Editing Henry I of England (section)

== Death and legacy ==
=== Death ===
[[File:Henry I - British Library Royal 20 A ii f6v (detail).jpg|thumb|left|Early 14th-century depiction of Henry mourning the death of his son]]

Relations among Henry, Matilda, and Geoffrey became increasingly strained during the King's final years. Matilda and Geoffrey suspected that they lacked genuine support in England. In 1135 they urged Henry to hand over the royal castles in Normandy to Matilda while he was still alive, and insisted that the Norman nobility swear immediate allegiance to her, thereby giving the couple a more powerful position after Henry's death.<ref>{{harvnb|King|2010|pp=38–39}}</ref> Henry angrily declined to do so, probably out of concern that Geoffrey would try to seize power in Normandy.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=216–217}}; {{harvnb|King|2010|p=38}}; {{harvnb|Crouch|1986|p=162}}</ref> A fresh rebellion broke out among the barons in southern Normandy, led by [[William III, Count of Ponthieu]], whereupon Geoffrey and Matilda intervened in support of the rebels.<ref>{{harvnb|Barlow|1999|p=162}}; {{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=467}}</ref>

Henry campaigned throughout the autumn, strengthening the southern frontier, and then travelled to [[Lyons-la-Forêt]] in November to enjoy some hunting, still apparently healthy.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=467, 473}}</ref> There he fell ill – according to the chronicler [[Henry of Huntingdon]], he ate too many ("a surfeit of") [[lamprey]]s against his physician's advice – and his condition worsened over the course of a week.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=467–468, 473}}</ref> Once the condition appeared terminal, Henry gave confession and summoned Archbishop [[Hugh of Amiens]], who was joined by Robert of Gloucester and other members of the court.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=473}}</ref> In accordance with custom, preparations were made to settle Henry's outstanding debts and to revoke outstanding sentences of forfeiture.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=467, 473}}; {{harvnb|Green|2009|p=220}}</ref> The King died on 1 December 1135, and his corpse was taken to Rouen accompanied by the barons, where it was embalmed; his entrails were buried locally at the [[priory]] of [[Notre-Dame-du-Pré|Notre-Dame du Pré]], and the preserved body was taken on to England, where it was interred at [[Reading Abbey]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=467, 474}}</ref>

Despite Henry's efforts, the succession was disputed. When news began to spread of the King's death, Geoffrey and Matilda were in Anjou supporting the rebels in their campaign against the royal army, which included a number of Matilda's supporters such as Robert of Gloucester.<ref name=BarlowP162/> Many of these barons had taken an oath to stay in Normandy until the late king was properly buried, which prevented them from returning to England.<ref>{{harvnb|Crouch|2002|p=246}}</ref> The Norman nobility discussed declaring Theobald of Blois king.<ref>{{harvnb|King|2010|pp=47–48}}</ref> Theobald's younger brother Stephen quickly crossed from Boulogne to England, accompanied by his military household.<ref>{{harvnb|Barlow|1999|p=163}}; {{harvnb|King|2010|p=43}}</ref> [[Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk|Hugh Bigod]] dubiously testified that Henry, on his deathbed, had released the barons from their oath to Matilda,<ref name=warren>{{Cite book |last=Warren |first=Wilfred L. |url=http://archive.org/details/henryii00warr |title=Henry II |date=1973 |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |pages=14, 18–19 |isbn=978-0-52002282-9}}</ref> and with the help of his brother [[Henry of Blois]], Stephen seized power in England and was crowned king on 22 December.<ref>{{harvnb|King|2010|p=43}}</ref> Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, appealing at first to the Pope against the decision to allow the coronation of Stephen,<ref name=warren/> and then invading England to start a prolonged civil war, known as [[the Anarchy]], between 1135 and 1153.<ref>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2004|pp=169–171}}</ref>

=== Historiography ===
[[File:Llyfr Coch Hergest 240-241.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|Part of the Welsh ''[[Brut y Tywysogion]]'', one of the [[chronicle]]r sources for Henry's reign]]

Historians have drawn on a range of sources on Henry, including the accounts of chroniclers; other documentary evidence, including early [[pipe rolls]]; and surviving buildings and architecture.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=1–2}}; {{harvnb|Newman|1988|p=7}}</ref> The three main chroniclers to describe the events of Henry's life were [[William of Malmesbury]], [[Orderic Vitalis]], and Henry of Huntingdon, but each incorporated extensive social and moral commentary into their accounts and borrowed a range of literary devices and stereotypical events from other popular works.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=2–5}}; {{harvnb|Newman|1988|p=7}}</ref> Other chroniclers include [[Eadmer]], [[Hugh the Chanter]], [[Abbot Suger]], and the authors of the Welsh ''[[Brut y Tywysogion|Brut]]''.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=6–7}}</ref> Not all royal documents from the period have survived, but there are several royal acts, charters, writs, and letters, along with some early financial records.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=9}}</ref> Some of these have since been discovered to be forgeries, and others had been subsequently amended or tampered with.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=11}}</ref>

[[Historians in England during the Middle Ages|Late medieval historians]] seized on the accounts of selected chroniclers regarding Henry's education and gave him the title of Henry "Beauclerc", a theme echoed in the analysis of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and [[Edwardian]] historians such as [[Francis Palgrave]] and [[Henry William Carless Davis|Henry Davis]].<ref>{{harvnb|David|1929|pp=45–46}}</ref> The historian Charles David dismissed this argument in 1929, showing the more extreme claims for Henry's education to be without foundation.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=33}}; {{harvnb|David|1929|p=56}}</ref> Modern histories of Henry commenced with [[Richard Southern]]'s work in the early 1960s, followed by extensive research during the rest of the 20th century into a wide variety of themes from his reign in England, and a much more limited number of studies of his rule in Normandy.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=14–17}}</ref> Only two major, modern biographies of Henry have been produced, [[C. Warren Hollister]]'s posthumous volume in 2001, and Judith Green's 2006 work.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=14–15}}; {{cite magazine |url=http://www.the-tls.co.uk/tls/archives/ |title=Off the Rocks |access-date=22 February 2013 |last=David |first=Carpenter |date=7 July 2006 |magazine=Times Literary Supplement}}{{subscription required}}</ref>

Interpretation of Henry's personality by historians has altered over time. Earlier historians such as [[Austin Poole]] and Richard Southern considered Henry as a cruel, draconian ruler.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=314}}; {{harvnb|Southern|1962|p=231}}, cited in {{harvnb|Green|2009|p=314}}; {{harvnb|Poole|1993|p=99}}</ref> More recent historians, such as Hollister and Green, view his implementation of justice much more sympathetically, particularly when set against the standards of the day, but even Green has noted that Henry was "in many respects highly unpleasant", and Alan Cooper has observed that many contemporary chroniclers were probably too scared of the King to voice much criticism.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=314}}; {{harvnb|Green|1989|p=1}}; {{harvnb|Cooper|2001|p=65}}; {{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=484–485}}</ref> Historians have also debated the extent to which Henry's administrative reforms genuinely constituted an introduction of what Hollister and John Baldwin have termed systematic, "administrative kingship", or whether his outlook remained fundamentally traditional.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|pp=15, 319}}; {{harvnb|Hollister|Baldwin|1978|pp=867–868}}</ref>

Henry's burial at [[Reading Abbey]] is marked by a local cross and a plaque,<ref>{{cite web |title=Remembering a King |url=https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/blog/remembering-king |website=Reading Museum |date=5 July 2018 |publisher=Reading Borough Council |access-date=5 December 2018}}</ref> but Reading Abbey was slowly demolished during the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in the 16th century.<ref name=Duffy2003P52/> The exact location is uncertain, but the most likely location of the tomb itself is now in a built-up area of central Reading, on the site of the former abbey choir.<ref name=Duffy2003P52>{{harvnb|Duffy|2003|p=52}}</ref> A plan to locate his remains was announced in March 2015, with support from [[English Heritage]] and [[Philippa Langley]], who aided with the successful discovery and [[exhumation of Richard III]].<ref>{{cite news |title=A Search for Bones of Henry I is Planned in Reading |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-32037999 |work=BBC News |date=24 March 2015 |access-date=26 March 2015}}</ref>