A History of England, Period I. Mediæval MonarchyBright, J. Franck (James Franck)
History
A History of England, Period I. Mediæval Monarchy
Bright, J. Franck (James Franck)
Great Britain -- History
The causes of war had not been removed. There was still chronic
disaffection among the Norman barons, who disliked the firmness
of Henry’s rule; constant jealousy upon the part of the French
King; and the Pretender William, the Clito as he is called, was an
ever-ready instrument for their hands. Thus the border warfare was
renewed, and we hear of the disaffection, not only of the King’s
great barons, but of his allies, both Robert of Flanders and Fulk
of Anjou adopting William’s cause. Other distresses likewise came
upon Henry. He lost his wife Matilda, and his firm and sagacious
minister, Robert of Mellent. But, in 1118, prosperity again
returned to him. The Count of Flanders was killed in an attack upon
the Count of Eu. Money or negotiation won back the friendship of
Fulk, and in the following year a battle between a few knights at
Brenneville, at which both Henry and Louis were present in person,
was regarded as so decisive a victory for the English, that, by
the mediation of Pope Calixtus, a new Treaty was arranged, and
William’s interest completely disregarded. Thus was triumphantly
closed the second of Henry’s wars in France.
[Sidenote: Death of Prince William and its consequences. 1120.]
At this period of his greatest prosperity a blow fell upon Henry
from which he is said never to have recovered. He was returning
in triumph to England, when a certain Thomas Fitz-Stephen, whose
father had conveyed the Conqueror to England, claimed the privilege
of conveying the royal party. To gratify him, Prince William,
with the king’s natural daughter Matilda, the Countess of Perche,
and other young nobles, consented to embark in his ship called
the “Blanche Nef.” They remained behind the rest of the fleet
and celebrated the occasion in festivity, which ended in the
drunkenness of the crew. As they rode upon the harbour of Barfleur
in the moonlight they suddenly struck upon the rocks of the Ras de
Catte, and there was barely time for the young Prince to escape in
a boat from the sinking ship. The cries of his sister are said to
have induced William to return towards the wreck, when the hurried
rush of the despairing crew capsized his boat, and all on board
were drowned. Of the whole crew of the ship one only, Berold, a
butcher of Rouen, survived, owing his safety to the warmth afforded
him by his rough garb of undressed sheepskins. With fear and
trembling the news was broken to Henry by the young son of Count
Theobald of Blois. Henry is said to have fallen fainting from his
seat, and from that time onwards never to have relaxed into a smile.
[Sidenote: Insurrection of the Duke of Anjou.]
[Sidenote: Death of William Clito.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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