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'''Enrico I''' (1068 – 1 Dicembre, 1135), chiamato anche '''Enrico Beauclerk''' o '''Enrico Beauclerc''' (il chierico) per i suoi interessi culturali, fu il terzo figlio di [[Guglielmo I d'Inghilterra|Guglielmo il Conquistatore]].

Regnò sull'Inghilterra dal 1100 al 1135, successe al fratello [[Guglielmo II d'Inghilterra|Guglielmo II il Rosso]]. É anche conosciuto con il soprannome "''leone della giustizia''", in riferimento alle modifiche apportate alla rudimentale macchina amministrativa e legilativa del tempo.

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He seized power after the death of William II, which occurred (conveniently) during the absence of his brother [[Robert Curthose]] on the Crusades.

His reign is noted for his opportunistic political skills, the aforementioned improvements in the machinery of government, the integration of the divided Anglo-Saxon and Normans within his kingom, his reuniting of the dominions of his father, and his controversial (although well-founded) decision to name his daughter as his heir.

== Early life ==

Henry was born between May [[1068]] and May [[1069]], probably in [[Selby]], [[Yorkshire]] in [[England]]. His mother, Queen [[Matilda of Flanders]], named him after her uncle, King [[Henry I of France]]. As the youngest son of the family, he was most likely expected to become a bishop and was given extensive schooling for a young nobleman of that time period. [[William of Malmesbury]] asserts that Henry once remarked that an illiterate king was a crowned ass. He was probably the first [[Norman]] ruler to be fluent in the [[English language]].

His father [[William I of England|William]], upon his death in [[1087]], bequeathed his dominions to his sons in the following manner:

*[[Robert Curthose|Robert]] received the [[Normandy|Duchy of Normandy]]

*[[William II of England|William]] received the [[England|Kingdom of England]]

* Henry received 5,000 pounds of silver

[[Orderic Vitalis]] reports that King William declared to Henry: "''You in your own time will have all the dominions I have acquired and be greater than both your brothers in wealth and power''."

Henry played his brothers off against each other. Eventually, wary of his devious manouevring, they acted together and signed an accession treaty which effectively barred Henry from both thrones, stipulating that if either died without an heir, the two dominions of their father would be reunited under the surviving brother.

== Seizing the throne of England ==

When William II was killed by an arrow whilst hunting on [[2 August]] [[1100]], Robert was returning from the [[First Crusade]]. His absence, along with his poor reputation among the Norman nobles, allowed Henry to seize the keys of the royal hoard at [[Winchester, Hampshire|Winchester]]. He was accepted as king by the leading [[baron|barons]] and was crowned three days later on [[5 August]] at [[Westminster Abbey|Westminster]]. He secured his position among the nobles by an act of political appeasement, issuing the [[Charter of Liberties]], which is considered a forerunner of the [[Magna Carta]].

== First marriage ==

On [[11 November]] [[1100]] Henry married [[Edith of Scotland|Edith]], daughter of [[Malcolm III of Scotland|King Malcolm III]] of [[Scotland]]. Since Edith was also the niece of [[Edgar Atheling]], the marriage united the Norman line with old English line of kings. The marriage greatly displeased the Norman barons, however, and as a concession to their sensibilities Edith changed her name to Matilda upon becoming queen. The obverse side of this coin, however, was that Henry, by dint of his marriage, became far more acceptable to the Anglo-Saxon populace.

[[William of Malmesbury]] describes Henry thusly: "''He was of middle stature, greater than the small, but exceeded by the very tall; his hair was black and set back upon the forehead; his eyes mildly bright; his chest brawny; his body fleshy.''"

== Conquest of Normandy ==

In [[1101]], the following year, Robert Curthose attempted to seize the crown by invading England. In the [[Treaty of Alton]], Robert agreed to recognize Henry as King of England and return peacefully to [[Normandy]], upon receipt of an annual sum of 2000 marks, which Henry proceeded to pay.

In [[1105]], to eliminate the continuing threat from [[Robert Curthose|Robert]] and to obviate the drain on his fiscal resources, Henry led an expeditionary force across the [[English Channel]]. In [[1106]], he defeated his brother's Norman army decisively at [[Battle of Tinchebray|Tinchebray]] in [[Normandy]]. He imprisoned his brother, initially in the [[Tower of London]], subsequently at Devizes Castle and later at Cardiff. Henry appropriated the [[Normandy|Duchy of Normandy]] as a possession of [[England]], and reunited his father's dominions.

He attempted to reduce difficulties in Normandy by marrying his eldest son, [[William Adelin|William]], to the daughter of [[Fulk of Jerusalem]], [[Count of Anjou]] and a serious enemy.

== Activities as a King ==

Henry's need for finance to consolidate his position led to an increase in the activities of centralised government. As king, Henry carried out social and judicial reforms, including:

*issuing the [[Charter of Liberties]]

*restoring laws of King [[Edward the Confessor]].

Henry was also known for some brutal acts. He once threw a traitorous burgher named Conan Pilatus from the tower of Rouen; the tower was known from then on as "Conan's Leap". In another instance that took place in [[1119]], King Henry's son-in-law, Eustace de Pacy, and Ralph Harnec, the constable of [[Ivry]], exchanged their children as hostages. When Eustace blinded Harnec's son, Harnec demanded vengeance. King Henry allowed Harnec to blind and mutiliate Eustace's two daughters, who were also Henry's own grandchildren. Eustace and his wife, Juliane, were outraged and threatened to rebel. Henry arranged to meet his daughter at a parlay at Breteuil, only for Juliane to draw a crossbow and attempt to assassinate her father. She was captured and confined to the castle, but escaped by leaping from a window into the moat below. Some years later Henry was reconciled with his daughter and son-in-law.

== Legitimate children ==

He had two children by Edith-Matilda, who died in [[1118]]: [[Empress Matilda|Matilda]], born February [[1102]], and [[William Adelin]], born November [[1103]]. Disaster struck when William, his only legitimate son, perished in the wreck of the [[White Ship]] on [[25 November]] [[1120]] off the coast of [[Normandy]]. Also among the dead were two of Henry's [[illegitimate child]]ren, as well as a niece, Lucia-Mahaut de Blois. Henry's grieving was intense, and the succession was in crisis.

== Second marriage ==

On [[29 January]] [[1121]], he married [[Adeliza of Louvain|Adeliza]], daughter of [[Godfrey I of Louvain]], Duke of Lower Lotharingia, but there were no children from this marriage. Left without male heirs, Henry took the unprecedented step of making his barons swear to accept his daughter [[Empress Matilda]], widow of [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry V, the Holy Roman Emperor]], as his heir.

== Death and legacy ==

Henry visited Normandy in 1135 to see his young grandsons, the children of Matilda and Geoffrey. He took great delight in his grandchildren, but soon quarreled with his daughter and son-in-law and these disputes led him to tarry in Normandy far longer than he originally planned.

Henry died of food poisoning from eating foul [[lamprey]]s in December [[1135]] at [[St. Denis le Fermont]] in Normandy and was buried at [[Reading Abbey]], which he had founded 14 years before.

Although Henry's barons had sworn allegiance to his daughter as their queen, her sex and her remarriage into the [[Angevin|House of Anjou]], an enemy of the Normans, allowed Henry's nephew [[Stephen I of England|Stephen of Blois]] to come to England and claim the throne with popular support.

The struggle between the Empress and [[Stephen I of England|Stephen]] resulted in a long civil war known as [[the Anarchy]]. The dispute was eventually settled by Stephen's naming of Matilda's son, [[Henry II of England|Henry]], as his heir in [[1153]].

==Illegitimate Children==

King Henry is famed for holding the record for the largest number of acknowledged illegitimate children born to any English king, with the number being around 20 or 25. He had many mistresses, and identifying which mistress is the mother of which child is difficult. His illegitimate offspring for whom there is documentation are:

# [[Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester|Robert FitzRoy]]. His mother was probably a member of the Gai family.

# Sibylla FitzRoy, married King [[Alexander I of Scotland]]. Probably the daughter of Sibyl Corbet.

# [[Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall|Reginald FitzRoy]]. His mother was Sibyl Corbet.

# Maud FitzRoy, married [[Conan III, Duke of Brittany]]

# Richard FitzRoy, perished in the wreck of the [[White Ship]]. His mother was Ansfride.

# Fulk FitzRoy, a monk at [[Abingdon, England|Abingdon]]. His mother may have been Ansfride.

# Juliane FitzRoy, married [[Eustace de Pacy]]. She tried to shoot her father with a crossbow after King Henry allowed her two young daughters to be blinded. Her mother may have been Ansfride.

# Matilda FitzRoy, married Count [[Rotrou II of Perche]], perished in the wreck of the [[White Ship]]. Her mother was Edith.

# Constance FitzRoy, married [[Roscelin de Beaumont]]

# Henry FitzRoy, died 1157. His mother was Princess [[Nest (princess)|Nest]].

# Mabel FitzRoy, married [[William III Gouet]]

# Aline FitzRoy, married [[Matthieu I of Montmorency]]

# Isabel FitzRoy, daughter of Isabel de Beaumont, sister of [[Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester]].

# Matilda FitzRoy, [[abbess of Montvilliers]]

# Adeliza FitzRoy. Appears in charters with her brother Robert (below), she was probably daughter of Eda FitzForne.

# Robert FitzRoy, died 1172. His mother was Eda FitzForne.

# William de Tracy, died shortly after King Henry.

# Gilbert FitzRoy, died after 1142. His mother may have been a sister of Walter de Gand.

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