Editing Henry I of England (section)

=== Inheritance, 1087–1088 ===
[[File:Henry I of England.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|13th-century depiction of Henry]]

In 1087, William was fatally injured during a campaign in the [[Vexin]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=37}}</ref> Henry joined his dying father near [[Rouen]] in September, where the King partitioned his possessions among his sons.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=37–38}}</ref> The rules of succession in [[western Europe]] at the time were uncertain; in some parts of France, [[primogeniture]], in which the eldest son would inherit a title, was growing in popularity.<ref name=BarlowP162>{{harvnb|Barlow|1999|p=162}}</ref> In other parts of Europe, including Normandy and England, the tradition was for lands to be divided, with the eldest son taking patrimonial lands – usually considered to be the most valuable – and younger sons given smaller, or more recently acquired, partitions or estates.<ref name=BarlowP162/>

In dividing his lands, William appears to have followed the Norman tradition, distinguishing between Normandy, which he had inherited, and England, which he had acquired through war.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=38}}</ref> William's second son, Richard, had died in a hunting accident, leaving Henry and his two brothers to inherit William's estate. Robert, the eldest, despite being in armed rebellion against his father at the time of his death, received Normandy.<ref name=Hollister2003pp38>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=38–39}}</ref> England was given to William Rufus, who was in favour with the dying king.<ref name=Hollister2003pp38/> Henry was given a large sum of money, usually reported as £5,000, with the expectation that he would also be given his mother's modest set of lands in [[Buckinghamshire]] and [[Gloucestershire]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=39–40, 46}}</ref>{{refn|Chroniclers varied in reporting the sum as either £2,000 or £5,000, although £5,000 is the more commonly cited figure among later historians.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=39}}; {{harvnb|Green|2009|p=25}}</ref>|group=nb}} William's funeral at [[Caen]] was marred by angry complaints from a local man, and Henry may have been responsible for resolving the dispute by buying off the protester with silver.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=39}}</ref>

Robert returned to Normandy, expecting to have been given both the Duchy and England, to find that William Rufus had crossed the Channel and been crowned king.<ref name=Hollister2003P48>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=48}}</ref> The two brothers disagreed fundamentally over the inheritance, and Robert soon began to plan an invasion of England to seize the kingdom, helped by a rebellion by some of the leading nobles against William Rufus.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=48–49}}</ref> Henry remained in Normandy and took up a role within Robert's court, possibly either because he was unwilling to side openly with William Rufus, or because Robert might have taken the opportunity to confiscate Henry's inherited money if he had tried to leave.<ref name=Hollister2003P48/>{{refn|£5,000 would have formed around 1.5 million silver pennies, a difficult sum to move easily out of the Duchy if opposed.<ref>{{harvnb|Thompson|2007|p=17}}</ref>|group=nb}} William Rufus sequestered Henry's new estates in England, leaving Henry landless.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=40, 47}}</ref> 

In 1088, Robert's plans for the invasion of England began to falter, and he turned to Henry, proposing that his brother lend him some of his inheritance, which Henry refused.<ref name=HollisterP49>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=49}}</ref> Henry and Robert then came to an alternative arrangement, in which Robert would make Henry the count of western Normandy, in exchange for £3,000.<ref name=HollisterP49/>{{refn|Western Normandy had originally been intended for Henry's late brother Richard and was suitably remote from the capital in Rouen.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2009|p=28}}</ref>|group=nb}} Henry's lands were a new countship created by a delegation of the ducal authority in the [[Cotentin]], but it extended across the [[Avranchin]], with control over the bishoprics of both.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|pp=51–53}}; {{harvnb|Thompson|2007|p=19}}</ref> This also gave Henry influence over two major Norman leaders, [[Hugh d'Avranches]] and [[Richard de Redvers]], and the abbey of [[Mont Saint-Michel]], whose lands spread out further across the Duchy.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=53}}</ref> Robert's invasion force failed to leave Normandy, leaving William Rufus secure in England.<ref>{{harvnb|Hollister|2003|p=50}}</ref>