Beginnings: the White Ship Disaster of 1120

Sometimes one person's misfortune is another's unexpected gain.  The Plantagenet family wouldn't have gained their rights to England without this misfortune, the Titanic of its day.

The White Ship was a refitted vessel considered one of the largest and fastest vessel afloat.  The family who owned it were experienced enough.  Thomas FitzStephen was the son of Stephen Fitzairard, who had captained a ship that was part of William the Conqueror's invasion fleet.  Evidently, this family and their vessels were known to the royal family, who patronized their services for decades.  Henry I (1068-1135) was the son of William the Conqueror.  He had several out-of-wedlock children, but only one legitimate heir, William Adelin and his sister Matilda, who married the Holy Roman Emperor.   William Adelin had married another Matilda, the daughter of Count Fulk V of Anjou, we'll get to him soon enough.  Because Henry I was also Duke of Normandy, he traveled between England and Normandy, administering the two parts of his kingdom.  It was on the return of one such journey on November 25, 1120, that tragedy struck.

Thomas FitzStephen offered Henry the use of the White Ship to make the return to England.  Henry declined, as he'd already made other arrangements, but allowed other members of his retinue to board the ship if they wished.  Those so inclined included his son and heir, William Adelin, one of Henry's out-of-wedlock daughters, yet another Matilda, and another illegitimate child of the King's named Richard.  For some reason, William Adelin's wife was already embarked on the same ship carrying her father-in-law and that would be her salvation.  The King's vessel took off without waiting for the White Ship.  Before embarking, the passengers of the White Ship decided to celebrate and many were already inebriated.  This caused others to decide last minute to make other arrangements and disembark.  Still, over three hundred people were crowded on board the vessel and the partying continued.  They urged Captain FitzStephen to make all speed and catch up with the King's ship.  Despite the treachery of the coastal waters and it already being nightfall, he obliged.  The ship struck a rock off Barfleur, Normandy and began to go down.

William Adelin found a smaller boat, but turned back when he heard cries for help.  Drowning victims swamped his small vessel, taking it down.  He and his wife were childless, meaning that William's claim to the crown drowned with him.  FitzStephen survived the sinking, but drowned rather than face the King's wrath.  The loss of his son left Henry I with no heir and the Norman dynasty of England at a standstill.  Henry turned to his only legitimate daughter, Matilda, Holy Roman Empress, ordering his barons to swear fealty to her as his heir.  At his death, Normandy passed to a male heir, as females couldn't inherit that realm in their own right.  Then, the barons had second thoughts about a woman inheriting the crown of England.  The clergy backed Henry I's nephew Stephen, but Matilda wasn't the mother of England's most rambunctious dynasty for nothing.  She and Stephen engaged in an on and off civil war with the crown of England at stake.  It was a war Matilda's son and heir, Henry II would finish, and put his own progeny on the throne. 

The White Ship wouldn't be the last shipwreck to alter the fates of the Plantagenet dynasty, but we'll get to the others in future posts.