Hello and welcome to today's history lesson.

My name is Mr. Merritt and I'll be guiding you through today's lesson.

So let's get started.

Today's lesson is looking at Matilda and the succession crisis, and by the end of today's lesson we'll be able to describe the nature of Matilda's claim to the English throne.

In order to do that, we need to use some key terms. And our key terms for the day are legitimate, heir, baron, and succession crisis.

Legitimate means to be born of parents legally married to each other.

An heir is a person legally entitled to the property or rank of another person upon that person's death.

A baron is a great lord or landholder in a kingdom.

And a succession crisis is a situation in which there is no clear heir to a position.

Today's lesson will be comprised of three separate learning cycles and our first learning cycle is the loss of the son.

So let's get started.

Now King Henry I, the youngest son of William the Conqueror, had 24 children during his life, but only two were legitimate.

The first, Matilda, who became Empress of the Holy Roman Empire.

And the second was William Adelin, who is heir to the throne of England and Normandy.

In 1115, at the age of 12, William was made Duke of Normandy by his father, and Normandy was part of France, and the Duke of Normandy was supposedly under the control of the French King.

Now, the reason why he did this is twofold, partly is to give William Adelin that measure of respect and responsibility that is to be expected of somebody who is destined to take over the throne of England and Normandy.

So that's one reason there.

But probably the most important reason at that particular point in time was that the Duke of Normandy was supposed to pay respect to the King of France.

He was supposed to be under the control of the French king.

And for a king of England to be under the control of the French king was unacceptable.

So a workaround had to be achieved and the workaround was, well, let's just make somebody else the Duke of Normandy.

And that way the King of England doesn't have to pay respect to the King of France.

So that's exactly the situation.

That's why William MAdelin became Duke of Normandy at such a young age.

It was so that King Henry I didn't have to be in this uncomfortable situation where he had to pay respect, pay homage to the French king.

Now let's have a quick check for understanding.

Who was heir to the throne of England and Normandy in 1120? Was it Empress Matilda? Was it Louis VI, or was it William Adelin? Okay, if you chose C, William Adelin, then very well done.

That is the correct answer.

Now William paid homage.

He paid his respects to King Louis VI of France in 1120, accompanied by his father and some of the most important sons of the Anglo-Norman barons.

And on the 25th of November, 1120, Henry set sail to return to England.

William and the baron's sons planned to follow him in the fastest ship in the fleet, which was known as the White Ship.

The group delayed their departure because they were drinking and they allowed the ship's crew to join them.

It's probably worth pointing out that William Adelin has grown up at this point in time.

He's no longer 12 years old.

I think he's 17 years old at this point in time.

So him and his friends, they decided to have a few drinks.

They invite the crew to join them as well.

And as a result of that, they don't leave until it is quite late.

It's actually, it was dark at this point.

So it's back in November.

It's dark.

These are not fantastic conditions to be sailing in.

One of the party, William Adelin's cousin, a man called Stephen of Blois, decided against boarding the ship as the alcohol had given him a bad stomach.

And this is a really, really important moment in English history.

It doesn't seem like it at the time, certainly, but within a few years' time it becomes really important that Stephen of Blois made this decision.

It's a big what if moment in history.

What if Stephen of Blois hadn't been drinking so much? What if he didn't have a bad stomach? Without any exaggeration, the history of England would've been changed.

Now, quick check for understanding.

Why did Stephen of Blois not board the White Ship with William Adelin and the rest of the barons' sons? Was it because he had an argument with William Adelin? Was it because he lost his sword or went to look for it? Or was it because he had a bad stomach from too much drinking? So make your choice now.

Okay, if you chose C, then congratulations.

That is indeed the correct answer.

Now, the group, the baron's sons, William Adelin, they encouraged the crew to show off the speed of the ship by overtaking the king and getting to England first, just a very friendly rivalry.

They thought they'd give 'em a few hours headstart, but the White Ship's the fastest ship in the fleet.

So let's get going, let's see what we can do here.

The drunk crew agreed and they flew out of the harbour at top speed and they smashed straight into a rock, which perhaps if it had been light they would've seen, hadn't been so drunk, they would've remembered and navigated around it.

But as it was, they were incredibly drunk and it was very dark.

So they smashed straight into a rock and the ship sunk.

One crew member managed to swim away from the wreckage.

He managed to survive.

And looking back, he saw that William had escaped onto a life raft, which obviously brings hope that the heir to the throne would survive.

However, it was not to be.

Upon hearing the cries of one of his half sisters, William Adelin turned the boat around to save her only to be swamped by desperate crew members who were trying to escape the cold water.

Their combined weight was too much for the raft, and it sank into the murky depths, taking the heir to the throne with it.

And of the 300 people on board, only one survived.

Right? Let's have a quick check for understanding.

Now, so true or false, Henry I's legitimate heir died during the White Ship disaster.

Is that true or is that false? Okay, if you chose true, then congratulations.

It is indeed true.

But let's justify this answer now though.

Why is it a true statement? Is it true because the White Ship sank when it struck a rock off of the coast of Normandy and William Adelin died? Or is it true because the White Ship sank when it was attacked by an enemy ship and William Adelin died? So choose your justification now.

Okay? If you chose A, then very well done.

That is indeed the correct answer, right? Let's do our first task for today then.

So what I would like you to do is write a report to King Henry I telling him about the White Ship disaster.

And you can use the following sentences that are on the screen there to help you out.

So pause the video while you do this and I'll see you in just a moment.

Okay? Welcome back.

Hopefully you got on fine with that task here.

So I've got a model lined up on the screen here.

So let's read through this and see how similar it is to yours.

So I said, "My Lord, I have terrible news.

The White Ship has sunk after striking a rock off the Normandy coast.

It happened because everyone on board was drunk.

It was dark, and the crew were going too fast.

Your son, William Adelin has drowned along with almost all of the 300 people on board.

All England mourns with you, my lord, because now England has lost its legitimate heir to the throne." If you've got something a little bit different to me, that's absolutely fine as long as it follows that sort of structure and gives the actual facts of the tale.

Right.

Let's move on then to our second learning cycle for the day, which is the rise of the daughter.

So the death of William Adelin created a succession crisis in England.

Without an heir it just simply was not clear who would succeed Henry I upon his death.

Henry had several options available to him.

Now should stress that it wasn't a case of all hope is lost.

They did have options.

The most obvious choice, of course, is just to have another son.

Henry, at this point, is in his late middle age.

So he's perfectly capable of having more children.

And also he has shown himself very capable of having children in the past.

So realistically, that was the the best option available.

Now, unfortunately, Henry's first wife had died, but he remarried in January, 1121.

Unfortunately though, the couple never had any children.

As a result, Henry could have chosen one of his other sons, one of his illegitimate sons.

And the eldest son or what was probably the eldest son, Robert of Gloucester, was probably the best option.

He's about 30 years old at this point in time.

He was very talented, he was very intelligent.

He was very well respected by the other Anglo-Norman barons.

So he would in many ways have been a great choice.

However, he would not have been accepted by the English people because he was not a legitimate son of the king.

So Robert of Gloucester had pretty much everything going for him other than the fact that he wasn't a legitimate son.

Right.

Let's have a quick check for understanding now.

So quick discussion question.

I want to think about why could it be considered a problem that the death of William Adelin would create a succession crisis in England? So pause the video now whilst you consider that question and I'll see you in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you got on fine with that task.

So let's think about the sort of things you could have said here.

So you might have said that it creates uncertainty amongst the English population.

It could have said that several people could try to become king after the death of Henry I, and as a result that could potentially lead to a civil war as well.

So there's other reasons you could have said, but maybe you've got some of those three on the screen there as well.

Now, Henry also considered making a close relative his heir, and his nephew Stephen and Theobald of Blois were the most likely candidates.

However, they were not Henry's direct descendants.

And as a result, he was less keen on that idea.

They're certainly still members of the family.

They were grandchildren of William the Conqueror, but they're not Henry's immediate children.

So he would prefer somebody else who is.

Now in 1125, an alternative option arose.

The Holy Roman Emperor Henry V had died, leaving Empress Matilda a widow.

Matilda was Henry's eldest legitimate daughter and had experience in ruling an empire.

As a result, Henry I recalled his daughter to his lands and made her his heir.

Now this was a bold decision by Henry.

Even had William Adelin survived the White Ship disaster, there still may have been a succession crisis after Henry's death.

And the reason being is that England had not had a smooth transition of power for many, many years.

William the Conqueror had taken the throne by force, you may have learned about the battle of Hastings and how he enabled himself to become the King of England.

His three sons had also all fought each other for the right to rule England and Normandy.

There's relatively good evidence to suggest that Henry I assassinated the second brother, William Rufus.

There was a terrible hunting accident in the new forest in the south coast, which Henry I was able to capitalise on incredibly quickly, suspiciously quickly, in terms of who should become Duke of Normandy.

The eldest son Robert Curthose and King Henry, they also fought for the rights to become Duke of Normandy.

Robert Curthose was actually imprisoned by Henry for a considerable amount of time as well.

So there's no recent history of a nice easy transition of power from one monarch to the next in England at this point in time.

Now, laws regarding succession were also not clear in many places throughout Europe at this time.

And that of course includes England.

In England, the concept of a woman becoming ruler in her own right just simply hadn't come up before as well.

And therefore there's no law about it.

And that of course includes no law preventing it from happening either.

It just hadn't come up at all.

So no one had thought about what to do if it does.

Now, it should be pointed out that Henry's decision initially seemed to pay off.

In January, 1127.

the barons of England competed to be the first to swear an oath, which is a very, very serious promise honouring Matilda's claim as heir to the throne.

They repeated this oath several times, at least three times we know of over the next few years.

However, there was some opposition to Matilda's claim.

King Louis VI of France was furious at the thought of a woman inheriting the throne.

Now you might argue what's it got to do with him? It's the throne of England.

And to a great extent, that is absolutely true.

It's got nothing to do with him apart from the fact that Matilda would also become the Duchess of Normandy.

And at that point you could argue that Louis VI's opinion begins to matter to some extent.

It also could have meant as well that Louis might have declared war in England and Normandy simply because there's a women on the throne, it's entirely possible that could have happened.

Now in England, the fact that Matilda was a woman actually seemed less important than who she was married to.

Nobody seemed overly concerned that Matilda was a woman, but they seemed very concerned about who her husband was.

Her second husband, Count Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou was a traditional enemy of Normandy.

And as a result, the Norman barons, whilst seemingly able to accept a woman as their monarch, were not able to accept a Plantagenet as their monarch.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding now then.

So true or false question, the Anglo-Norman barons didn't accept Matilda as heir because she was a woman.

Is that true or is that false? Okay, if you chose false, then congratulations.

That is the correct answer.

But let's justify the answer.

Now, why is it a false statement? Is it false because the barons didn't seem to mind being ruled by a woman but didn't like the idea of being ruled by a Plantagenet? Or is it false because the barons didn't seem to mind being ruled by a woman but didn't like being ruled by an empress of the Holy Roman empire? So choose your justification now.

Okay, if you chose A, then congratulations.

That is the correct answer.

Right.

Let's have a next task for today then.

So I'd like to complete the following sentences.

So you'll notice that they're effectively the same stem sentence, they all start the same, but that final word before the ellipsis has changed.

So Matilda was named heir to the throne of England and Normandy, I need to finish that sentence with because or but or so.

So pause the video whilst you go about this, and I'll see you in just a moment.

Okay.

Welcome back.

Hopefully you got along fine with that task.

Let's think about what you could have written then.

So you could have said that Matilda was named heir to the throne of England and Normandy because there was a succession crisis after William Adelin died, and she was a legitimate child of Henry I.

Matilda was named heir to the throne of England and Normandy, but the Norman barons did not like the idea of her Plantagenet husband ruling them.

And Matilda was named heir to the throne of England and Normandy, so England would have a female monarch who ruled in her own rights.

In terms of this issue of the Plantagenet ruling them, although it hadn't really come up in the law about whether a woman could rule in her own rights, there was an expectation that men would just naturally assume control in any given situation.

And although Matilda was the rightful Queen of England by honour of her birth and her bloodline, because she was married, her husband has control of her and therefore has control of everything she owns.

And in this case, that would be England and Normandy.

So this is the issue that the Norman barons have.

They don't necessarily have an issue with Matilda herself.

They have an issue with the idea that possibly Count Geoffrey Plantation of Anjou would actually become King Geoffrey of England and Normandy.

And that's what they don't like.

Right.

Let's go for our third and final learning cycle for the day, which is the death of the king.

So in Henry I's later years, he had a serious argument with Matilda.

Henry had promised Matilda and Geoffrey several castles in Normandy when they married.

These were castles were along the the Normandy-Anjou border, but he failed to hand them over.

And when it became clear that Henry had no intention of giving these castles to a Plantagenet or of allowing Matilda to become Duchess of Normandy to improve the strength of her own position, Matilda and Geoffrey joined a rebellion against the king.

Now, King Henry I died in Normandy on the 1st of December, 1135 while he was dealing with the rebellion, and the timeline was particularly unfortunate for Matilda.

She was pregnant with her third child and therefore she couldn't travel safely very far from Anjou.

The leading barons had also all sworn an oath to stay in Normandy until Henry had received a proper burial and therefore they were blocking her path to England.

Obviously these barons had their armies with them as well.

So it is a sizable force in Normandy that she couldn't safely go through.

Stephen of Blois, however, was in Boulogne when he heard the news and he quickly set sail for England.

And if you look at the map that's on the screen there, you see that Boulogne is very, very close to England.

So he's in the perfect situation at that point in time.

It's worth pointing out there wasn't necessarily, I don't believe that Steven knew that Henry was going to die.

Steven was in Boulogne because those are now part of his lands after he married Matilda of Boulogne.

So he had a legitimate reason for being in that area.

I guess it was just very, very lucky timing on his respect.

In any case, he quickly set sail for England, and on the 22nd of December, 1135, he had himself crowned King of England and Normandy.

Now, Stephen claimed that as Matilda was rebelling against the king, his previous oath supporting Matilda's claim as heir was invalid.

It's a relatively good argument.

There was no reason to believe that Matilda and Henry wouldn't have made up.

But again, this is another example of just unfortunate time for Matilda that she was never able to be reconciled with her father before he died, which could have cleared this whole situation up.

Stephen was incredibly rich.

His family was actually the second richest family in England after the King's family.

He was also very well liked by the Anglo-Norman barons.

He was very well liked by pretty much everybody he came into contact with.

From what we understand, he was incredibly easygoing.

He was very happy to have a laugh and a joke with nobles or with with common people, his common soldiers as well.

So just a very, very nice guy for the most part, unless of course you're Matilda and he's just taken your throne.

Now the people of London accepted Stephen as the new king because he promised them profitable trade agreements with his port of Boulogne.

So they thought that they could make money from their king being Stephen.

The church accepted him because his brother Henry of Blois, who is Steven's younger brother, was Abbott of Glastonbury and the bishop of Winchester.

Now Glastonbury was the richest abbey in England.

Winchester was an incredibly important bishop brick because that's also where the treasury, the Royal Treasury was based, in Winchester.

So two really, really important positions.

And this actually made Henry of Blois the richest man in England after the king.

Now Stephen was also male and he was a blood relative of the last king, which does count in his favour in comparison to Matilda.

Obviously they're both blood relatives and Matilda's a closer blood relative.

But the fact that Steven is male just kind of just makes things go a lot smoother because there's none of that legal issues about whether a woman is able to rule in her own rights, they don't need to be addressed if Stephen becomes king.

As a result of all of this, it seems as though England would not have a female ruler after all.

Right, let's have a quick check for understanding now.

So why did the death of Henry I come at a bad time from Matilda's perspective? So discussion question.

So pause the video now whilst you consider that question and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hope you got on fine with that question.

So let's think about what you could have said.

So you could have said that she was rebelling against the king, which damaged her claim as heir to the throne.

She was far away from England in Anjou, and she was pregnant, which made it difficult to travel.

And there was an army of barons in Normandy blocking her routes to England.

You could have said other things as well, but hopefully you got at least a few of those ideas on the screen there.

Alright, let's have another discussion question now.

So what reasons did Stephen have to feel confident in claiming the throne after the death of Henry I? So again, pause the video whilst you consider this check for understanding, and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hope you got on fine with that question as well.

So let's think about what you could have said.

So you could have said that he was the closest claimant to England in terms of geography.

He was extremely rich and well-liked by the barons.

He was male and a blood relation of the last king.

And he also had the support of the people of London as well as the supports of the Church.

And finally, of course, Matilda was in rebellion against the king.

So again, you may have said other things, but hopefully at least you've got some of those on the screen there in front of you.

Right, let's go for our next task then.

So Stephen had several advantages when it came to claiming the throne, while Matilda faced quite a few challenges.

And what I'd like you to do is I'd like you to fill in what Matilda's challenges were and to help you out, I've already included Stephen's advantages for you on the screen there.

So pause the video whilst you complete this table and I'll see you in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you've got on fine with that task.

So here's what you could have said.

So I've got a completed table on the screen here, and I said that Matilda's challenges included being female in a male dominated world.

This point in time, the mediaeval period in general was incredibly sexist, certainly by our standards, and the fact that Matilda's a female shouldn't hold her back.

But unfortunately at this point in time it did.

Luckily times have changed.

Matilda was also married to a Plantagenet, which again is the Norman barons' traditional enemy.

She was in rebellion against the king.

She was pregnant at the time of Henry's death, which made it very difficult for her to travel, obviously nowadays it's significantly easier to travel when you are pregnant, but I mean, we're going back nearly a thousand years.

The roads were not as good.

It was dangerous to travel in general, and certainly when you're pregnant, if there's any complications, you could be a very, very long way away from any sort of medical care, so far safer to just stay away.

You'd know you could be looked after if anything goes wrong or if the baby comes early.

And finally, of course, Matilda was also far away in Anjou when Henry died.

So not in a position to react quickly to the news.

Right.

Let's go for our next task then.

So what do you think the most important reason was that made it harder for Matilda to claim the throne than it was for Stephen? So just write one paragraph, the answer, and by all means, please use the table that you've just completed.

Pause the video whilst you do this and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you got on fine with that task.

It's important to stress there's not necessarily a right or a wrong answer here.

So it's all about your level of explanation.

So hopefully you've got a decent level of explanation for your opinion.

I've got a model answer on the screen.

So let's read through that and just see what we've got here.

So I said the most important reason that made it harder for Matilda to claim the throne than Stephen was because she was a part of a rebellion against Henry I at the time of his death.

This is because Stephen had previously promised to support Matilda's claim to the throne, but now Stephen could claim that his previous oaths to support Matilda's claim as heir was invalid as Matilda was rebelling against the king.

By doing so, he could then act quickly to get himself crowned instead, even though he was not Henry's legitimate heir.

If you've got a different opinion to me, that's absolutely fine.

Again, there's no right or wrong answer.

What's crucial is that you just explained your opinion, so hopefully you've done that as well.

Right.

Let's summarise today's lesson.

So Henry I's only legitimate son and heir to the throne William Adelin died in the White Ship disaster in 1120.

This created a succession crisis as Henry had limited options for who should succeed him.

His only surviving legitimate child, Empress Matilda, was chosen as his heir in January, 1127.

The Anglo-Norman barons did not seem to mind that Matilda would be a female ruler and swore an oath to support Matilda's claim to the throne.

However, they did not like her husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet.

When Henry died in 1135, Matilda's cousin, Stephen of Blois claimed the throne instead of her.

Thank you very much for joining me today.

Hope you've enjoyed yourself.

I hope you've learned something and hopefully I'll see you again next time.

Bye-bye.