To Drown a King: A White ship ATL

November 25th, 1120 AD - 1122 AD:

King Henry Beauclerc of England, was returning home after defeating an alliance between the King of France, Louis the Fat, and his own nephew, William Clito, which sought to deprive him and his son of his ancestral duchy. When he arrived at Barfleur harbor, he was offered a place on the newly-built White ship by its captain, Thomas FitzStephen. (POD) Henry, moved by FitzStephen's plea, accepted, giving up his previous arrangements to his son, William Adelin. The young prince had just been named as Duke of Normandy after paying homage to his feudal overlord, King Louis, and now his father sent him ahead to prepare England for the king's return.

After an evening of revelry, Henry boarded the White ship, joined by two of his illegitimate children, Richard of Lincoln and Matilda FitzRoy, Countess of Perche, and his nephew Stephen of Blois. The latter, however, had drunk so much that he was too sick to sail. In the king's drunken haste, he also left behind some of the priests. It was pitch black night and because the crew was took drunk to navigate properly, the ship ended up smashing into a rock. As the ship sank, Henry tried to escape in a dinghy, but it was so swamped by several people trying to climb aboard that it capsized, drowning the king. Only two people survived, a butcher from Rouen and a nobleman, Geoffrey de l'Aigle.

Back in England, when news reached William Adelin of the disaster, he collapsed with grief. But he had to move on. On December 1st, he was crowned in Westminster Abbey as King William III of England, promising to uphold the laws of Edward the Confessor. He had previously ruled as regent in England since the death of his mother in 1118, but he had never expected to come to the throne this quickly. Ironically, one of the first crises of William III's reign would be of his own making.

Since 1113, William had been betrothed by his father to Matilda, daughter of the Count of Anjou. The two were finally married in 1119, and the next year Fulk sailed for the Holy Land. The marriage was meant to bring peace between the traditional rival dynasties, but the 17 year old William, who wanted an heir as soon as possible, was never too keen on his 9-year old bride. His nobles weren't too keen on the marriage either. Fulk was still in the Holy Land, so William, aided by his father's Lord Chancellor, Roger of Salisbury, petitioned the Pope for a annulment of the marriage on the grounds of consanguinity, which Pope Callixtus II granted. Almost immediately, William and Roger arranged a marriage to Matilda, the 15 year old heir to the County of Boulogne, and the king's maternal first cousin.

In 1122, when he returned to Anjou to find his daughter had been divorced, Fulk was furious and began making plans to invade the border with Normandy. In addition, he offered his daughter in marriage to the King of England's rival, William Clito...
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Another idea I've been mulling over for some time. I apologise if I've made anyone here, especially Henry Beauclerc act OOC. If I have, please let me know and I will do my best to fix it. In terms of William Adelin's choices, I'm trying to make him as human as possible, a healthy balance between the personalities of say, Edward II, Edward the Black Prince and pre-Church of England Henry VIII.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.
 
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Interesting...I've seen different takes on the white ship not sinking but never the King taking it and the heir surviving. I'll be watching with interest.

Good job so far!
 
Interesting start. I shall be watching :cool:

Interesting...I've seen different takes on the white ship not sinking but never the King taking it and the heir surviving. I'll be watching with interest.

Good job so far!

Thanks. The POD I chose was partly inspired by this thread:

https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=223778

It might be OOC for Henry Beauclerc, but I wanted to get right to the meat of TTL, the reign of William III.

I'm having second thoughts about marrying William and Matilda of Boulogne, since I've read that marriages between first cousins, even with papal dispensations, were really looked down upon by the church. Unless people don't mind, I might change it to Adeliza of Louvain, Henry I's OTL second wife, and have Matilda of Boulogne still marry Stephen of Blois.
 
I'm having second thoughts about marrying William and Matilda of Boulogne, since I've read that marriages between first cousins, even with papal dispensations, were really looked down upon by the church. Unless people don't mind, I might change it to Adeliza of Louvain, Henry I's OTL second wife, and have Matilda of Boulogne still marry Stephen of Blois.

I say go for it.
 
I'm having second thoughts about marrying William and Matilda of Boulogne, since I've read that marriages between first cousins, even with papal dispensations, were really looked down upon by the church. Unless people don't mind, I might change it to Adeliza of Louvain, Henry I's OTL second wife, and have Matilda of Boulogne still marry Stephen of Blois.


Seems reasonable. Plans for William's sister Matilda? OTL she was remarried after Emperor Henry's death to Geoffrey as part of the peace between Anjou and Normandy clans since William was no longer available. That could very well still happen.
Though of course Clito's adventures and event ins Flanders could butterfly a lot!
 
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