Generation No. 1

 

1.  RICHARD¹I, DUKE OF NORMANDY (abt 950- abt 1010)

       

Children of RICHARDI, DUKE OF NORMANDY are:

2.                i.    ROBERT²I, DUKE OF NORNAMDY, b. Falaise (at 980), France; d. 1035.

3.               ii.    EMMA OF NORMANDY.(mother of several kings)

                 iii.    RICHARD II.

 

 

Generation No. 2

 

2.  ROBERT²I, DUKE OF NORNAMDY (RICHARD¹I, DUKE OF NORMANDY) was born in Falaise, France, and died 1035.  He married HERLEVA ARLETTE FALASIA, daughter of FULBERT. 

       

Child of ROBERT and HERLEVA FALASIA is:

4.                i.    WILLIAM³I, THE CONQUEROR, b. 1027; d. September 09, 1087, Convent of St. Gervais, Rouen, France.

 

 

Generation No. 3

 

4.  WILLIAM³I, THE CONQUEROR (ROBERT²I, DUKE OF NORNAMDY, RICHARD¹I, DUKE OF NORMANDY) was born 1027, and died September 09, 1087 in Convent of St. Gervais, Rouen, France.  He married MATHILDA OF FLANDERS. 

 

Notes for WILLIAMI, THE CONQUEROR:

William I, the Conqueror (1066-1087 AD)

AKA: William of Normandy

AKA: Duke of Normandy

AKA: William the Bastard

 

Was the illegitimate son of Robert the Magnificant, Duke of Normandy and a tanner's daugher.

 

Born: 1027

 

Died: September 9, 1087

 

Parents: Robert I, Duke of Normandy and Herleva of Falasia

 

Significant Siblings: none

 

Spouse: Mathilda (daughter of Count Baldwin of Flanders)

 

Significant Offspring: Robert, William Rufus, Henry, and Adela

 

Contemporaries: Edward the Confessor (King of England, 1047-1066); Harold Godwinson (King of England, 1066); Henry I (King of France, 1031-1060); Philip I (King of France, 1060-1108); Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085); Lanfranc (Archbishop of Canterbury)

 

William, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy, spent his first six years with his mother in Falaise and received the duchy of Normandy upon his father's death in 1035. A council consisting of noblemen and William's appointed guardians ruled Normandy but ducal authority waned under the Normans' violent nature and the province was wracked with assassination and revolt for twelve years. In 1047, William reasserted himself in the eastern Norman regions and, with the aid of France's King Henry I, crushed the rebelling barons. He spent the next several years consolidating his strength on the continent through marriage, diplomacy, war and savage intimidation. By 1066, Normandy was in a position of virtual independence from William's feudal lord, Henry I of France and the disputed succession in England offered William an opportunity for invasion.

 

Edward the Confessor attempted to gain Norman support while fighting with his father-in-law, Earl Godwin, by purportedly promising the throne to William in 1051. (This was either a false claim by William or a hollow promise from Edward; at that time, the kingship was not necessarily hereditary but was appointed by the witan, a council of clergy and barons.) Before his death in 1066, however, Edward reconciled with Godwin, and the witan agreed to Godwin's son, Harold, as heir to the crown - after the recent Danish kings, the members of the council were anxious to keep the monarchy in Anglo-Saxon hands. William was enraged and immediately prepared to invade, insisting that Harold had sworn allegiance to him in 1064. Prepared for battle in August 1066, ill winds throughout August and most of September prohibited him crossing the English Channel. This turned out to be advantageous for William, however, as Harold Godwinson awaited William's pending arrival on England's south shores, Harold Hardrada, the King of Norway, invaded England from the north. Harold Godwinson's forces marched north to defeat the Norse at Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066. Two days after the battle, William landed unopposed at Pevensey and spent the next two weeks pillaging the area and strengthening his position on the beachhead. The victorious Harold, in an attempt to solidify his kingship, took the fight south to William and the Normans on October 14, 1066 at Hastings. After hours of holding firm against the Normans, the tired English forces finally succumbed to the onslaught. Harold and his brothers died fighting in the Hastings battle, removing any further organized Anglo-Saxon resistance to the Normans. The earls and bishops of the witan hesitated in supporting William, but soon submitted and crowned him William I on Christmas Day 1066. The kingdom was immediately besieged by minor uprisings, each one individually and ruthlessly crushed by the Normans, until the whole of England was conquered and united in 1072. William punished rebels by confiscating their lands and allocating them to the Normans. Uprisings in the northern counties near York were quelled by an artificial famine brought about by Norman destruction of food caches and farming implements.

 

The arrival and conquest of William and the Normans radically altered the course of English history. Rather than attempt a wholesale replacement of Anglo-Saxon law, William fused continental practices with native custom. By disenfranchising Anglo-Saxon landowners, he instituted a brand of feudalism in England that strengthened the monarchy. Villages and manors were given a large degree of autonomy in local affairs in return for military service and monetary payments. The Anglo-Saxon office of sheriff was greatly enhanced: sheriffs arbitrated legal cases in the shire courts on behalf of the king, extracted tax payments and were generally responsible for keeping the peace. "The Domesday Book" was commissioned in 1085 as a survey of land ownership to assess property and establish a tax base. Within the regions covered by the Domesday survey, the dominance of the Norman king and his nobility are revealed: only two Anglo-Saxon barons that held lands before 1066 retained those lands twenty years later. All landowners were summoned to pay homage to William in 1086. William imported an Italian, Lanfranc, to take the position of Archbishop of Canterbury; Lanfranc reorganized the English Church, establishing separate Church courts to deal with infractions of Canon law. Although he began the invasion with papal support, William refused to let the church dictate policy within English and Norman borders.

 

He died as he had lived: an inveterate warrior. He died September 9, 1087 from complications of a wound he received in a siege on the town of Mantes.

 

"The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" gave a favorable review of William's twenty-one year reign, but added, "His anxiety for money is the only thing on which he can deservedly be blamed; . . .he would say and do some things and indeed almost anything . . .where the hope of money allured him." He was certainly cruel by modern standards, and exacted a high toll from his subjects, but he laid the foundation for the economic and political success of England.

       

Children of WILLIAM and MATHILDA FLANDERS are:

5.                i.    HENRY I⁴ BEAUCLERC, b. 1068; d. December 01, 1135.

(Note there were other children who were King as well including William Rufus AKA William II and Robert)

 

Generation No. 4

 

5.  King HENRY I  of BEAUCLERC (WILLIAM³I, THE CONQUEROR, ROBERT²I, DUKE OF NORNAMDY, RICHARD¹I, DUKE OF NORMANDY) was born 1068, and died December 01, 1135.  He married EADGYTH November 11, 1100, daughter of MALCOLMIII, KING OF SCOTLAND. 

 

Notes for HENRY I BEAUCLERC:

Henry I, Beauclerc

(1100-1135 AD)

 

Born: 1068

 

Died: 1135

 

Parents: William the Conqueror and Mathilda of Flanders

 

Significant Siblings: Robert, William Rufus

 

Spouse: (1st) Eadgyth, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland; (2nd) Adelaide of Louvain

 

Significant Offspring: William, Matilda, Robert de Mellent (Earl of Gloucester), Sibylla

 

Contemporaries: Louis VI ("Louis the Fat", King of France, 1108-1137), Roger of Salisbury, Anselm (Archbishop of Canterbury), Pope Pascal II

 

Henry I, the most resilient of the Norman kings (his reign lasted thirty-five years), was nicknamed "Beauclerc" (fine scholar) for his above average education. During his reign, the differences between English and Norman society began to slowly evaporate. Reforms in the royal treasury system became the foundation upon which later kings built. The stability Henry afforded the throne was offset by problems in succession: his only surviving son, William, was lost in the wreck of the White Ship in November 1120.

 

The first years of Henry's reign were concerned with subduing Normandy. William the Conqueror divided his kingdoms between Henry's older brothers, leaving England to William Rufus and Normandy to Robert. Henry inherited no land but received £5000 in silver. He played each brother off of the other during their quarrels; both distrusted Henry and subsequently signed a mutual accession treaty barring Henry from the crown. Henry's hope arose when Robert departed for the Holy Land on the First Crusade; should William die, Henry was the obvious heir. Henry was in the woods hunting on the morning of August 2, 1100 when William Rufus was killed by an arrow. His quick movement in securing the crown on August 5 led many to believe he was responsible for his brother's death. In his coronation charter, Henry denounced William's oppressive policies and promising good government in an effort to appease his barons. Robert returned to Normandy a few weeks later but escaped final defeat until the Battle of Tinchebrai in 1106; Robert was captured and lived the remaining twenty-eight years of his life as Henry's prisoner.

 

Henry was drawn into controversy with a rapidly expanding Church. Lay investiture, the king's selling of clergy appointments, was heavily opposed by Gregorian reformers in the Church but was a cornerstone of Norman government. Henry recalled Anselm of Bec to the archbishopric of Canterbury to gain baronial support, but the stubborn Anselm refused to do homage to Henry for his lands. The situation remained unresolved until Pope Paschal II threatened Henry with excommunication in 1105. He reached a compromise with the papacy: Henry rescinded the king's divine authority in conferring sacred offices but appointees continued to do homage for their fiefs. In practice, it changed little - the king maintained the deciding voice in appointing ecclesiastical offices - but it a marked a point where kingship became purely secular and subservient in the eyes of the Church.

 

By 1106, both the quarrels with the church and the conquest of Normandy were settled and Henry concentrated on expanding royal power. He mixed generosity with violence in motivating allegiance to the crown and appointing loyal and gifted men to administrative positions. By raising men out of obscurity for such appointments, Henry began to rely less on landed barons as ministers and created a loyal bureaucracy. He was deeply involved in continental affairs and therefore spent almost half of his time in Normandy, prompting him to create the position of justiciar - the most trusted of all the king's officials, the justiciar literally ruled in the king's stead. Roger of Salisbury, the first justiciar, was instrumental in organizing an efficient department for collection of royal revenues, the Exchequer. The Exchequer held sessions twice a year for sheriffs and other revenue-collecting officials; these officials appeared before the justiciar, the chancellor, and several clerks and rendered an account of their finances. The Exchequer was an ingenious device for balancing amounts owed versus amounts paid. Henry gained notoriety for sending out court officials to judge local financial disputes (weakening the feudal courts controlled by local lords) and curb errant sheriffs (weakening the power bestowed upon the sheriffs by his father).

 

The final years of his reign were consumed in war with France and difficulties ensuring the succession. The French King Louis VI began consolidating his kingdom and attacked Normandy unsuccessfully on three separate occasions. The succession became a concern upon the death of his son William in 1120: Henry's marriage to Adelaide was fruitless, leaving his daughter Matilda as the only surviving legitimate heir. She was recalled to Henry's court in 1125 after the death of her husband, Emperor Henry V of Germany. Henry forced his barons to swear an oath of allegiance to Matilda in 1127 after he arranged her marriage to the sixteen-year-old Geoffrey of Anjou to cement an Angevin alliance on the continent. The marriage, unpopular with the Norman barons, produced a male heir in 1133, which prompted yet another reluctant oath of loyalty from the aggravated barons. In the summer of 1135, Geoffrey demanded custody of certain key Norman castles as a show of good will from Henry; Henry refused and the pair entered into war. Henry's life ended in this sorry state of affairs - war with his son-in-law and rebellion on the horizon - in December 1135.

 

Notes for EADGYTH:

Edith (Eadgyth), daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland, by whom he had up to four children before her death in 1118. When she married Henry, Edith changed her name to Matilda at Henry's request for political reasons. On January 29, 1121, he married Adeliza, daughter of the Count of Louvain, but there were no children from this marriage.

 

       

Child of HENRY BEAUCLERC and EADGYTH is:

7.                i.    MATILDA⁵, d. September 10, 1169.

 

 

Generation No. 5

 

7.  Empress MATILDA⁵ (HENRY I⁴ BEAUCLERC, WILLIAM³I, THE CONQUEROR, ROBERT²I, DUKE OF NORNAMDY, RICHARD¹I, DUKE OF NORMANDY) died September 10, 1169.  She married GEOFFREY OF ANJOU April 01, 1127. 

 

Notes for MATILDA:

Empress Matilda (1141 AD)

Matilda is the Latin form of Maud, and the name of the only surviving legitimate child of King Henry I. She was born in 1101, generally it is said at Winchester, but recent research indicates that she was actually born at the Royal Palace in Sutton Courtenay (Berkshire).

 

In something of a political coup for her father, Matilda was betrothed to the German Emperor, Henry V, when she was only eight. They were married on 7th January 1114. She was twelve and he was thirty-two. Unfortunately there were no children and on the Emperor's death in 1125, Matilda was recalled to her father's court.

 

Matilda's only legitimate brother had been killed in the disastrous Wreck of the White Ship in late 1120 and she was now her father's only hope for the continuation of his dynasty. The barons swore allegiance to the young Princess and promised to make her queen after her father's death. She herself needed heirs though and in April 1127, Matilda found herself obliged to marry Prince Geoffrey of Anjou and Maine (the future Geoffrey V, Count of those Regions). He was thirteen, she twenty-three. It is thought that the two never got on. However, despite this unhappy situation they had had three sons in four years.

 

Being absent in Anjou at the time of her father's death on 1st December 1135, possibly due to pregnancy, Matilda was not in much of a position to take up the throne which had been promised her and she quickly lost out to her fast-moving cousin, Stephen. With her husband, she attempted to take Normandy. With encouragement from supporters in England though, it was not long before Matilda invaded her rightful English domain and so began a long-standing Civil War from the powerbase of her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester, in the West Country.

 

After three years of armed struggle, she at last gained the upper hand at the Battle of Lincoln, in February 1141, where King Stephen was captured. However, despite being declared Queen or "Lady of the English" at Winchester and winning over Stephen's brother, Henry of Blois, the powerful Bishop of Winchester, Matilda alienated the citizens of London with her arrogant manner. She failed to secure her coronation and the Londoners joined a renewed push from Stephen's Queen and laid siege to the Empress in Winchester. She managed to escape to the West, but while commanding her rearguard, her brother was captured by the enemy.

 

Matilda was obliged to swap Stephen for Robert on 1st November 1141. Thus the King soon reimposed his Royal authority. In 1148, after the death of her half-brother, Matilda finally returned to Normandy, leaving her son, who, in 1154, would become Henry II, to fight on in England. She died at Rouen on 10th September 1169 and was buried in Fontevrault Abbey, though some of her entrails may possibly have been later interred in her father's foundation at Reading Abbey.