White Ship

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The White Ship, a twelfth century vessel, sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur, on November 25, 1120. Those drowned included William Adelin, the only unquestionably legitimate son of King Henry I of England. Only one sailor survived.

The White Ship was a new ship owned by Thomas FitzStephen, whose father Stephen had been sea captain for William the Conqueror when he invaded England in 1066. He offered to let Henry I use it to return to England from Barfleur - Henry had already made traveling arrangements, but suggested that his son William travel on it instead.

But when the White Ship set off in the dark, its port side struck a submerged rock (this rock can still be seen from the cliffs of Barfleur), and the ship quickly capsized. The only survivor was a butcher from Rouen - he was wearing thick ramskins that saved him from exposure, and was picked up by fishermen the next morning. In his account of the disaster, chronicler Orderic Vitalis claimed that when Thomas FitzStephen came to the surface after the sinking and learned that William Adelin had not survived, he let himself drown rather than face the king. (The accuracy of this account is debatable - it describes a full moon, but sky tables show that the moon was actually new that night, although this issue is further complicated by the need to convert modern sky tables based upon the Gregorian Calendar to the Julian Calendar in use during the twelfth Century.)

William of Malmesbury wrote: "Here also perished with William, Richard, another of the King's [Henry I] sons, whom a woman of no rank had borne him, before his accession, a brave youth, and dear to his father from his obedience; Richard d'Avranches, second Earl of Chester, and his brother Otheur; Geoffrey Ridel; Walter of Everci; Geoffrey, archdeacon of Hereford; [Matilda] the Countess of Perche, the king's daughter; the Countess of Chester; the king's niece Lucia-Mahaut of Blois; and many others..."

The cause of the shipwreck remains unclear. Various stories surrounding its loss feature a drinking binge by the crew and passengers (it is also suggested that the captain was dared to try and overtake the king's ship ahead of them), and mention that priests were not allowed on board to bless the ship in the customary manner. However, the Channel has often proven a notoriously treacherous stretch of water.

Stephen of Blois, King Henry's nephew by his sister Adela, had allegedly disembarked just before the ship sailed. Orderic Vitalis attributes this to a sudden bout of diarrhoea. If true, it is a cruel twist of fate, since, as a direct result of William's death, Stephen later usurped the English throne, resulting in the period known as the Anarchy.

The death of William Adelin in this shipwreck led to the chaos following the death of Henry I. The English barons were reluctant to accept Matilda as Queen Regnant, leading Stephen to usurp the throne. Even in the sixteenth century, the example of that time contributed to Henry VIII's many marriages in the search for a male heir.

References

• Victoria Chandler, "The Wreck of the White Ship", in The final argument : the imprint of violence on society in medieval and early modern Europe, edited by Donald J. Kagay and L.J. Andrew Villalon (1998)
• Robert Lacey, "Henry I and the White Ship" in Great Tales from English History (2003)

Historical Fiction

The sinking of the White Ship is the opening to the prologue of Ken Follett's most popular novel The Pillars of the Earth. The ships sinking sets the stage for the entire background of the story, which is based on the subsequent civil war between Matilda (referenced as Maud in the novel) and Stephen.de:White Ship fr:Blanche-Nef ja:ホワイトシップの遭難 pt:White Ship sv:Vita skeppet

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