Henry I of England

Henry I
Miniature from Matthew Paris's Historia Anglorum
King of England (more ...)
Tenure	2 August 1100 – 1 December 1135
Coronation	5 August 1100
Predecessor	William II
Successor	Stephen
Duke of Normandy
Tenure	1106 – 1 December 1135
Predecessor	Robert Curthose
Successor	Stephen
Born	c. 1068 Possibly Selby, Yorkshire
Died	1 December 1135 (aged 66–67) Saint-Denis-en-Lyons, Normandy
Burial	Reading Abbey
Spouse	Matilda of Scotland m. 1100; dec. 1118 Adeliza of Louvain m. 1121; wid. 1135
Issue more ...	Matilda, Holy Roman Empress William Adelin Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester Alice FitzRoy Gilbert FitzRoy Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche Fulk FitzRoy Sybilla, Queen of Scots Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall Robert FitzEdith, Lord Okehampton Henry FitzRoy (d. 1158) Matilda FitzRoy, Abbess of Montvilliers
House	House of Normandy
Father	William I of England
Mother	Matilda of Flanders

Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death. Henry 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, respectively, but Henry was left landless. Henry purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but William and Robert deposed him in 1091. Henry gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William against Robert. Henry was present when William died in a hunting accident in 1100, and he seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of William's less popular policies. Henry married Matilda of Scotland but continued to have a large number of mistresses, by whom he had many illegitimate children.

Robert, who invaded in 1101, disputed Henry's control of England; this military campaign ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry as king. The peace was short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life. Henry's control of Normandy was challenged by Louis VI of France, Baldwin VII of Flanders and Fulk V of Anjou, who promoted the rival claims of Robert's son, William Clito, and supported a major rebellion in the Duchy between 1116 and 1119. Following Henry's victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120.

Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England and Normandy. In England, he drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxation, but also strengthened it with additional institutions, including the royal exchequer and itinerant justices. Normandy was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henry's system were "new men" of obscure backgrounds rather than from families of high status, who rose through the ranks as administrators. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a serious dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, which was resolved through a compromise solution in 1105. He supported the Cluniac order and played a major role in the selection of the senior clergy in England and Normandy.