Henry I of England
Henry I ruled England from 1100 to 1135 and left a disputed succession that produced nineteen years of civil war. Born around 1068, he was the fourth and youngest son of William the Conqueror, and received money rather than land when his father died — his brothers took Normandy and England. He was with his brother William Rufus hunting in the New Forest in August 1100 when an arrow killed the king. Henry rode straight to Winchester, seized the treasury, and was crowned within three days, before his elder brother Robert Curthose could return from crusade. He issued a Charter of Liberties at his coronation, promising to end his predecessor's abuses of the church and the barons — a document Magna Carta was modelled on a century later. He defeated Robert at Tinchebray in 1106 and imprisoned him for twenty-eight years, reuniting England and Normandy. His government was administratively formidable. The Exchequer appears in his reign, auditing sheriffs' accounts twice yearly against a chequered cloth, and itinerant justices carried royal law into the shires. He was called the Lion of Justice, and the chroniclers say no man dared harm another in his time. He settled the investiture dispute with Anselm in 1107 by a compromise on homage and ring. He fathered more illegitimate children than any English king — over twenty are recorded — and one legitimate son, William Adelin, who drowned when the White Ship sank off Barfleur in 1120. He made the barons swear to accept his daughter Matilda. They accepted Stephen instead. He died in 1135, reputedly of a surfeit of lampreys.
- Lived: 1068 CE – 1135 CE
- Nationality: English
- Roles: king, head_of_state
