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Home , Charles the Good, Henry I of England, Louis VI of France, Oostkamp, Robert Curthose, William Clito

Quidditas

Volume 2 Article 5

1981

England's King Henry I and the Flemish Succession Crisis of 1127-1128

Sandy B. Hicks Texas A & I University

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Recommended Citation Hicks, Sandy B. (1981) "England's King Henry I and the Flemish Succession Crisis of 1127-1128," Quidditas: Vol. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rmmra/vol2/iss1/5

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Quidditas by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. England's King Henry I and the Fl mish Succession Crisis of 1127-1128

by Sandy B. Hicks Te xas A & I Univer ity

Hi torians have long appreciated the political significance of the Flemish Succc ion ri i of 1127-28 upon the development of both Flander and Capetian .1 Ang lo- orman peciali t . though, have generally o,erlo ked the critical impact this crisis had upon the latter years of the reign of King Henr I and, indeed , upon th"' future direction of the Anglo- orman tate. 1 Thi paper will e xamine why He nry judged the cri i a a threat to the very ur i al of hi own realm. how he re ponded to it, and why it was of uch importa nce to Eng land and ormandy . On 2 March 1127, Charle the Good of Flanders wa murdered in the chu rch of aint Donatian at Brug . Within two day , news of the a a inati n reached England 3 where Henry urely received it with bitter r grct : (The) Fle mi h rule r was Henr ' most p we rful ally on the Contine nt at a time ll' hen th king needed e ve ry fri e nd. Only a few months before the laying. Henr had reached a momentou and ri ky deci ion. He decided to confcrhi entire nglo- orman re alm upon his daughter, Matilda. It was an unpopular deci ion and the king needed ub tantial support if Matilda were e1crto ru le. De pite ome initial opposition, Henry ucceeded in gaining the backin of the chi ef Anglo- orman barons who on I January 1127 wore oaths of fea lty to a ti Ida a Henry' rightful uccessor. -l Equally important, the in need d the supp 1i or. at least, the acquie cence of his realm' powerful continen tal neighbor -King Louis VI of France, Count Fulk V of and Count Cha rle of Flande r . Among the m , Charles alone was on friendly terms 11ith Henry and he alone could be e xpected to support Matilda. With hi death, the ult imate ucce ss of Henry' dyna tic plan would become intimately

41 Sandy B. Hi cks

t icd to the outcome of the political struggle in Flanders. Count Charl es died wit hout an heir and several claimants swiftly emerged. All had remote blood tic to the ruling hou e but none possessed sufficient support to make good hi s claim. The deadlock soon ended when King Louis of France. a long-time fo e of Henry I. journeyed to Flanders and commenced a ca mpaign to pl ace his own favorite in power. Through negotiation . co mpromi e . and an effective displ ay of military force, the French monarch succcecdcd. By early May 1127. his choice was the unchallenged ruler of Fl anders . Pl eased with this spectacular extension of Capeti an power, Loui returned to France on 6 May and left the county securely in the hand of his man. Count .5 o one could have viewed the acce sion to power of Willi am Clito with a greater ense of alarm th an He nry's I of England . Clito wa the twenty-four car old on of urthose. Henry's broth er and ex- of ormandy. As such. Clito was the last surviving legitimate male heir in the paternal line of the Anglo-Norman dyna ty and Henry's sole dynastic rival. For many year , dating back to 1110 or 1111. Clito had been the ca u e celebre unitin many of Henry's continental enemie . During 1118 and 1119. a ma ive coalition of military forces led by Loui s VI , Fulk of Anjou. and Count Baldwin VII of Fl anders and in cluding large segments of the orman ari tocracy nearly uccceded in drivin g Henry out of and repl acin g him with Clito. Though the effort fail ed. the idea persisted. Whe n Loui learned in late 11 26 of He nry's plan for Matilda, he promptly called upon the baron of France t aid William Clito in th e recovery ofhi lawful inheritance. the duchy of ormandy. h Louis's triumph in Flanders was He nry's disaster. It meant that the peaceful succession of Matilda to the Anglo- Norman state was scriou ly je pardizcd. With Clito in posses ion of the military and economic re ources of Flander , the spectre of a revived continent al coalition to seize ormandy for William Clito seemed certai n. Becau e Henry's relations with the co unt of Anjou had remained ho tile since 1121 , the Engli h monarch could anticipate Ang vi n interest in the rebirth of a Franco-Flemish-Angevin alliance similar to the one that nearly overthrew him in 1118-19. More ominou till , the new Flemish count may have advanced publicly, for the first time. his claim upon the throne of England as well. Henry reacted wiftly to the cri sis. Fir t, he sought to eliminate any chance for restoring the Franco- Fl emi h-Angevin coalition: second, he worked for the overthrow of William Clito in Fl anders. Victory in both aims was e sential if Mat ilda were ever to rule an undivided and secure Anglo- orman state. In order to achi eve the first objective, he repeated the trategy he had used in 1119 to break up the all iance between France, Flanders, and Anjou. Henry

42 The Flemish Succession Crisis

sought a new pact with Count Fulk by urging a marriage between members of the two families. This time, he offered Matilda to Fulk's oldest son, Geoffrey. The Angevin count accepted the proposal and by May 1127, the same month in which Louis left Flanders, preliminary negotiations were completed for a renewal of the Anglo-Norman-Angevin alliance. On or shortly after 22 May, Henry sent his daughter to Normandy for the formal engagement ceremony. With these actions, Henry I set in motion the processes that would lead to the most fateful wedding he ever orchestrated. The planned marriage was unprecedented. From the standpoint of many of Henry's barons, it was an insufferable match. Without enthusiasm, the Anglo- orman aristocracy had acquiesced in recognizing Matilda in January; now fiv e months later the hei r to the Anglo-Norman state was betrothed to an Angevin , a traditional enemy. The relations of Fulk's and Henry's forebears were marked by incessant warfare and mutual distrust. Despite the king's efforts to attenuate thi bitter rivalry, little had changed in recent years. Since Fulk's accession to power in 1109, the Anglo-Norman ruler and the Angevin count had been at war or on rancorous terms during two-thirds of the period up to their sudden rapprochement in mid-1127. In the simple words of the Anglo-Saxon chronicler, Henry's proposal " displeased all the ... English . " 9 Th e king certainly was cognizant of the unpopularity of his plan. But it was a necessary gamble, a gamble dictated by Clito's takeover of Flanders. In Pirennesque phraseology, the proposed nuptials between Geoffrey and Matilda , without Clito's rule of Flanders, would be inconceivable. The king reacted to the immediate and threatening political climate of 1127. The intrinsic dangers were clear, but the spectre of a new continental coalition su pporting William Clito in eizing ormandy and, perhaps, in launching an invasion of England was a far greater concern. Concurrently. Henry sought to weaken Clito's hold on Flanders. His ultimate goal , as nothing less than the overthrow of 's son. Henry shrouded his interventionist moves in a veil of legitimacy by proclaiming his own hereditary right to the Flemish office! 0 Nothing indicates that Henry actually de ired to rule Flanders directly; instead, he used his cla im as a pretext for disrupting Clito's regime. To carry out his policy, Henry relied chiefly upon his trusted nephew, Stephen of Blois, who ruled Boulogne, a county bordering Flanders. Through Stephen, the king funneled money and promises of support to anti-Clito factions . Henry also sent other agents into the county to encourage internal dissension. The results at first were au piciou : Clito's two most active rivals, William of and Baldwin of Hainault, joined the confederation and received English aid. Other major recruits included Henry's father-in-law, Duke Godfrey of Lower Lorraine, and

43 Sandy B. Hicks

11 a perennial foe of Loui s VI. Thomas de Marle . Despite the initial success of Henry' recruiting ca mpaign in Flanders, the combined activit y of Loui s VI and Will ia m Clito prevented any hope of a swift victory. By the e nd of April, the new count and the French king had won impressive triumph over the two claimants supported by the English king. In Aug ust I 127. Clito attacked Stephen's coun ty of Boul ogne and fo rced Henry's chi ef e missary in Fl ander to conclude a three-year ituce. The e reversals, in part. prompted He nry to cross over to ormandy 2t the end of Au g ust in order to defend hi d uchy and to pre the campaig n again st Clit o.12 Fortunately for Henry I. Willi am Clito proved to be an (ineffective) ruler. Fl anders was not an easy county to govern. It was undergoin g rapid increa e in population, in commercial and industrial activity and in the size of its towns. In short, Flanders wa becoming northern Europe·s most urbanized region. Clito' predecessors had understood these change and had e ncouraged them . Clito. however, by background and disposition wa different. De pite an earlier stay in Fl anders, the new count wa a foreig ner. unfamiliar with Fl e mish institution and un aware of the va t forces at work in Fl emi. h ociety. In a realm of vibrant towns and activi t burghe rs anxiou to maintain and to expand their economic rights . Clito eemed omehow misplaced. He wa . above all else. a feudal . Hi was a world of . knights. and fe udal warfa re. Through the eff rt of Loui VI. he had been suddenly cast int o a !range. new , oriel where fe udal privilege was under seri ous assault. And that as aull came principally from the towns. Friction between count and burgher clas oon " urfaced " and deepened: at Lill e in Augu t. at Bruge in September. and at Sain t-Omer and Ghe nt in Febru ary. I 12 . By the nd of March. Count Willia m had ali enated large . egment. of the urban popu lace. and hi proble m had reached cri tical proportion . Hi rivals established foo thold in diffe re nt region of Fl ander _1.1 Mean"'hile in ormandy, He nry clo ely watched lito' (mounti ng) misfortune and escalated hi s own activ ities in Fl ander . The king in ti tuted an embargo on Eng lish trade with Flanders . Th e county depended heavil y upon Eng li sh wool for its vital cl oth indu try and the kin g po e ed the power to restrict this tra ffi c. Through Stephen of Blois. Henry coul d effecti vely regulate commercial int ercour e between Fl ander and England . Stephen as count of Boulogne controlled vital Channel ports. in cl uding Wi ant. through wh ich large quantitie. of Eng li sh wool and Fl emish products passed. Henry probably went further than simply curtailing Anglo-Flemish trade: in all likelihood. he commi ioned his fa ther-in-law . Duke Godfrey of Lower Lorrain e. to (cripple) Fle mish commerce with . Trade between Fl ander and the Rhineland cities had reached substantial prop0rtions by the

44 The Flemi h Succession Crisis

earl y twelfth century and the principal route linkfog and with Cologne on the Rhine Ri ver went through Godfrey's duchy.14 Clearly, by the early m nths of 1128 Henry' measures for the economic strangulation of Clilo·s Flanders were succeeding. Simultaneou ly. Henry's attitude toward the resurgent campaigns of Clito's ri~al cry tallized during these critical months. He favored all of them but prefe rred none of them. Hi ole concern was to dethrone William Clito. To thi end. the king indi criminately lent encouragement and support to all the hope ful . Henry had for nearly a year su tained the candidacy of Baldwin of Hai naull . The king also lavi hed aid upon Arnold of and wa in the proce of arranging a marriage between Arnold and the English queen's i tcr. With evenh anded zeal, the king ponsored the belated candidacy of Thierry of AI ace. 15 Re ponding to Henry's actions, Clito dispatched an urgent letter to Lou is Vl with a plea for aid against his "ancient and mighty foe, the king of England." 16 Lou is reacted quickly. In earl y April, he arrived at Arras prepared to solve hi protege's trouble . The French king soon learned. though, that conditions in Fla nder were far different than they had been a year earlier. Nearly a year of mi rule by Clito. aggravated by Henry's interference, had inspired a spirit of recalcitrance among Fle mish town men. For almost seven weeks, Loui tried lo ave Clito. He convened conference , directed the Church to impose sanctions against the count' opposition, and finally attacked the rebel-held to" n of Lill e. Nothing worked. On 21 May. the king abruptly suspended the iege of . returned briefl y to Arras and then proceeded back to Paris. 1 Loui VI wo uld never again return to Flanders in support of William Cl ito. Hen ry I appears to have been respon ible for Loui 's udden withdrawal from Flan der . The Anglo- orman ruler encouraged and ub idized a rebellio n within the lie-de-France led by the powerful Garlande brothers and Amaury de Montf rt. a leading Franco- orman baron. Henry worked chi efly through Ama ury. who ruled he orman county of Evreux. and also enlisted theaidofhi hcphew, ount Theobald of Blois.18 Henry's purpose for helping the rebe ls was clear: to oblige the French king to concentrate on affair in the lie-de-France rather than in Flanders. It is likely that Louis' sudden departu re from Lille on 21 May re ulted from mounting difficulties at home. hi cert ain that lhe major factor forcing Loui to re main in France was the seriousne s of the civil war subsidized by Henry I. Louis tried on at least one occ ion. betwe n late May and late July, to resume hi activities in Flanders but a spectacular demon tration by Henry 1 forced the French monarch to ancel hi plans. Henry invaded the lie-de-France and remained eight days at Amaury ' ca tie of Epernon. outhwest of Paris. 19 This action represented Henry'sdeepe t penetration ever of Louis's domain. If Louis had left France

45 Sandy B. Hicks

f r Fl anders. it is conceivable that Henry. Theobald . and Amaury would ha1·e la unched an offensive toward Paris from the southwe t. Loui recogni zed this threat and remained to defend the li e-de-France. In Fl anders. meanwhile , the embattled Clito struggled on. Surprisingly, his ituation improved in the weeks following Loui 's depart ure. lneffecti easaa admini trator, the count nonetheless displayed impre sive skill s as 1 co mmander and as a warrior. He fought tirele ly again st his ma ny opponents and by 3 1 May only one rival remained acti ve, Thierry of Al ace. Furthermore, Clito received upport from a variety of sources. Although Loui was unable to return to Fl ander , he furnished French troop while many ormans flocked northeastward to aid the man they hoped would omeday be . Besides French and orman troops, the count was able to purchase the ervices of till others by using the comital trea ury. 20 lito also benefited from an unexpected development. The enemy coal ition began to break up. On 10 June . fighting erupted among promine nt figu res of the anti-Cli to moveme nt. The rupture implied erious differences between Henry I and hi s fa th er-in-law Duke Godfrey of Lower Lorraine. For mo re than a year they had acted together to bring down Clito. But with only one candid ate le ft to upport. Thierry of Alsace , Henry. and Godfrey quarreled over which of the two would control Thierry and direct hi s campaign.21 On 21 June . Will iam Clito won the greate t military victory of hi s career. At Ax poele near Tie lt, the count's army crushed a huge force commanded by Thierry of Al sace and forced the latter to fl ee northward to Bruges wi th remnants of hi s ho. t.22 In the battle , Clito demon trated superi or generalship and poi e . His control of Flander appeared tronger than at any time since the um mer of 1127. Thus . the month of June 1128, marked the zenith of William Cl ito's career. Momentum had clearly hifted in hi s fa vor. The enemy coalition wa s in disarray whi le Thi erry of Al sace sought to regroup his badly- mauled forces al Bruge . The month of June also marked an important time for Henry I. On I June, Matilda and Geoffrey of Anjou were married at Le Mans. 23 Is it possibl e that the sudde n resurgence of Clito' fortune in Flander d termined the , edding date and, fo r that matter, that the wedding woul d take pl ace at all ? Although the marriage occurred four days before the Batile of x poele. Henry knew that events in Flanders were already fa voring Clito. In the la t day of May . the Flemis h count made effective raid against Bruges and . Before 10 June, Henry must have known about Duke Godfrey' Cl ecision to break away from the anti-Clito fa ction. Henry may have interpre ted these developme nt a evidence that Clito would soon win. If o, he could no Ion >e r postpone the wedding . The king needed Angevin support

46 The Flemi sh Succession Crisis

to help protect hi s daughter' interests. Once in control of Flanders, Clito would urely try to make good his claim to Normandy. Whether or not Henry fulfilled the marital agreement because of Clito's uccess in Fl anders i purely speculative, but it is an idea worthy of con ideration. Historian have ignored thi possibility for the simple reason that Fl emish conditions changed o abruptly in the fo llowing month. In July. Count William maintained the offensive against Thierry of Alsace. He inflicted heavy casualties among Thierry's supporters in a week-long siege of Oo tkamp and gained the allegiance of Duke Godfrey. On 12 July, the major co mbatants faced each other once more; it was to be their final encounter. Clito journeyed to the castle of Alost near the Flemish-Brabantine border to join Duke Godfrey, who was besieging their mutual enemies. After a fortnight , the combined forces of Clito and Godfrey were on the verge of victory, but on 27 July tragedy struck the luckless count. In a chance encounter with an enemy -soldier, Count William received serious injuries to hi hand and arm which forced him to retire from the batt1efield. Due to complication arising from his wounds, William Clito died within a few days. 24 o man savored the news of Clito's death more than Henry I. For him, a litany of problems va nished. The death eliminated Matilda's only active rival for th e thrones of England and ormandy; it eliminated the major source of fric tion between the king and his continental neighbor ; and it eliminated the di tine! probability of future warfare between Henry and William Clito. Like falling dominoes, the obstacles to Henry's succession plan toppled. TI1e king's man in Flander , Thierry of Alsace, was soon recognized a count throughout the realm . Before 15 July 1129, Thierry and Henry met and concluded a new Anglo-Flemish treaty.25 The agreement provided the basis of a firm and lasting friendship between the two. In ormandy, those noblemen ded icated to Clito's cause either sought with Henry or left the duchy.26 And , fin ally, before returning to England in the summer of 1129, Henry 2 reached an accord with Louis VJ. ; Understandably, as writes, H.:nry returned to England in a joyful mood.2 All that remain ed for Henry was to watch over the marriage of his heir-de ignate, Matilda and Geoffrey of Anjou, a union brought about by the Flcmi h Succession Crisis of 1127-28. At last the realm was safe and the fmure of the An glo- orman state secure. Or o it seemed.

otes

1 See the extensive bibliography in Galbert of Bruges. The Murder of . ( ew York , 1967). ed. and trans. James Bruce Ross , pp. 321 -36.

47 Sandy B. Hicks

2 A ignilicant. recent example is John Le Patourel, The Nonnan Empire (. 1976). pp. 80. 2. 87. 90. 188-89. Le Patourel seems largely unaware of the ,ignificance of the Flemi h Succession Crisis upon the policies •nd actions of Henry I during 1127-28. particularly the events surrounding the betrothal and marriage of Henry's daughter. Matilda. to Geoffrey of Anj ou.

J Galbert de Bruges. Histoire du meunre de Charles le 8011. comte de Fla11dre. ed. Henri Pirenne (Paris, 1891), p. 22.

4 C. Warren Hollister, "The Anglo- orman Succession Debate of 1126: Prelude to Stephen's Anarchy." Joumal ofM edieval History. I (1975). 19-3 1.

5 Galbert de Bruges, Histoire, pp. 75-77. 81-90, 97-107, 117-20, 122 -26; . Vie de Louis VI le Gros, ed. Henri Waquct (Paris, 1964), pp. 246-50; Acres des comtes de Fla11dre, 1071· //28. ed. "ernand Vercauteren (Brussels, 1938). nos. 125-26.

6 Orderic Vitnlis. Historia Ecclesiastica, ed. Marjorie Chibnoll (Oxford, 1978), VI, 370.

7 Kervyn de Lettcnhove, Histoire de Fla11dre (Brus els, 1847-50) , I, 205.

Tlic A11glo-Saxon Chronicle, ed. Dorothy Whitelock, C. Douglas, and Susie Tucker (rev. tr.: London, 1961 ), pp. 192 -93; Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum. ed. Thomas Arnold (Lo ndon. I 79). p. 247: Chro11iques des comtes d'Anjou et des seigneurs d 'Amboise, ed . Louis Halphen and Rene Poupardin (Paris, 1913). pp. 233-34.

9 Arrglo·Saxorr Chrorricle. pp. 192-93.

IO of Durham, Opera Omnia. ed. Thomas Arnold (London, 1882-85), II . 282 .

11 Recuei/ des his1on'e11s des Gau/es et de la Frarrce. eds. Martin Bouquet et al. (Paris. 1738-1904) . XIII. 337, 345.464. 696-97.

12 , Historia Ecclesiastica, VI, 370-72; Henry of Huntingdon. Hisroria Arrglorum, p. 247: Arrglo·Saxo11 Chronicle, p. 194 .

IJGalbert de Bruges. Histoire. pp. 137-149.

14 Galbert de Brugcs. Histoirc, pp. 140,41 : John O. Prestwich, " War and Finance in the Anglo- orman State," Trarrs. Roy. Hist.Soc., fifth series. IV (1954). JO: Francois L. Ganshof. La Flarrdre sous /es premiers comtes (3 rd rev. ed.; Brus els. 1949). pp. 74, 118-19: Gaston G. Dept, "Les marchands namands et le roi d'Angleterre." Revue du nord, XII (1926), 311; R. H. C. Davis. Kirrg Stephen. 1135 -1154 (Berkeley, 1967), p. 10; E. Sabbe. "Les relations economiqucs cntrc I' Anglcterre et le continent au haul moyen age," Le moyc,r age, LVl (1950), 186,93.

15 Galbert de Bruges, Histoire. pp. 144 , 146-47; Simeon of Durham, Opera Omnia. II . 2 1; Orderic Vitalis. Histon'a Ecclesiastica. VI. 374; Henry of Huntingdon. Historia Ang/orum, p. 249; Recucil des historiens, XII , 470; XIII. 345,697.

lbLouis VI le gros: anna/es de sa vie er de son regne (1081-1137). ed. Achille Luchaire (Paris, 1890). no. 404.

17 Galbert de Bruges. Histoire , pp. 151 -54, 157; Francois L. Ganshof. " Leroi de France en Flandre en 1127 ct 1128." Revue historique de droitfrancais et etranger, XXVII (1949), 224-27.

I Suger, Vie de Louis VI, p. 254; Luchaire, Louis VT, nos. 394-99. 410-11.

48 The Flemish Succession Cri

l'l Henry of Huntingdon. Hiswria A11glor11m. pp. 247-48; Luchaire, Louis VI , no. 414; Andre Rhein. La seigrteurie de Mo111fon e11 lveli11 e (Versailles, 1910), p. 40.

20 Galben de Brugcs. Hisroire. p. 159; Orderic Vitalis. Hisroria Ecc/esias1ica. VI, 372; Corpus Chro11icornm Flartdriae. ed. J . J . de Sme, (Brussels, 1837-65). I. 96.

2I Galben de Bruges. Hiswire, p. 161.

22 Ibid. . pp. 162-65

2.l . Warren Hollister and Thomas K. Keefe. " The Making of the , " J ournal of British S111dies. XII (1973). 15.

2~ The sources di sagree on the exact date of William Clito's death. See Chibnall's note in Orderic Vi rali s. Hisroria Ecclesiasrica. VI, 376. note I; and Pirenne's comments in Galbert de Bruges, His1oire. p. 171. note 2.

25 Galber1 de Bruges. Hisroire. pp. 172-74, 176; Orderic Vitalis. Hisroria Ecc/esiastica. VJ. 378; Simeon of Durham. Opera Omnia, II , 283.

26 Orderic Vitalis, Historia Ecclesiastica , VJ. 378.

27 Simeon of Durham. Opera Omnia, II. 283 .

2N Henry of Huntingdon. Hisroria Artglorum. p. 251.

49