Henry I

Henry I


House / Group: Norman
Born / died: 1068-1135
Reign: 1100-1135


The third son of William the Conqueror and Queen Matilda of Flanders.
He seized power on the death of his brother William II, while his other brother Robert (who had inherited Normandy) was on a crusade.
His first wife was  Edith (who changed her name to Matilda), daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and they had 2 children (Maud and William). Matilda died after 18 years of marriage and Robert 2 years later, causing a crisis of succession.
His second wife was Adeliza, daughter of Godfrey, Count of Louvain, but they had no children and Henry eventually took the unprecedented step of naming his daughter Maud as his heir.
Henry also had a spectacular number of illegitimate children, probably as many as 25, of whom 18 are documented (Robert, Sibylla, Reginald, Maud, Richard, Fulk, Juliane, Matilda, Constance, Henry, Mabel, Aline, Isabel, Matilda, Adeliza, Robert, William, and Gilbert).
His brother Robert attempted to regain the English throne, but after an an unsuccessful invasion, agreed to recognise  Henry in return for an annual payment. In order to remove any future  threat and avoid the payments, Henry invaded Normandy, defeated and imprisoned Robert and took the Dunchy of Normandy.
Henry died while visiting his daughter Maud in France. The cause was food poisoning from eating foul lampreys. He died at St. Denis le Fermont in Normandy and was buried at Reading Abbey.