King Henry I was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and the only one to be born in England. Henry succeeded his brother William II as King of England after William’s suspicious death during a hunting trip with his brother, um, Henry (convenient is a word that comes to mind). Henry had to then fight another older brother, Robert, for the throne which ultimately leads to Robert’s imprisonment. After securing his place on the throne, Henry went onto marry a Scot (Edith who would later be renamed Matilda), who was the great-granddaughter of Edward the Confessor, thus placating both the Scots and the Saxons. Henry received two nicknames during his reign “Beauclerc†(which is French for ‘fine scholar’) given his studious nature, and “The Lion of Justice†given his judicial reforms which established a balance for the Anglo-Norman traditions of his kingdom. For the most part, Henry reined during a period of peace and prosperity. He did leave one problem, though: Matilda only gave him two children: William and Matilda, Jr. The heir-apparent, William, died at the age of 17 in an unfortunate drowning accident, and Papa Henry was not too keen on his daughter ascending the throne. He married again (Matilda, Sr. had since died) in an effort to produce another male heir, but was unsuccessful. The throne eventually went to his nephew, Stephen. That would turn out to be a mistake because Matilda Jr. was one fiery bitch.
