Henry I (born 1068, ruled 1100-35). The youngest son of William the Conqueror was born in England. His nickname, Beauclerc, which means "good scholar," was given him because of his fine education. He seized the crown in the year 1100, when his brother King William II was killed in a hunting accident and his brother Robert, duke of Normandy, who was next in the line of succession, was absent on a crusade (see William, Kings of England ).
At his accession Henry I issued the famous Charter of Liberties, which, over a hundred years later, was used as the basis of Magna Carta, the foundation of the liberties of the Anglo-Saxon world. He also favored the church in order to gain its backing against the claims of his brother Robert to the English throne.
The Charter of Liberties helped gain Henry the support of the nobles. He conciliated the English, conquered by his father, by marrying Matilda, who was the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and who was descended from the Anglo-Saxon kings. The support of the common people was assured by the justice he administered through the King's Court.
Henry's only son, William Aetheling, was drowned in 1120 when the White Ship sank in the English Channel. According to legend, the king never smiled again. The accident left his daughter Matilda, widow of the Holy Roman emperor Henry V, and his nephew Stephen contestants for the throne at his death.
Isabel de BEAUMONT (1100-) [Pedigree]
Daughter of Robert de BEAUMONT 1st Earl of Leicester (1049-1118) and Isabel de VERMANDOIS Countess of Leicester and Meulan (1081-1131)
She was a mistress of Henry I, King of England.
b. ABT 1100, of Leicestershire, Eng.
Married Gilbert de CLARE Earl of Pembroke (1100-1148)
Children: [listed under entry for Gilbert de CLARE]
References: [ES],[RD500],[PlantagenetA],[Weis1]
