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the papacy: Henry rescinded the king's divine authority in conferring sacred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.
