HENRY I, king of England, surnamed BEAUCLERC, youngest son of William the Con queror: b. Selby, Yorkshire, 1068; d. Rouen, France, 1 Dec. 1135. He was hunting with Wil liam Rufus in the New Forest when that prince received his mortal wound in 1100, and instantly going to London caused himself to be pro claimed king, to the prejudice of his elder brother Robert, then absent in the Crusade. To reconcile the people to his usurpation Henry issued a charter containing concessions to public liberty, and also performed another popular act by recalling Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury. In November 1100 he married Matilda, daughter of Malcolm III, king of Scotland. This union strengthened his party, when his brother landed an army in 1101, with a view of asserting his claim to the crown. Actual hostilities were pre vented by Anse1m, who induced Robert to ac cept a pension ; and it was agreed that in the event of the death of either of the brothers without issue, the other should succeed to his dominions. He subsequently invaded Nor
mandy, and in 1106 took Robert prisoner and reduced the whole duchy. His usurpation of Normandy involved him in continual war, but although William, son of Robert, escaped out of custody, and was assisted by the ling of France, Henry maintained possession of the duchy. His only son William was drowned in 1120 in returning from Normandy, and Henry was stricken with grief. He married his only daughter, Matilda, to the Emperor Henry V, and when she became a widow married her a second time to Geoffrey Plantagenet, son of the Count of Anjou. Henry was succeeded by Stephen. Consult Davis, 'England under Nor mans and Angevins'(1905) ; Freeman, 'His tory of the Norman Conquest' (1879) • and Norgate, 'England under the Angevin Kings' 1887).