The Kings and Queens of Britain by Unknown

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Henry I, Normans ,

king of England, b. 1068, 4th but 3rd surviving s. of William I; acc. England 5 Aug. 1100 Normandy Sept. 1106; m. (1) Edith (known as Matilda), da. of Malcolm III of Scotland, 11 Nov. 1100; issue: Matilda, William; (2) Adela, da. of Godfrey VII, count of Louvain, 29 Jan. 1121; d. 1 Dec. 1135; bur. Reading abbey.

Henry's achievement was to begin the task of reconciling English and Normans. He had certain advantages: he had been born in England, probably at Selby, after his father had become king, and spoke the language. Almost his first action on taking the throne was to marry the daughter of the king of Scotland who, as the great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside (d. 1016), represented the old English dynasty. His coronation charter promised to uphold the laws of Edward ‘the Confessor’, who was fast acquiring an undeserved reputation as a wise and just ruler.

At the death of his father in 1087 Henry's chances of succeeding in either England or Normandy did not look good. His erratic eldest brother, Robert, was reconciled to the Conqueror and given Normandy; his next brother, William ‘Rufus’, was given England. Henry, aged nineteen, received very little land but was able to buy estates in Cotentin. At one stage it looked as though he would lose even these since, in 1091, his two elder brothers settled their differences and agreed to join forces in expelling him. This they accomplished, but the sudden death of William in the New Forest in 1100 gave Henry his chance to seize the crown. His coronation charter disavowed the misconduct of his predecessor, and promised justice and good government. He was faced, as William had been in 1088, with the attempt of his eldest brother to take the throne of England and unite it with Normandy. Robert landed at Portsmouth in July 1101, but the dispute was compromised. In 1104 Henry prepared for a counter-attack, and at Tinchebrai in 1106 defeated and captured Robert. He declared himself ruler of Normandy, and Robert was held in safe custody for the remaining twenty-eight years of his life.

Short, restless, fat in middle age, with a formidable sexual appetite, Henry proved a capable ruler. He put an end to most Welsh raids and kept Scotland under control. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle wrote that ‘in his days, no man dared to wrong another. He made peace for man and beasts.’ Better educated than his father or brothers, he had a genuine interest in learning, and though he soon fell out with Anselm, whom he had recalled from exile, he remained a benefactor of the church. He was cruel, even by the standards of his day: two of his own small granddaughters, retained as hostages, were blinded on his instructions. Though Robert ‘Curthose’ was safe in custody, his late and unexpected marriage had produced a son (c.1102), William ‘Clito’ (prince). As he grew up, ambitious neighbours in France and discontented subjects clustered around him; Louis VI of France took up his cause and promised him Normandy.

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