In 1120 the sinking of what vessel, called the Titanic of the Middle Ages, caused the death of the legitimate heir to the throne of England and led to a period known as the Anarchy?
"male heir in the White Ship tragedy, he persuaded his barons to recognise his daughter Matilda as heir. When Henry died in 1135 her cousin Stephen of Blois had himself proclaimed king, leading to a civil war known as The Anarchy. Eventually Stephen recognised Matilda's son Henry as his heir and when Stephen died in 1154, he succeeded as Henry II. Henry, considered the first Angevin king of England, had extensive holdings in France and asserted his authority over Wales, Scotland and Ireland. He clashed with his appointee to the Archbishopric of Canterbury Thomas Becket, resulting in Becket's murder and"
"The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1135 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a succession crisis precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legitimate son of Henry I, in a shipwreck in 1120. Henry's attempts to install his daughter, the Empress Matilda, as his successor were unsuccessful and on Henry's death in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois seized the throne with the help of Stephen's brother, Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester. Stephen's early reign was marked by fierce fighting"
"White Ship The White Ship (real name: , Latin documents ) was a vessel that sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur, on 25 November 1120. Only one of those aboard survived. Those who drowned included William Adelin, the only legitimate son and heir of King Henry I of England, his half-sister Matilda, his half-brother Richard and also Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester. William Adelin's death led to a succession crisis and a period of civil war in England known as the Anarchy. The ""White Ship"" was a newly refitted vessel captained by Thomas FitzStephen"
"on the ""White Ship"" but had disembarked just before it sailed; Orderic Vitalis attributes this to a sudden bout of diarrhea After Henry I's death, Matilda and her husband Geoffrey of Anjou, the founder of the Plantagenet dynasty, launched a long and devastating war against Stephen and his allies for control of the English throne. The Anarchy dragged from 1135 to 1153 with devastating effect, especially in southern England. Contemporary historian William of Malmesbury wrote: White Ship The White Ship (real name: , Latin documents ) was a vessel that sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off"
"Earl of Warwick (son of George of Clarence), resulting in the last pitched battles. Though most surviving descendants of Richard of York were imprisoned, sporadic rebellions continued until 1497, when Perkin Warbeck, who claimed he was the younger brother of Edward V, one of the two disappeared Princes in the Tower, was imprisoned and later executed. William the Conqueror's son King Henry I of England died in 1135, after his only male heir was killed aboard the White Ship. Following the White Ship disaster, England entered a period of prolonged instability known as The Anarchy. However, following the ascension of"
"the White Ship in 1120, led to the end of the Norman dynasty. Stephen of England claimed the throne in 1135. He was the last Norman king. His conflict with Henry's daughter Matilda led to The Anarchy. Plucknett describes the Charter of Liberties as a forerunner to legislation in later years. There was no legislation as such either under the Saxons or the Normans. The Charter was a great concession, born of political need. Large portions of the charter were a withdrawal of practices which were of questionable legality, and corrosive politically. Various feudal dues, instead of being arbitrary and"
"William Bigod William Bigod, the heir to the Norfolk earldom, drowned in the disaster of the White Ship as she set sail from Normandy in 1120. The ship also carried the son of the King of England Henry I, William Adelin, who also died. The succession of Henry I to the throne of England was secured not only by the mysterious death of his brother King William II Rufus but by the defeat of his eldest brother Robert Courthouse, Duke of Normandy. The death of Henry's heir to the throne set in motion a succession crisis that lasted many years."
"to Louis, and in return Louis confirmed William's rights to the Duchy. Henry's succession plans were thrown into chaos by the sinking of the ""White Ship"" on 25 November 1120. Henry had left the port of Barfleur for England in the early evening, leaving William Adelin and many of the younger members of the court to follow on that night in a separate vessel, the ""White Ship"". Both the crew and passengers were drunk and, just outside the harbour, the ship hit a submerged rock. The ship sank, killing as many as 300 people, with only one survivor, a butcher"
"and stabilise the country and smooth the differences between the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman societies. The loss of his son, William Adelin, in the wreck of the White Ship in November 1120, undermined his reforms. This problem regarding succession cast a long shadow over English history. Henry I had required the leading barons, ecclesiastics and officials in Normandy and England, to take an oath to accept Matilda (also known as Empress Maud, Henry I's daughter) as his heir. England was far less than enthusiastic to accept an outsider, and a woman, as their ruler. There is some evidence that Henry was"
"Apostle. In 1120, the English political landscape had changed dramatically after the ""White Ship"" disaster. Around three hundred passengers – including Matilda's brother William Adelin and many other senior nobles – embarked one night on the ""White Ship"" to travel from Barfleur in Normandy across to England. The vessel foundered just outside the harbour, possibly as a result of overcrowding or excessive drinking by the ship's master and crew, and all but two of the passengers died. William Adelin was among the casualties. With William dead, the succession to the English throne was thrown into doubt. Rules of succession were"
"and forcing his barons to swear to uphold her rights. On his death, the barons reneged on their oaths on the grounds of coercion, and chose Henry's nephew, Stephen of Blois, prompting a period of English history known as The Anarchy. William Adelin William Ætheling (; 5 August 1103 – 25 November 1120), commonly called Adelin, sometimes ""Adelinus"", ""Adelingus"", ""A(u)delin"" or other Latinised Norman-French variants of ""Ætheling"", was the son of Henry I of England by his wife Matilda of Scotland, and was thus heir apparent to the throne. His early death without issue caused a succession crisis, known in"
"of centuries the great peers of the realm would eventually lose their power in one succession crisis or another. By comparison, the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem was constantly beset with internal succession disputes because each generation only produced female heirs. Even the English monarchy encountered severe succession crises, such as The Anarchy of the 1120s between Stephen and Matilda, and the murder of Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, the primogeniture heir of Richard I of England. The latter case would deal a severe blow to the prestige of King John, leading to the eventual destruction of Angevin hegemony in France."
"which was to continue, in Cronne's words, as a ""chess-like war of castle sieges"". Both sides were, and continued to be, crippled by a combination of the massive cost of warfare and inefficient methods of raising revenue. Matilda left England in 1148; Stephen died in 1154, and, under the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford signed the previous year, Henry, Duke of Normandy, ascended the English throne as King Henry II. Siege of Oxford (1142) The siege of Oxford took place during The Anarchy—a period of civil war following the death of Henry I of England without an heir—in 1142."
"his daughter to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, the natural enemy of the Norman aristocracy. Mee, Arthur, ""Norfolk (King's England),"" Hodder and Stoughton, 1940 Medieval Lands Project, Earls of Norfolk (Bigod) William Bigod William Bigod, the heir to the Norfolk earldom, drowned in the disaster of the White Ship as she set sail from Normandy in 1120. The ship also carried the son of the King of England Henry I, William Adelin, who also died. The succession of Henry I to the throne of England was secured not only by the mysterious death of his brother King William II Rufus"
"of his political enemies. Meanwhile, Matilda's younger brother, William Adelin, died in the ""White Ship"" disaster of 1120, leaving England facing a potential succession crisis. On Emperor Henry V's death, Matilda was recalled to Normandy by her father, who arranged for her to marry Geoffrey of Anjou to form an alliance to protect his southern borders. Henry I had no further legitimate children and nominated Matilda as his heir, making his court swear an oath of loyalty to her and her successors, but the decision was not popular in the Anglo-Norman court. Henry died in 1135, but Matilda and Geoffrey"
"realm began to shift in favour of David. In 1120, Henry I's only legitimate son died along with Richard d'Avranches, Earl of Chester (died 1120) in the ""White Ship"" disaster. The latter's lordship in the Welsh March was a critical region of Henry I's realm, and the English king responded by transplanting Ranulf le Meschin (died 1129) from his lordship of Carlisle to Richard d'Avranches' former lordship along the Welsh frontier. Upon Alexander's death in 1124, David succeeded to the throne. The latter's subsequent endowment of Annandale to Robert de Brus (died 1142) appears to have not only signalled the"
"I of England, William Adelin, who drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120. The historian Dáibhí Ó Cróinín has proposed that the idea of the ""tánaist ríg"" in early medieval Ireland was adopted from the Anglo-Saxon, specifically Northumbrian, concept of the ætheling. The earliest use of ""tanaíste ríg"" was in reference to an Anglo-Saxon prince in about 628. Many subsequent uses related to non-Irish rulers, before the term was attached to Irish kings-in-waiting. In Wales, the variant ""edling"" was used to signify the son chosen to be the heir apparent. Ætheling Ætheling (; also spelt aetheling, atheling or etheling)"
"of Gloucester was captured and was subsequently exchanged for Stephen, who was returned to the throne of England. However, the civil war known as The Anarchy dragged on with neither side gaining an advantage. When William Adelin drowned in the White Ship, King Henry I of England was left with no male heirs. A second marriage to 18 year old Adeliza of Louvain would produce no children, leaving the widowed Empress Matilda as his only legitimate surviving child. Henry declared Matilda his heir and the English nobility agreed. The first person to swear fealty to Matilda was Stephen of Blois"
"and had Thierry excommunicated but it was a gesture. Louis abandoned William of Clito, who died during a siege at Alost on 27 July 1128, and after the whole country finally submitted to Thierry, Louis was obliged to confirm his claim. On 25 November 1120, Louis' fortunes against Henry I of England were raised when Henry's heir, William Ætheling, drunkenly perished aboard the ""White Ship"" en route from Normandy to England, putting the future of Henry's dynasty and his position in doubt. By 1123 Louis was involved with a coalition of Norman and French seigneurs opposed to Henry. The plan"
"his own niece, the former Empress of Germany, Matilda, supporting her succession in lieu of any legitimate male heirs – Henry’s son having predeceased him, drowning in the famous disaster of the White Ship in 1120. On 8 January 1107 David's brother Edgar died. It is often assumed that David took control of his inheritance, the southern lands bequeathed by Edgar, straight after the latter's death. However, much of the evidence indicates that David had to wait until 1113 to get the support he needed to take control of these lands because of King Alexander's opposition; it cannot be demonstrated"
"surface after the sinking and learned that William Adelin had not survived, he let himself drown rather than face the King. One legend holds that the ship was doomed because priests were not allowed to board it in the customary manner. For a complete list of those who did or did not travel on the ""White Ship"", see Victims of the ""White Ship"" disaster. A direct result of William Adelin's death was the period known as the Anarchy. The ""White Ship"" disaster had left Henry I with only one legitimate child, a second daughter named Matilda. Although Henry I had"
"king's death in 1135 England descended into the civil war of the Anarchy, as factions loyal to King Stephen and the Empress Matilda fought for control of the country. Fitz John was killed early in the fighting, but Miles declared in favour of Matilda and took control of the castle in his own right. In 1141 the Empress confirmed Miles as the Earl of Hereford and formally granted him St Briavels Castle. Under Miles, the castle escaped the worst of the fighting of the Anarchy. Miles' son, Roger Fitzmiles continued to hold the castle into the reign of Henry II,"
"Ken Follett's historical novel ""The Pillars of the Earth"" and the TV mini-series based on it depict Stephen as a conniving villain. Although Follett begins his book with Austin Poole's account of the ""White Ship""'s sinking to set the historical scene for the subsequent events, in many other ways Follett uses the war as a location for a story about essentially modern personalities and issues, a feature reproduced in the epic costume TV adaptation. The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1135 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order."
"the term and of some contemporary accounts. The origins of the Anarchy lay in a succession crisis involving England and Normandy. In the 11th and 12th centuries, north-west France was controlled by a number of dukes and counts, frequently in conflict with one another for valuable territory. In 1066 one of these men, Duke William II of Normandy, mounted an invasion to conquer the rich Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England, pushing on into south Wales and northern England in the coming years. The division and control of these lands after William's death proved problematic and his children fought multiple wars over"
"the support of most of the barons. Matilda challenged his reign; as a result, England descended into a period of disorder known as the Anarchy. Stephen maintained a precarious hold on power but agreed to a compromise under which Matilda's son Henry would succeed him. Henry accordingly became the first Angevin king of England and the first monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty as Henry II in 1154. The reigns of most of the Angevin monarchs were marred by civil strife and conflicts between the monarch and the nobility. Henry II faced rebellions from his own sons, the future monarchs Richard"
"at least two leper hospitals, including the institution that later became the parish church of St Giles-in-the-Fields. She also administered extensive dower properties and was known as a patron of the arts, especially music. Matilda was patroness of the monk Bendeit's version of ""The Voyage of Saint Brendan"", written around 1106–1118. After Matilda died on 1 May 1118 at Westminster Palace, she was buried at Westminster Abbey. The death of her son, William Adelin, in the disaster of the White Ship (November 1120) and Henry's failure to produce a legitimate son from his second marriage led to the succession crisis"
"of the senior clergy in England and Normandy. Henry's only legitimate son and heir, William Adelin, drowned in the ""White Ship"" disaster of 1120, throwing the royal succession into doubt. Henry took a second wife, Adeliza of Louvain, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. In response to this, Henry declared his daughter, Empress Matilda, his heir and married her to Geoffrey of Anjou. The relationship between Henry and the couple became strained, and fighting broke out along the border with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of illness. Despite his"
"and piously. He died there on 24 January 1165. William of Ypres William of Ypres (; 1090 – 24 January 1165) was a Flemish nobleman and one of the first mercenary captains of the Middle Ages. Following two unsuccessful bids for the County of Flanders, William became King Stephen of England's chief lieutenant during the civil war of 1139–54 known as the Anarchy. He held Kent, though not the title of earl, until the early years of King Henry II's reign, when he returned to Flanders. William was an illegitimate son of Philip of Loo, who was the son of"
"December. The Empress Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, leading to the prolonged civil war known as the Anarchy between 1135 and 1153. Historians have drawn on a range of sources on Henry, including the accounts of chroniclers; other documentary evidence, including early pipe rolls; and surviving buildings and architecture. The three main chroniclers to describe the events of Henry's life were William of Malmesbury, Orderic Vitalis, and Henry of Huntingdon, but each incorporated extensive social and moral commentary into their accounts and borrowed a range of literary devices and stereotypical events from other popular"
"Cultural depictions of Stephen, King of England King Stephen of England (c. 1092/6 – 25 October 1154) was a grandson of William the Conqueror, and has been depicted in various cultural works. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne ""jure uxoris"". His reign was marked by civil war with his cousin and rival the Empress Matilda, in a period called the Anarchy which has been dramatized by Beth Flintoff in her play ""Matilda the Empress"", first performed in November 2017 at St James's Church, Reading. Stephen was succeeded by Matilda's son,"
"him back the horse he had lost in the battle with other ""necessities"" in a courtly gesture. The rebellion collapsed, but William continued to find support at the French court. Louis brought his case to the pope's attention in October 1119 at Reims, and forced Henry I to justify his treatment of the exiled boy. The death by drowning of William Adelin, King Henry’s only legitimate son, on 25 November 1120 transformed William Clito’s fortunes. He was now the obvious male heir to England and Normandy, and a significant party of Norman aristocrats adopted his cause. Henry's problems became worse,"
"Empress Matilda Empress Matilda (c. 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was the claimant to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as a child when she married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. She travelled with her husband into Italy in 1116, was controversially crowned in St. Peter's Basilica, and acted as the imperial regent in Italy. Matilda and Henry had no children, and when Henry died in 1125, the crown was claimed by Lothair II, one"
"unsure of his own hopes and the oath to make Matilda his heir. Probably Henry hoped Matilda would have a son and step aside as Queen Mother. Upon Henry's death, the Norman and English barons ignored Matilda's claim to the throne, and thus through a series of decisions, Stephen, Henry's favourite nephew, was welcomed by many in England and Normandy as their new king. On 22 December 1135, Stephen was anointed king with implicit support by the church and nation. Matilda and her own son waited in France until she sparked the civil war from 1139–1153 known as the Anarchy."