s enmity. The state of the Duchy, where a disaffected party constantly existed, afforded him ample opportunity of giving effect to that enmity. Thus, in 1124, Henry was again recalled to Normandy to suppress a rebellion in favour of William Clito, who was supported by Anjou. Not only Anjou but France was inclining to join the rebels, and it was only by instigating his son-in-law the Emperor to attack France that Henry could manage to make head against his opponents. As it was, however, a fortunate surprise by which all the leaders fell into his hands enabled him to crush the rebellion, and again induced the foreign powers to desert William. The King of France indeed did not wholly give him up; but in 1127, after investing him with several important territories, he brought him forward as a claimant to the throne of Flanders, to which he had a claim through his grandmother, Matilda, the Conqueror’s wife, who was a daughter of Baldwin, Count of Flanders. Against him Henry supported the claims of Diederik or Dirk, Count of Alsace, the last count’s nephew, and his rightful heir. The matter came to war, and in July 1128, before Alost, Prince William was wounded, and died of his wounds. Henry was thus rid of his most formidable opponent.