Who married Henry I of England?

Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, thereby leaving Henry landless. He subsequently purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but his brothers deposed him in 1091. He gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William Rufus against Robert.

Present in England with his brother William when William died in a hunting accident, Henry seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of William's less popular policies. He married Matilda of Scotland and they had two surviving children, Empress Matilda and William Adelin. Robert disputed Henry's control of England and invaded from Normandy in 1101. The ensuing military campaign ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry as king. The peace was short-lived, however, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life. Henry's control of Normandy was subsequently challenged by Louis VI of France, Baldwin VII of Flanders and Fulk V of Anjou, who promoted the rival claims of Robert's son, William Clito, and supported a major rebellion in the Duchy between 1116 and 1119. Following Henry's victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120.

Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England and Normandy. In England, he drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxation, but also strengthened it with more institutions such as the royal exchequer and itinerant justices. Normandy was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henry's system were "new men" of obscure backgrounds, rather than from families of high status, who rose through the ranks as administrators. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a serious dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, which was resolved through a compromise solution in 1105. He supported the Cluniac order and played a major role in the selection of the senior clergy in England and Normandy.

Henry's son William drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, throwing the royal succession into doubt. Henry took a second wife, Adeliza of Louvain, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. In response to this, he declared his daughter Matilda his heir and married her to Geoffrey of Anjou. The relationship between Henry and the couple became strained, and fighting broke out along the border with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of illness. Despite his plans for Matilda, the King was succeeded by his nephew Stephen of Blois, resulting in a period of civil war known as the Anarchy.

Sybilla Corbet (Alcester 1077 – na 1157) was een Engelse edelvrouwe en een maîtresse van koning Hendrik I van Engeland. Ze was waarschijnlijk een dochter van Robert Corbet, heer (lord) van Alcester en een onbekende vrouw.

Ze huwde met Herbert FitzHerbert en kreeg samen met hem een zoon, eveneens Herbert FitzHerbert genaamd. Als maîtresse van de koning was ze moeder van Sybilla van Normandië en Reginald van Dunstanville. Ook van twee andere kinderen van Hendrik was zij misschien de moeder, Willem en Rohese, hoewel de laatste volgens sommige bronnen genoemd wordt als dochter van Sybilla en FitzHerbert.

Matilda of Scotland (originally christened Edith, 1080 – 1 May 1118), also known as Good Queen Maud, was Queen consort of England and Duchess of Normandy as the first wife of King Henry I. She acted as regent of England on several occasions during Henry's absences: in 1104, 1107, 1108, and 1111.

Daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and the Anglo-Saxon princess Margaret of Wessex, Matilda was educated at a convent in southern England, where her aunt Christina was abbess and forced her to wear a veil. In 1093, Matilda was engaged to an English nobleman until her father and her brother Edward were killed in the Battle of Alnwick in 1093. Her uncle Donald III seized the throne of Scotland, triggering a messy succession conflict. England opposed King Donald and supported first her half-brother Duncan II as king of Scotland, and after his death, her brother Edgar, who assumed the throne in 1097.

Henry I succeeded his brother William Rufus as king of England in 1100 and quickly proposed marriage to Matilda due to her descent from the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex, which would help legitimize his rule. After proving she had not taken religious vows, Matilda and Henry were married. As Queen of England, Matilda embarked on several building projects for transportation and health, took a role in government as mediator to the Church, and led a literary court. She acted as regent when her husband was away, with many surviving charters signed by her. Matilda and Henry had two children: Empress Matilda and William Adelin; through her daughter, she is the ancestor of all subsequent English and British monarchs. Queen Matilda was buried in Westminster Abbey and was fondly remembered by her subjects. There was an attempt to have her canonised as a saint in the Catholic Church, which was not pursued.

Adeliza of Louvain (also Adelicia, Adela, Adelais, and Aleidis; c. 1103 – March/April 1151) was Queen of England from 1121 to 1135 as the second wife of King Henry I.

Adeliza was the eldest child of Godfrey I, Count of Louvain, and Ida of Chiny. In 1121, aged about 18, Adeliza was married to Henry, who was around 54 years of age. Henry's only legitimate son, William Adelin, had died in 1120, which had prompted Henry to marry again. He hoped to have another son with Adeliza and spent much of his time with her. She seems to have been influential in the promotion of French poetry and other arts at court, but played little part in politics. Though otherwise successful, their marriage produced no children, and Henry decided to leave the throne to his daughter Empress Matilda. Adeliza was among those who swore to support her stepdaughter and did so during her struggle against Henry's nephew Stephen of Blois, who took the throne after Henry's death in 1135.

As queen dowager, Adeliza spent three years living in a convent. In 1138, she married again to William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel, by whom she had seven children. In 1150, she left her husband to move to the Affligem Abbey in Brabant, where she died the following year.