man Henry I "Beauclerc" King of England‏‎, son of William I "The Conqueror" King of England and Matilda (Maud) of Flanders Queen of England‏.
Born ‎ Sep 1068 at Selby, Yorkshire, England, died ‎ Dec 1, 1135 at St. Demis-le-Fermont, Rouen, France‎, 67 years, buried ‎ at Reading Abbey
Henry I was the fourth and most capable son of William the Conqueror and Matilda, born 1068, and nicknamed "Beauclerc" (fine scholar) for his above average education. He married Eadgyth (who later took the name Matilda), daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland, who bore him two sons and a daughter. One son died very early, and the other, William, died in the wreck of the White Ship in November 1120, leaving the daughter, Matilda, as the sole heir. Eadgyth died in 1118, and Henry married Adelaide of Louvain, but the union produced no offspring. Henry also had two fairly significant illegitimate children - Robert de Mellent, Earl of Gloucester, and Sibylla, wife of the Scottish King Alexander I. Henry's was the longest reign of the Norman line, lasting thirty-five years.
The first years of Henry's reign were concerned with subduing Normandy. His father divided his kingdoms between Henry's older brothers, leaving England to William and Normandy to Robert. Henry inherited no land, but received £5000 in silver. He played both sides in his brothers' quarrel, leading both to distrust Henry, and sign a mutual accession treaty barring their brother from the crown. Henry's hope arose when Robert went on the First Crusade; should William die, Henry would be the obvious choice. Henry was in the woods hunting on the morning of William's death, August 2, 1100. He moved quickly and was crowned king on August 5, his coronation charter denouncing William's oppressive policies and promising good government. Robert returned to Normandy a few weeks later, but escaped final defeat until 1106, at the Battle of Tinchebrai. Robert was captured and lived the remaining twenty-eight years of his life as Henry's prisoner.
Henry was drawn into controversy with the Church over the lay investiture issue - the practice of selling clergy appoints by the king to gain revenue, heavily opposed by Gregorian reformers in the Church. He ignored the situation until he was threatened with excommunication by Pope Paschal II in 1105, reaching a compromise with the papacy: he would officially denounce lay investiture, but prelates were to continue to do homage for their fiefs. In practice, it changed little - the king still had the deciding voice in appointing ecclesiastical offices - but it a marked a point when kingship was viewed as purely secular, and subservient to the Church.
A solution to the lay investiture controversy and conquest of Normandy were accomplished in 1106, allowing Henry to expand his power. Henry mixed generosity with violence in motivating allegiance to the crown, appointing loyal and gifted men to administrative positions. Roger of Salisbury, the most famous of Henry's servants, was instrumental in organizing a department for collection of royal revenues, the Exchequer. The Exchequer quickly gained notoriety for sending out court officials to judge local financial disputes, weakening the feudal courts controlled by local lords, and won the title "Lion of Justice".
The final years of his reign were concentrated on war with France, and succession concerns upon the death of his son William in 1120. The marriage to Adelaide was fruitless, leaving Matilda his only surviving legitimate heir. She was recalled to Henry's court in 1125 after the death of her husband, Emperor Henry V of Germany; Henry forced the barons to swear they would accept Matilda as Queen upon Henry's death. She was then forced to marry the sixteen-year-old Geoffrey of Anjou (founder of the Plantagent dynasty) in 1128 to continue the Angevin alliance. The marriage was unpopular with the Norman barons, but Matilda and Geoffrey produced a male heir, prompting Henry to force another oath from the barons in support of Matilda.
In summer 1135, Henry refused to give custody of certain key Norman castles to Geoffrey, as a show of good will, and the pair entered into war. Henry's life ended in this sorry state of affairs - war with his son-in-law - in December 1135.
Source:
www.britannia.com

Married/ Related to:

N.N.‎

Child:

1.
woman Matilda (Maud) Princess of "Empress Matilda" England‏
Born ‎± ABT. 1091 at England‎
Matilda, also known as Maud, was the granddaughter of William the Conqueror. She retained the title Empress from her marriage to the German Emperor Henry V, who subsequently died. She decided to stake a claim for the English throne and wage war with her cousin Stephen of Blois. She personally commanded her army and accomplished a number of daring and wily escapes from besieged castles. At one point, she was under siege in London from troops commanded by Stephen's wife, who was also named Matilda.


2nd marriage
man Henry I "Beauclerc" King of England‏‎, son of William I "The Conqueror" King of England and Matilda (Maud) of Flanders Queen of England‏.

Married ‎ Nov 11, 1100 at Westminster Abbey, London, England (17 years married) to:

woman Matilda "Atheling" Princess of Scotland‏‎
Born ‎ Oct 1079 at Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, died ‎ Jun 1, 1118 at Westminster Palace, London, England‎, 38 years
This marriage represented the union of the Norman and Saxon royal lines.

Children:

1.
woman Elizabeth Princess of England‏
Born ‎ 1095 at Talby, Yorkshire, England‎
2.
woman Matilda (Maud) Queen of England‏
Born ‎ Feb 7, 1101/02 at Winchester, England, died ‎ Sep 10, 1167 at Abbey of Notre Dame des Pres, Rouen, France‎, approximately 66 years