Photo by David Urrutia
Part 2 in a series of 3 Arundel Articles
Though I have written already of Adeliza de Louvain’s ownership of Arundel Castle, of how it came to her through Henry I ( 1068/1069 – 1135) and how it benefited from the stewardship of her second husband, William d’Albini II(one of the master castle builders of his time), I beg my kind reader to pause and contemplate the circumstances surrounding Adeliza’s marriage to Henry I.
Adeliza was a noble woman; her father was Godfrey I of Leuven, Duke of Lower Lotharingia and Landgrave of Brabant. Adeliza was a mere girl, somewhere between 15 and 18 at the time she came to England to marry Henry. She found in him a bridegroom who, though he had experienced many victories over his enemies, had entered into the saddest part of his life, for it is said he never smiled again after the White Ship Disaster.
How hard that must have been, to marry so sad a king; her entire marriage must have been lived in the shadow of the White Ship Disaster, which had so profound an effect upon the fate of Arundel and the future kings (and queens) of England!
Despite numerous illegitimate offspring, Henry I had only one legitimate male heir prior to marrying Adeliza: William the Aethling, called by this title to show the uniting of royal Saxon and Norman blood. At seventeen years of age, William had fought alongside his father to attain victories on the European continent.
Henry I
It was after these successful campaigns that King Henry I and his son made preparations to cross the channel home to England. William took the White Ship, a very fine vessel, originally a gift to Henry I. The king had already made arrangements, and suggested William take the new ship. Prince William was accompanied aboard by as many as three hundred passengers, among whom may be counted his half-brother Richard, his half-sister, the Countess of Perche, and his cousin, Stephen of Blois.
Also present was the nephew of the German Emperor Henry V, as well as the young Earl of Chester and most of the heirs to the great estates of England and Normandy. Celebration of the recent campaign victories demanded wine be brought aboard; the ensuing gaiety escaladed to a state of high intoxication among both passengers and crew before the ship even disembarked.
With both passengers and crew so inebriated, the gaiety degenerated into some chaos: there was much shouting of abuse between parties and a group of clerics who had arrived to bless the voyage was indecorously removed from the vessel. Stephen of Blois, suffering from diarrhoea, decided to remove himself too and take a later ship.
When the boat finally set out to sea from the harbor of Barfleur, night had fallen. It was a notoriously difficult crossing due to rocks. Prince William realized that partying had made his ship the last to set out, but like a typical youth, he wished to be first home. He commanded the ship’s master to have his oarsmen row for their lives through the night.
The White Ship hit a rock and the port side split wide open. The crew and ship’s master, still inebriated, fumbled at trying to get the ship off the rocks. Meanwhile, the Prince’s bodyguard got William into a smaller dinghy and had begun to get away from the ship when William heard his sister (given various names in different sources) calling to him from the White Ship.
She begged him not to let her drown in the sea. Stricken, William forced his men to turn the little craft around. Just as his rescue boat got close enough to possibly save his sister, the White Ship began sinking so fast it capsized the Prince’s boat. The latter sank without a trace. William’s body was never found.
A butcher from Rouen, named Berold, had been aboard to collect debts owed to him by the nobles. He was the only one said to survive and tell the story of what happened. For months, beautifully attired corpses washed ashore the Norman coast.
King Henry fainted when he heard the news. He lost not only his heir, but many beloved and trusted friends and relatives. 18 ladies were said to have been aboard the White Ship.
Desperate to secure his family’s succession, Henry married Adeliza, a good thirty five years younger than he, in order to produce another legitimate heir. Although they were married 15 years, no son was born. Daring to think of the then-inconceivable, Henry I asked his barons to swear an oath to uphold the rights of his only remaining legitimate child, the Empress Matilda, as well as of any male offspring she might have.
Stephen of Blois
When King Henry I died, his nephew, Stephen of Blois seized the crown. A notorious struggle began between Stephen and Matilda.
Three years after Henry I’s death, Adeliza, then in her thirties, married William d’Albini II. In the year after her new marriage, Adeliza’s step daughter the Empress Matilda came to stay at Arundel.
Tags: Adeliza de Louvain, Arundel Castle, Henry I, Stephen of Blois, White Ship Disaster
2 comments so far