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Henry I ( c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England ...
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Henry I of England. Henry I (21 September 1068 — 1 December 1135), also called Henry Beauclerc (meaning good scholar), was the King of England from his older brother, William II 's assassination in 1100 until his death in 1135. He was also the Duke of Normandy from 1106 where he defeated his older brother Robert Curthose until his death in 1135.
- 5 August 1100
- William II
- 3 August 1100 — 1 December 1135
- Stephen
- Overview
- Reign
- Legacy
Henry I (born 1069, Selby, Yorkshire, England—died December 1, 1135, Lyons-la-Forêt, Normandy) youngest and ablest of William I the Conqueror’s sons, who, as king of England (1100–35), strengthened the crown’s executive powers and, like his father, also ruled Normandy (from 1106).
Henry was crowned at Westminster on August 5, 1100, three days after his brother, King William II, William the Conqueror’s second son, had been killed in a hunting accident. Duke Robert Curthose, the eldest of the three brothers, who by Norman custom had succeeded to his father’s inheritance in Normandy, was returning from the First Crusade and could not assert his own claim to the English throne until the following year. The succession was precarious, however, because a number of wealthy Anglo-Norman barons supported Duke Robert, and Henry moved quickly to gain all the backing he could. He issued an ingenious Charter of Liberties, which purported to end capricious taxes, confiscations of church revenues, and other abuses of his predecessor. By his marriage with Matilda, a Scottish princess of the old Anglo-Saxon royal line, he established the foundations for peaceable relations with the Scots and support from the English. And he recalled St. Anselm, the scholarly archbishop of Canterbury whom his brother, William II, had banished.
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When Robert Curthose finally invaded England in 1101, several of the greatest barons defected to him. But Henry, supported by a number of his barons, most of the Anglo-Saxons, and St. Anselm, worked out an amicable settlement with the invaders. Robert relinquished his claim to England, receiving in return Henry’s own territories in Normandy and a large annuity.
Although a Crusading hero, Robert was a self-indulgent, vacillating ruler who allowed Normandy to slip into chaos. Norman churchmen who fled to England urged Henry to conquer and pacify the duchy and thus provided moral grounds for Henry’s ambition to reunify his father’s realm at his brother’s expense. Paving his way with bribes to Norman barons and agreements with neighbouring princes, in 1106 Henry routed Robert’s army at Tinchebrai in southwestern Normandy and captured Robert, holding him prisoner for life.
Between 1104 and 1106 Henry had been in the uncomfortable position of posing, in Normandy, as a champion of the church while fighting with his own archbishop of Canterbury. St. Anselm had returned from exile in 1100 dedicated to reforms of Pope Paschal II, which were designed to make the church independent of secular sovereigns. Following papal bans against lay lords investing churchmen with their lands and against churchmen rendering homage to laymen, Anselm refused to consecrate bishops whom Henry had invested and declined to do homage to Henry himself. Henry regarded bishoprics and abbeys not only as spiritual offices but as great sources of wealth. Since in many cases they owed the crown military services, he was anxious to maintain the feudal bond between the bishops and the crown.
Henry I was a skillful, intelligent monarch who achieved peace in England, relative stability in Normandy, and notable administrative advances on both sides of the Channel. Under Henry, the Anglo-Norman state his father had created was reunited. Royal justices began making systematic tours of the English shires, but, although his administrative pol...
Dec 4, 2019 · Definition. Henry I reigned as the king of England from 1100 to 1135 CE. The son of William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087 CE), Henry succeeded his brother William II of England (r. 1087-1100 CE) after he had died in a hunting accident and left no heir. A third brother, Robert Curthose (l. c. 1052 - c. 1135 CE), Duke of Normandy, was also ...
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Henry was born in England in 1068 or 1069, the fourth son of William the Conqueror. By the time his elder brother William became king, one of Henry's other older brothers had died, leaving Robert ...
Apr 8, 2024 · Search for: 'Henry I' in Oxford Reference ». (1068–1135),king of England (1100–35) and duke of Normandy (1106–35), was the youngest son of William the Conqueror. He played an intermittent role in the struggle between his elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus for control of the Anglo‐Norman realm and seized the opportunity ...
Henry I (c. 1068 – December 1, 1135) was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and the first born in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100, and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106. He was called Beauclerc for his scholarly ...
