WEBVTT - The White Ship on the English Channel 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:04.440 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:11.200 and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised. Hey, 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:13.760 this is Danish Wartz, the host of Noble Blood. A 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:17.200 few quick announcements before I start. So you probably know 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:19.960 that I wrote a book called Anatomy, a love story 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.799 you know, available now wherever books are sold. But there's 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:26.880 also a sequel coming, Immortality, a love Story. The sequel 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:30.280 to Anatomy is available for preorder. There's a link to 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:33.280 that in the episode description, and there's also links to 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:37.080 our Patreon and our show merch. On our Patreon, I 0:00:37.240 --> 0:00:41.600 upload episode scripts and monthly bonus episodes, and you also 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:44.199 get a sticker once every season as part of our 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.519 Sticker Club for patrons only and merch. We have amazing 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:51.000 new merch coming this fall, pins brand new t shirts. 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:53.200 Check it all out at d F tb a dot 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:56.600 com slash Noble Blood. But it's all in the descriptions 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:59.760 just click there. But as always, the best support is 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.520 just sule listening to the show. So thank you so much. 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:15.080 The city of Barfloor sits at the top of the 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:19.560 peninsula that juts out from France towards England. Today a 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:23.360 quaint village with fewer than six hundred people, It was 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:27.560 in the twelve century a bustling port, one of the 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:31.000 most popular points from which to sail in and out 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:35.480 of Normandy. It boasts a natural harbor which shelters boats 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.160 from the wind and waves of the English Channel, and 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:43.200 it was in that harbor that Thomas Fitzstephen approached Henry, 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:46.520 King of England and Duke of Normandy with an offer. 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.880 It was November eleven, twenty and King Henry was preparing 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.760 to return to England, having finally secured his title as 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:59.080 Duke of Normandy by defeating his brother Robert Kutos. Now 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:03.240 Henry and his entourage, along with his finest soldiers, several 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.760 of his beloved children, and the who's who of Norman nobility, 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.760 were all sailing back to England to celebrate the victory 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:14.200 and award prizes to those who had supported the cause. 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:18.560 After decades of fighting. A palpable sense of relief and 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:22.000 giddiness could be felt finally, for what felt like the 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:26.400 first time since Henry's father, William, known as William the Conqueror, 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.639 had died in ten eight seven, Peace had come to Normandy. 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:35.160 Glittering noblemen and noble women flooded barfloor as they awaited 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:38.720 the right conditions to sail back to England. The nobleman 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:44.760 odd local observers with their luxurious clothes and appetite for revelry. 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:48.440 Amidst the crowds was a man named Thomas fitz Stephen. 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:51.960 But he wasn't there to party, at least not yet. 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:55.119 He had something else in mind, and for his plan 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:59.240 to succeed, he needed an audience with the King. Finally 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:02.880 attaining one, fitz Stephen made his case. He was a captain, 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:05.720 he said, in possession of a ship, and he hoped 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:08.600 to have the honor of sailing the Royal party back 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:12.200 to England. He wasn't just any captain, he continued, but 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:15.880 the son of Stephen fitzerd, the man who had captained 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:19.680 William the Conqueror's flagship on his invasion of England in 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:23.560 ten sixty six. And his boat wasn't just any boat, 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:27.959 but a boat befitting royalty. It was built finally from 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:31.680 the lightest timber, so light to be nearly white, and 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:36.240 so named Blanche nef Or the White Ship. In addition 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:40.160 to sales, the White Ship had fifty oarsmen, meaning that 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:43.680 no matter the wind condition, it would travel swiftly across 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:47.200 the channel. King Henry was impressed by fitz Stephen, and 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:51.839 even more impressed by the sleek, shining white ship. Though 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.680 he had already made arrangements for his own ship, he 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:58.520 told fitz Stephen he would give him another honor. The 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:03.040 white ship, the King said, could carry William Athling, his son, 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:07.960 the heir to the throne. Additionally, the King entrusted Fitzstephen 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:12.160 with transporting the treasure that he had collected in Normandy. 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.120 By that evening, the party set to board the white 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:18.919 ship had swelled to nearly three hundred, among them the 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:23.320 most glamorous young nobles and gallant soldiers of the court. 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.839 The mood was festive, the wine was flowing, and the 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:30.320 future looked bright. They were heading home to a kingdom 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:33.520 more powerful and more peaceful than it had been in 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.080 nearly forty years. But they would not find their journey 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:41.920 smooth sailing. No pun intended, and what happened next as 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:44.640 the white ship set out into the darkness of the 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:49.160 English Channel, would change the course of English history forever. 0:04:50.720 --> 0:05:04.359 I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood to contextualize 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.440 the story of the White Ship, will have to go 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:10.240 back more than half a century to December of ten 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:14.400 sixty eight or ten sixty nine, when a baby boy 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.880 was born to William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:20.840 They named the boy Henry, and he was to be 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:25.279 their last child. William the Conqueror came from the ruling 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:29.160 family of Normandy, a coastal region in present day France, 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.640 and he had won the throne of England in ten 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.520 sixty six by defeating the Anglo Saxons at the Battle 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:40.360 of Hastings. His impact on English history is nearly unparalleled, 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:43.440 and physical traces of the Conqueror can still be seen 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.720 in London today. For one thing, he built the White Tower, 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:50.719 the central component of the Tower of London. Henry was 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.680 the only child of William and Matilda to be born 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.840 after his child was crowned, but that didn't confer him 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:00.880 any special status. As the youngest son, no one expected 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:03.960 him to become king. Many expected him to go into 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:07.760 the church, and he was educated accordingly, reaching a level 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.920 of literacy and learning unusual even among noble families of 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:18.280 the time. Henry had three older brothers, Robert Richard and William, 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:21.600 all of whom were more than a decade older than him. 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.719 Robert was the eldest and was known throughout his life 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:27.839 as Curtos, a nickname given to him by his father 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.440 on account of his short legs. In a typical example 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:36.800 of kindly medieval parenting, Richard, the second brother, died in 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:40.479 a hunting accident as a teenager. The third son, William, 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:44.040 was called Rufus, from the Latin word for red, because 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:47.680 of his red hair and ruddy complexion. Robert Cutos was 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:52.200 brash and arrogant and frequently clashed with his father, constantly 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:57.120 demanding more power and money. William the Conqueror favored Rufus instead, 0:06:57.279 --> 0:07:00.440 and as the rule of primo janitor passing the crown 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:03.760 onto the eldest son was not yet custom in England, 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:06.880 he began to groom Rufus, his third son, for the 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:11.120 role of king. To pacify Kurtos, his oldest son, William 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:15.560 named him co Regent of Normandy alongside his mother. In 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.400 this way, William could keep control of his two territories, 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:24.400 England and Normandy, within the family while keeping Robert Kurtis 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.960 out of his way. In England, but Curtis was not satisfied, 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:31.440 wanting to rule formally and on his own. In the 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:35.440 late ten seventies, Kurtis began a series of revolts against 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:39.400 William of Normandy, which continued until the Queen negotiated a 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:43.160 piece between father and son in ten eighty. The piece 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:46.960 held until her death in ten eighty three, at which 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:51.040 point the fighting resumed. Curtis and William were still at 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:55.400 war when William died in September ten eight seven, as 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:58.800 a result of a wound he suffered while fighting the French. 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:01.360 I want to know here that you'll hear a lot 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:04.800 about the Normans and the French in this episode, which 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:09.280 may seem confusing since Normandy is in France. I'll explain. 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.280 Normandy at the time was a Duchy of France, meaning 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.360 that its rulers were vassals to the King of France. 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:20.320 But after William the Conqueror became King of England in 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:24.240 ten sixty six, he became the French King's equal as 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.720 a king in his own right, while he was still 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:30.160 a subject of the French king as Duke of Normandy. 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.960 The growing power of the Norman's scared the French king, 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.720 who began a series of wars in an effort to 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.320 weaken the duchy and take its territory. So that's how 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:43.880 William ended up fighting the French in Normandy. In early 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:47.679 September ten eighty seven, while attacking the city of mont 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:51.520 William's horse abruptly stopped and the pommel of his saddle 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:54.600 hit him hard in the stomach, causing it would soon 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:59.360 become clear a fatal internal injury. As William lay dying 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:02.280 in the Pride area of Saint Gervais, he debated how 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:04.760 to divide the lands that he had spent his whole 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:08.800 life fighting for. At several points he considered disinheriting the 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:13.160 troublesome Curtis altogether, but his Norman lords persuaded him to 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.560 keep the eldest, Robert Curtos, as duke so as to 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:20.040 maintain order in the duchy. William gave in, but he 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:23.560 stood firm on his plans to give Rufus, now his 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:29.760 second son, the throne of England. Henry, the youngest son, 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:33.080 was at his father's side as he grew weaker, he 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:37.880 inquired cautiously about what he might hope to inherit. William 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:42.080 bestowed upon his youngest son five thousand pounds of silver, 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:46.720 but no lands or titles. When William finally died on 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:51.040 September nine, it began a period of uncertainty for the 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.960 Anglo Norman realm. Though the throne of England did go 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:58.480 to Rufus as William wished, it would not be a 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:03.400 smooth transition. Curtis, as ever, wanted more, and the two 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:08.079 brothers quickly went to war. The youngest son, Henry, meanwhile, 0:10:08.400 --> 0:10:11.599 used part of his inheritance to buy land in Normandy 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:15.240 from Robert Kurtos, who was perpetually in debt, and then 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.600 he sailed to England to petition Rufus for lands that 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.800 he believed his mother had left him. Rufus rejected Henry's claims, 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:25.840 so the young prince sailed back to Normandy, at which 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:29.160 point Robert Curtos accused him of being a spy sent 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.720 by Rufus and had him imprisoned for six months until 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:36.280 Henry could pay bail. Henry then tried to return to England, 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.480 but Rufus rebuffed him, thinking he was perhaps a spy 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:43.800 for Kurtos. Forced to choose between the lesser of two brothers, 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:49.000 Henry reluctantly aligned himself with Kurtos. In ten ninety one, 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.840 after four years of fighting, Rufus and Kurtos signed a 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.040 peace treaty, promising not to fight one another and to 0:10:56.160 --> 0:11:00.280 be one another's successor should they die without a legitimate son, 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:05.240 thus keeping England and Normandy under the family rule. Henry 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.880 was left out of this treaty completely except for one provision. 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:11.920 Curtis would take the lands Henry had bought from him 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:15.920 in ten Henry fought this decision, holding up in the 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:19.720 monastery at Mont St. Michel until Kurtis and Rufus's troops 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:25.199 starved him out. In March. Curtis banished Henry from Normandy, 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.680 and his whereabouts for the next year are unknown, though 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:32.640 he is said to have been spotted in Paris. In 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:36.760 ten two, Henry returned to Normandy to free the people 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:40.080 of the County of Domfront from their tyrannical lord, Roger 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.439 sat Bilim, and he bided his time as the animosity 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:49.000 between his brothers rekindled. By ten their truce was over 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:53.440 and Rufus reached out to Henry for aid. Henry began 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.000 fighting on the side of his middle brother Rufus, the 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.600 King of England, against Curtis and Normandy, a war which 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:03.679 event concluded when Kurtos answered the Pope's call for the 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:08.000 first Crusade in ten nineties six. In part because Kurtos 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.079 had grown unpopular with his own people, who thought him 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:17.960 a poor leader, Rufus agreed to quote unquote rent the 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:22.080 Duchy of Normandy from Kurtos while he traveled to Jerusalem. 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.160 With Kurtos out of the way, Henry went to England 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:30.359 to establish himself in Rufus's court. It was, by all accounts, 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:35.880 a debaucherous, decadent court, enriched by the ownerous taxes Rufus 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:39.559 collected from the Church and his subjects. A brief side 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:41.880 note to say, if you're confused, because you had never 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.240 heard of a King Rufus of England, he ruled as 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.760 King William the Second, but because he was commonly referred 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:52.640 to as Rufus, and because there's another William in this story, 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.960 we're going to continue to refer to him as Rufus 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:59.960 for clarity. This never ending wealth made the inner circle 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.480 of the court of England a wonderful place to be, 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.920 but outside of it, the country was growing increasingly resentful 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.880 of their spendthrift monarch and his coterie of hangers on 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:14.880 who stripped the people bear for their own enrichment. Henry, 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:20.320 fresh from battle in Normandy, saw this dissatisfaction and perhaps 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:27.480 subconsciously decided to wait for an opportunity. The opportunity came 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:32.320 sooner than he thought. In August of ten, Rufus was 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:36.560 out hunting, a favorite pastime, when a freak accident occurred. 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:41.559 How exactly an arrow struck the king is unknown. Many 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:47.200 theorized that it ricocheted, but suddenly Rufus, still mounted, looked 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.040 down to see the shaft of an arrow buried in 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:54.120 his chest. He broke the shaft off, then, in shock, 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:59.040 fell to the ground, landing chest down, which pushed the 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:03.320 arrow in deeper, killing him. Henry had been out with 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:06.360 the hunting party that day and realized that he needed 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:10.200 to act quickly. Rufus's body was being taken to Winchester, 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:13.760 the city that housed the English Treasury, and Henry knew 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:16.280 that he had to beat his brother's body there. To 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.440 control the treasury was to control the throne, and so 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:24.040 Henry rode hard for Winchester, arriving breathless before the rest 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.280 of the party and announcing both the King's death and 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:30.840 his intention of taking the crown to the shocked nobles 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:36.160 of Winchester Castle. The lords assembled there after, debating amongst themselves, 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:40.040 decided to give Henry the crown, believing that a quick 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:44.200 transition of power would be a peaceful one. But becoming 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.520 king is not as easy as saying you are king, 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.200 and though Henry would soon be crowned at Westminster Abbey, 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:57.960 his fight for the throne was only beginning. As Rufus's 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:01.480 body was interred in Winchester, and as Henry, now with 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:05.360 the support of the nobles, was traveling to Westminster, Robert 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:09.520 Curtos was returning home from the crusade. On the way home, 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:13.840 he had married Sibylla of Conversano, a beautiful Norman Italian 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:17.720 noble woman, who brought with her a substantial dowry. For 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:21.800 once Curtos had money. What's more, he came home wreathed 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:25.120 in glory. He had done well for himself in the East, 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:29.720 establishing a reputation as a fearsome fighter and a brave leader. 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.000 By the time he got back to Normandy only weeks 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:37.080 after Henry's coronation, he was no longer the embattled Duke 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:42.720 of t The Curtos of ten was a wealthy war hero. 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:47.160 Only one thing soured his triumphant return, the news that 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:51.640 his younger brother had, in his absence, taken the throne 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:56.400 of England. Curtos quickly made clear his intention to fight 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.840 for the throne, and just as quickly, the lord to 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:04.400 had supported Henry began to peel away, swearing allegiance to 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:10.200 Kurtos instead. Fortunately, Henry maintained the support of Anselim, Archbishop 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:16.600 of Canterbury, a highly influential figure whose endorsement was crucial. Nevertheless, 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:20.480 by eleven oh one, an invasion of England by Curtis 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:24.240 and the Normans seemed imminent, and in July he landed 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.440 with an army in poor Chester. But before any fighting 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:31.600 took place, noblemen on both sides of the conflict intervened. 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:36.360 They realized that war would be costly, bloody and devastating, 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.240 and they encouraged their leaders to look towards peace instead. 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:45.280 On August second, Henry and Kurtos signed the Treaty of Alton. 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:48.720 Kurtos renowned his claim to the throne of England in 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:52.920 exchange for full control of Normandy and a payout. Henry 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:56.800 renounced most of his land in Normandy. Both men, as 0:16:56.880 --> 0:17:00.240 Kurtis and Rufus had done before them, swore to be 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:05.080 each other's heirs if they died without legitimate issue. Legitimate 0:17:05.119 --> 0:17:09.159 issue was a matter of concern for Henry. Passing on 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.800 the crown was necessary to secure his legacy as king, 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:16.200 and at the time of his coronation he wasn't even married. 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:21.120 He was, however, a father with at least twelve illegitimate children. 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.480 By this point in the past, the issue of legitimacy 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:28.680 had been less important. William the Conqueror himself had been 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:31.600 born out of wedlock, But as the Church became more 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.000 central to English life, so too did the concept of 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.240 the sanctity of marriage. Though Henry was close to his 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:42.280 illegitimate children, including them in public life and securing them 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:47.160 advantageous marriages, he now needed a wife and a legitimate air. 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:52.119 He moved quickly, selecting a daughter of the Scottish King Malcolm. 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.080 She had been born Edith, but as queen would be 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:59.119 known as Matilda, a very popular royal name at the time. 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.960 The couple married in late eleven hundred at Westminster Abbey 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.679 and had their first child, a daughter, also named Matilda, 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:10.840 in eleven o two. Before you get too confused, yes, 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:15.840 William the Conqueror was also married to a Matilda. The 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.840 same year of Henry's marriage, Curtos and Sabella welcomed a 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:23.520 son who they named William. He would be most commonly 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:27.720 known as William Clito, Clito being the Norman term for 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:31.119 the son who would inherit his father's titles. At the 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:34.159 time of his birth, William Cleto stood to inherit both 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:37.560 England and Normandy under the terms of the Treaty of Alton, 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.879 but his claim only lasted a year. In the summer 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.879 or fall of eleven oh three, Queen Matilda gave birth 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:48.760 to a son who she and Henry also named William, 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.560 and just to keep things even more confusing, this William 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:56.119 was known as William ath Ling eight ling, meaning the 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:59.400 same thing in Old English that Cleito does in Norman. 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.600 For several years there was peace between brothers, but as 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:07.679 time passed and the shine of Curtis's crusading days began 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:10.800 to dim, the Norman's found that their duke was still 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:14.200 the poor ruler he had been before he left. Kurtos 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:19.080 spent extravagantly neglected his responsibilities and did a little to 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:23.120 engender the love or loyalty of his people. Soon enough, 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:27.240 certain Norman nobles were reaching out to King Henry in England, 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:30.919 asking if he would consider a quick invasion just to 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:35.040 straighten things out. He didn't need much persuading, and in 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:39.240 eleven oh five he stormed Normandy along with an English 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:44.200 and Norman coalition. For the third time, Curtis found himself 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:46.679 at war with a family member over the right to 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:51.760 rule Normandy. This time, however, the battle did not last long. 0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:59.600 In September eleven oh six, Henry captured Kurtis outside Tinchabra 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:03.200 and imprisoned his brother, though he set his young nephew, 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:07.800 William Clito free. With Henry, now Duke of Normandy, England 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.680 and Normandy shared the same ruler for the first time 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.879 since William the Conqueror's death thirty years earlier. Now that 0:20:15.960 --> 0:20:19.240 Henry had settled the Norman question, he was working on 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:22.879 cementing his legacy as king. He built a network of 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:27.720 spies that stretched across Europe. He reformed the English tax system, 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:31.960 strengthened the judiciary, and arranged for his daughter Matilda to 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:36.639 marry Henry the Holy Roman Emperor. He also spent considerable time, 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:40.640 ensuring that William eight Ling was raised to rule from 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:43.800 a young age. The crown Prince accompanied his father on 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:49.159 official occasions, attended military training, and received a thorough education. 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:54.440 In February thirteen, William ah Ling was betrothed to Matilda 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:58.679 of Anjou, Yes another Matilda, this one the daughter of 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:03.480 the powerful count the fifth of Anjou. It was unsurprisingly 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:08.200 a strategic marriage. Matilda's parents controlled the counties of Anjou 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:12.480 and Maine, which bordered Normandy. These lands were especially important 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:17.040 to Henry because despite his victory over his brother Robert Curtos, 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:21.679 his Norman holdings still faced a powerful enemy, Louis the sixth, 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:26.360 the king of France. Between eleven eleven and eleven thirteen, 0:21:26.600 --> 0:21:30.680 Normandy was at war with France and her allies Flanders, 0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:34.280 Anjou and Maine. This group rallied under the banner of 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:38.119 William Clito, Kurtos's son, who was now asserting his claim 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:41.800 to the dukedom. With the engagement of William Hethling to 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:46.080 Matilda of Anjou, Anjou and Maine switched sides, and now 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:50.520 Louis was forced to make peace with Henry. The piece 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:54.600 lasted several years, a period in which William Hethling's role 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:59.159 as heir became even more formalized. In eleven fifteen, the 0:21:59.280 --> 0:22:02.760 Norman low Words swore allegiance to the young prince, and 0:22:02.840 --> 0:22:05.760 a year later the English barons did the same. The 0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:09.480 only party who refused to recognize William Athling as heir 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:13.480 was King Louis, who continued to support William Clito's claim, 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:16.600 a position which led the two kings back to war 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:21.400 in late spring eleven sixteen. As Henry battled in Normandy 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:25.720 throughout eleven seventeen and eleven eighteen, his son William Athling 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:29.399 stayed in England, serving as regent after the death of 0:22:29.480 --> 0:22:32.760 his mother, Queen Matilda in the spring of eleven eighteen. 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:37.000 The next year, William Athling traveled to Normandy to complete 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:42.480 two important rights of passage, marriage and military service. In 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:47.000 June eleven nineteen, William Athling and Matilda of Anjou were 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:51.119 married in order to strengthen the Norman angevin ties. The 0:22:51.200 --> 0:22:55.119 groom at this point was sixteen, the bride only nine 0:22:55.320 --> 0:23:00.040 or ten. Two months later, William Athling fought alongside his 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:03.399 father and half brothers at the Battle of Breneux, a 0:23:03.520 --> 0:23:07.399 decisive victory for the Normans, which struck the final blow 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:11.720 to William Cleito's claim on the Norman duchy. However, William 0:23:11.760 --> 0:23:15.800 Cleito's ally, King Louis, had one more trick up his sleeve. 0:23:16.280 --> 0:23:20.520 He appealed to the Pope, saying that Henry had committed 0:23:20.600 --> 0:23:25.520 numerous crimes by invading Normandy. Henry and William Athling traveled 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:29.040 to appear in person to Pope Couctus the Second, who 0:23:29.080 --> 0:23:33.000 came down on their side, declaring that Henry was the 0:23:33.160 --> 0:23:37.440 rightful ruler of Normandy and William Athling was the recognized heir. 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:41.560 After twenty years as King of England, Henry had finally 0:23:41.600 --> 0:23:46.000 achieved complete dominance in England and Normandy. He had built 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:50.520 impressive systems of governance in both realms, established a reputation 0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:53.639 as a skilled fighter and quick thinker, and married his 0:23:53.720 --> 0:23:57.440 children into many of the most important noble houses of Europe. 0:23:57.760 --> 0:24:00.359 Best of all, he had trained up William a Fling 0:24:00.520 --> 0:24:03.640 to continue what he had begun. While Henry had had 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:07.359 to battle his brothers, leading to decades of strife for 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:11.480 the realm, William Athling's right to rule was now uncontested. 0:24:11.840 --> 0:24:15.960 A long prosperous future seemed to stretch before the King 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:19.080 and his heir, before all of England and Normandy, and 0:24:19.160 --> 0:24:22.480 it was this future that the court planned to celebrate 0:24:22.520 --> 0:24:26.399 as they gathered in bar floor in November twenty on 0:24:26.600 --> 0:24:35.120 ships bound for England. The party had to wait several 0:24:35.200 --> 0:24:38.560 days for the right conditions to cross the channel. On 0:24:38.600 --> 0:24:42.679 the night of November, the wind finally began to blow 0:24:42.760 --> 0:24:47.359 in the right direction. Henry's ship boarded first. Traveling alongside 0:24:47.359 --> 0:24:50.680 the King were a group of knights and William Athling's wife, 0:24:50.760 --> 0:24:54.120 Matilda of Anjou, who, at only nine or ten at 0:24:54.119 --> 0:24:57.439 this point, seemed too young to travel with the Crown 0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:01.840 Prince's rowdier crew. The King's ship pushed off in the 0:25:01.920 --> 0:25:05.800 early evening, rowing past the rocks that littered the harbor's 0:25:05.920 --> 0:25:10.320 edge and turned into the open ocean. William Aitling watched 0:25:10.359 --> 0:25:14.879 his father disappear over the horizon, and then turned smiling 0:25:15.080 --> 0:25:18.399 to his friends. It was time for the real party 0:25:18.520 --> 0:25:22.200 to begin. The Crown Prince sent for a huge quantity 0:25:22.240 --> 0:25:25.280 of wine, and he encouraged both his noble friends and 0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:29.120 the ship's crew alike to partake. As the drinks flowed, 0:25:29.320 --> 0:25:33.399 things quickly became chaotic. Crew members ran about the white 0:25:33.400 --> 0:25:37.080 ship's deck, sitting in the seats normally reserved for nobility, 0:25:37.280 --> 0:25:39.960 while the tipsy young men of the court began to 0:25:40.119 --> 0:25:43.800 bet on just how fast this marvelous ship could go. 0:25:44.440 --> 0:25:47.719 The party got so raucous that the group even neglected 0:25:47.760 --> 0:25:52.800 traditional seafaring rituals. When several clergymen offered a blessing for 0:25:52.880 --> 0:25:58.000 safe passage, the boisterous group laughed at off the disrespect, 0:25:58.200 --> 0:26:02.080 rubbed some passengers the long way, and several departed the 0:26:02.119 --> 0:26:07.360 ship feeling as the medieval chronicler or Derek Vitalis wrote 0:26:07.400 --> 0:26:11.280 that the crossing could not go well with quote too 0:26:11.320 --> 0:26:14.880 great a crowd of wild and headstrong young men on 0:26:14.920 --> 0:26:19.280 board end quote. Stephen of Bluas the king's nephew, also 0:26:19.400 --> 0:26:23.639 disembarked before departure, but for a more prosaic reason. He 0:26:23.760 --> 0:26:27.959 was suffering from a bad bout of diarrhea. Amidst the 0:26:27.960 --> 0:26:32.800 crowd disembarking the ship, one man headed the opposite direction, 0:26:33.240 --> 0:26:38.480 boarding the white ship. He was uninvited. This was Barold, 0:26:38.880 --> 0:26:42.160 a local butcher, and he had a mission. He had 0:26:42.200 --> 0:26:45.240 been supplying the royal party with meat, and they had 0:26:45.280 --> 0:26:48.520 not yet paid his bill he was determined to collect, 0:26:48.760 --> 0:26:51.280