| Aantekeningen |
- Volgens Engelse bronnen is het huwelijk op 06-08-1100 voltrokken. Koning van Engeland, gekroond in de Westminster Abbey op 5 aug. 1100.
- Henry was the first child of William I to be born on English soil, but as the fourth son he had little hope of
inheriting a crown. Whereas, Robert, the first born, inherited Normandy, and William II, the second son, inherited England, Henry was left without title, only a huge fortune in English sterling. While William Rufus and Robert quarreled in the years to come, Henry flitted from side to side, hedging his bets. Eventually he became thoroughly distrusted by both men. In 1091, when William and Robert temporarily reconciled, they entered into a pact whereas if either died without male heir the other would inherit, thereby eliminating Henry from the succession.
When Robert left on a crusade to Jerusalem, Henry was quite hopeful that Robert would not return alive, but by 1100 word came that Robert was on his way back to Normandy, victorious and wealthy, having married a rich woman on the way home. So, perhaps it was more than coincidence that on August 2, 1100, Henry was hunting in the New Forhis brother's death, for he rode directly from the New Forest to the Treasury and declared himself King. He was crowned in Westminster three days later. The first few weeks of Henry's reign were shrewd ones.
Expecting an invasion from Robert upon his return from Jerusalem, Henry used his inherited silver to buy support in both England and Normandy. He also invited Anselm back to the post of Archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to garner the support of the church in both England and Rome. Henry even arranged for a marriage to Edith (also known as Matilda), the sister of Edgar, King of Scotland, in order to eliminate invasion from the North. Henry also got the support of France and Flanders (neither of which wanted to see Normandy and England united into a powerful kingdom). When Robert landed in Portsmouth in July of 1101 he was without any advantage, and an immediate treaty was arranged. Robert would receive an annual pension, and Henry would keep England. Treaty or no, Henry still did not trust the Norman barons, whose fathers had been granted English estates under the reign of the Conqueror. He set out systematically to relieve them of their English and Welsh lands. The conflict between Robert and Henry came to a head at the Battle of Tinchebrai. Robert was captured and spent the rest of his life as Henry's prisoner. While his present Norman troubles were coming to a close, Henry was faced with a more far-reaching problem. As with his brother, William Rufus, Henry's power as king was challenged by the growing Gregorian reform movement. In serious question now were the traditional royal rights over the administration of the church, specifically, the institution of lay investiture. Lay investiture was the ceremony were the secular king or queen presented a new church official, like an abbot or bishop, with a ring and staff of office. The Gregorian reformers wish to purify the church by taking its administration out of secular control. While lay investiture had been prohibited by the church as early as 1059, its practice continued in England until the return of Anselm in 1100. He had learned of the papal decree against lay investiture while in exile, and upon his return refused to pay homage to Henry and urged his brothers of the cloth to refuse homage to local fiefs. Henry, in turn, refused to renounce his right to invest church officials, and in 1105 Anselm, again in frustration left England. However, in 1105 the Pope threatened to excommunicate Henry if he did not renounce lay investiture. Henry offered his terms: he would renounce his right to invest, if the prelates on a local level would continue homage to local fiefs. Thus Henry kept the abbots and bishops throughout England loyal. However, the ideological battle forced Henry to give up something very important. His renouncement of lay investiture meant that Henry (in the eyes of the church) was a secular king, not a king annointed of God, and not a king superior to priests. Ironically, it is at this point in English folklore that the first claims of royal healings appear. It was said that one touch from a King could heal scrofula, known as the "king's disease." However, despite his "healing power," Henry reigned in the last years concerned with holding his hard-won kingdom together. This was probably what Henry did best. Henry was ruthless when it came to demanding loyalty. It was said that during the years he flitted back and forth between the loyalty of William Rufus and Robert that he once pushed a man off the roof of Rouen Castle for betraying his oath of allegiance to Robert. This reputation served him well, as he now concerned himself with the traditional enemies of Normandy, France and Flanders. By 1119 things looked good for Henry. He beat Louis VI of France in the battle of Bremule and married his legitimate son, William, to the daughter of the count of Anjou. However, in 1120 William died in a shipwreck and so began one of the darkest periods in English history. Edith, Henry's first wife, died in 1118, and Adelaide of Louvain, whom Henry married months after his son's death was still without child by 1125. The only legitimate heir of the king's was Matilda, born in 1102. Matilda's husband, Emperor Henry V of France died in 1025 and left Matilda without a male heir. Henry, therefore, made his barons swear to accept Matilda as Queen of England should he die without a male heir. Still eager to keep ties with Anjou, Henry married Matilda to Count Geoffrey of Anjou.
Normandy, of course, did not want to be ruled by an Angevin, and war ensued. While his kingdom's future seemed most uncertain Henry died, December 1135. He ruled longer than his father and brother, but still remains one the least known of the English kings.
From: Biographical information from The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England, ed. Antonia Frasier and The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy, ed. John Cannon and Ralph Griffiths. King Henry was styled as, 'Dei Gratia Rex Anglorum'. According to some other sources, Henry was born in 1070. He was crowned by Maurice, Bishop of London. It is probable that Henry was the first king of the Normal royal line to speak Saxon. Died from a 'urfeit of lampreys', as the chronicles said, althought most historians believe that he died from food poisoning. Henry was the founder of Reading Abbey, where he was buried.
Source: RoyaList. Source: 'Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europaeischen Staaten' 4 vol., Marburg, 1953, 1975, by W.K. Prinz von Isenburg; 'Burke's Guide to the Royal Familiy', London, 1973; 'Nachkommen Gorms des Alten', 1978, by S. Otto Brenner; 'Europaeische Stammtafeln', J.A. Stargardt Verlag, Marburg.
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1068 - 1135 (67 jaar)
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