Henry I ., surnamed Beauclerc, the third English monarch of the Norman line, and first prince of that line of English birth, born at Selby, Yorkshire, in 1068, died near Rouen, Dec. 1, 1135. Having received from his father, William the Conqueror, who died when Henry was 19 years old, £5,000 in silver, he bought from his brother Robert the district of Coten-tin, comprising one third of Normandy. On the belief that he was leagued with William Rufus of England, Robert imprisoned him, but released him at the intercession of the Norman nobles. When William attacked Robert in 1090, Henry sided with the latter, and displayed great energy, courage, and cruelty. In the following year William and Robert became reconciled and turned their combined forces against Henry, compelling him to surrender all his possessions. For some years he lived in seclusion, when the people of Domfront, one of Robert's strongest places, called him to rule over them. He made other acquisitions at Robert's expense, became reconciled with William, and went to England. On Aug. 2, 1100, he was hunting in the New forest when William was there slain; and, riding immediately to Winchester, he claimed and obtained the crown, to the prejudice of Robert, who was then in the Holy Land, a leader in the first crusade.

Three days later his coronation took place. He owed his success in part to his boldness, and in part to his liberal promises and concessions. He conciliated the clergy, inviting Anselm back to England. He promised to remedy abuses and to maintain the old Anglo-Saxon laws and usages, the charter he granted becoming the basis of all subsequent reforms. By marrying Matilda of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm Canmore and Margaret, and niece of Edgar Atheling, he conciliated the Saxon but disaffected the Norman portion of his subjects. Robert, returned from the East, landed at Portsmouth (1101) with a considerable force, and summoned Henry to surrender to him possession of England. A negotiation ensued, and Robert, having been guaranteed the undisturbed possession of Normandy, resigned his pretensions to the English throne. But Henry occupied himself for several years in strengthening his position in England, and in 1105 called upon Robert to yield up Normandy also. Robert indignantly refused, whereupon Henry invaded Normandy and captured several places of importance. The next year he renewed his invasion and laid siege to the castle of Tinchebrai. Robert hastened to its relief, and a severe battle was fought beneath its walls. Henry was victorious and took Robert prisoner.

The latter having attempted to escape, Henry, according to some authorities, put out his eyes; it is certain that he kept him in prison 28 years. Henry's right to the throne was disputed by Robert's son, whose claims were supported by the counts of Flanders and Anjou and the king of France. Peace was made with France in 1113, and tranquillity was maintained for some years. The question of investiture led to trouble with Rome, which was aggravated by the papal claim to send legates to England. In consequence of the continued troubles in Normandy, and the renewal of the war with the French king, Henry passed much of his time in France, to the discontent of the English. In 1114 he married his daughter Matilda to Henry V., emperor of Germany. The victory of Brenne-ville decided the war with Franco favorably for Henry (1119), and peace was made, so that in 1120 his power was established. The same year his son William was lost while sailing from France to England, and the king never recovered from the shock. Queen Matilda had died in 1118, and Henry married Adelicia, daughter of the count of Louvain; no children followed from this union. New difficulties on the continent caused Henry to return there in 1123; success again attended him, and peace was restored.

The death of his nephew William in 1128 relieved him from an active enemy. His daughter Matilda returned to England on the emperor's death, and in 112G her father prevailed on a numerous assemblage of the clergy and laity to swear that, in the event of his death without male issue, she should be recognized as queen and duchess. In 1127 Matilda was privately married to Geoffrey Planta-genet, count of Anjou, and the quarrels between them caused the king much annoyance. The nobility, too, declared that the marriage had absolved them from their oath. The Welsh having given him much trouble throughout his reign, he was about to attempt their conquest when he died. His death was attributed to over-indulgence in his favorite dish, lampreys. HENR1 II., founder of the Plantagenet dynasty, grandson of the preceding, and son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and the ex-empress Matilda, born in Le Mans in March, 1133, died at the castle of Chinon, July 6, 1189. On the death of Henry 1., his nephew Stephen, count of Blois, usurped the thrones of England and Normandy. A long series of contests followed, in the latter part of which Prince Henry much distinguished himself.

These were terminated by an arrangement in 1153, by which it was settled that Henry should succeed to the English throne on Stephen's death, which event took place Oct. 25, 1154. Henry had become duke of Normandy in 1150, and count of Anjou and Maine in 1151; and by marrying Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine, who had been divorced from Louis VII. of France, he obtained in 1152 possession of nearly the whole of southern France. He was his wife's junior by upward of ten years. They were crowned at Westminster, Dec. 19, 1154. Henry's continental possessions comprised more than a third of France, including Normandy, Maine, Touraine, Anjou, Poitou, Guienne, and other provinces; and in a few years he made himself master of Brittany. He brought to the throne a high reputation for talent and courage. He restored the coinage, revoked improper grants, dismissed mercenaries, suppressed lawlessness, and destroyed many of the feudal castles which had been erected in Stephen's reign. But for his troubles with the church, he would have been the greatest, as he was one of the ablest, of English monarchs.

These disputes began in 1102. Henry had resolved to curb the clergy, and made Thomas a Becket, upon whom he thought ho could rely for assistance, archbishop of Canterbury, he having held the chancellorship since 1158. But Becket became the most austere of churchmen and the most vehement champion of the independence of his order, and placed himself in direct opposition to the king. The first open collision between them occurred at an assembly of bishops called by the king at Westminster in 11C3, in which the prelates, following Becket's lead, refused to yield to Henry the customary jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts. This led to an attempt to overthrow the whole system of clerical immunities, and for that purpose a convocation of bishops and barons was held at Clarendon, Jan. 25, 1164. The primate, who since the former assembly had been induced to promise unconditional acquiescence, now demanded of the king to make known what these "customs" were, which he and his brother bishops were to observe. A committee of inquiry was thereupon appointed, and the sixteen constitutions or "customs" of Clarendon were drawn up.

By these it was enacted that clerks charged with crime should be tried in the civil courts; that no appeals in spiritual causes should be carried beyond the king without his consent; that if, in any lawsuit between a clergyman and a layman concerning a tenant, it was disputed whether the land were a lay or an ecclesiastical fee, this should be decided by the verdict of twelve lawful men, and if found to be a lay fee, the cause should be determined by the civil courts; that laics should not be accused in spiritual courts, except by legal and reputable witnesses; that no chief tenant of the crown should be excommunicated, nor his lands be put under an interdict, except with the king's consent; that no person, particularly no clergyman, should leave the kingdom without that consent; that the civil courts should decide all suits concerning the advowson and presentation of churches; that the churches belonging to the king's fee should not be granted in perpetuity without his consent; that the revenues of vacant sees should belong to the king, that the election to such sees should be held by the king's consent and in his chapel, and that the bishop elect should do homage to the crown; that goods forfeited to the king should not be protected in churches or churchyards; and that archbishops, bishops, and other spiritual dignitaries should be regarded as barons of the realm, possessing the privileges and subject to the burdens belonging to that rank, and bound to attend the king in his great councils, and assist at all trials.

The power of excommunication was lessened, the clerical privileges respecting the collection of debts were annulled, and the sons of villeins were forbidden to be ordained clerks without the consent of their lords. Three copies of these were the next day, Jan. 20, presented for subscription. When the primate was asked to affix his seal, he refused, saying that he had performed all that he had promised. When, afterward, the pope officially disapproved of these constitutions, Becket retracted his former promise. The quarrel between him and the king was renewed, and lasted for seven years, when Becket was killed by four Norman barons (Dec. 29, 117')). During the quarrel Becket was banished, the king of France began hostilities with England, and the war lasted three years. The murder of Becket annoyed Henry, as he feared the pope would carry out his threat of excommunication; but his negotiators succeeded in confining the papal anathemas to those who had committed the crime. In 1171 Henry undertook the conquest of Ireland, the expedition being approved of by a papal bull in 1156, and a few of his subjects having already waged a successful war in that island. He met with little resistance.

Having taken a solemn oath that he had not instigated Becket's murder, and having made various concessions to the church, he was confirmed by Rome in the grant of Ireland. The troubles in his family, which clouded the latter portion of his life, now commenced. He had associated with him his eldest son, Henry, in the government of England, Normandy, Anjou, and other territories; Richard was made ruler of Guienne and Poitou; Geoffrey was to be duke of Brittany; and John was to receive Ireland. But from 1173 these sons gave him much vexation, being encouraged to rebel by their mother, who was enraged by Henry's conjugal infidelities, by the French king, who was the father-in-law of the eldest, and by the nobles in various parts of his dominions. Henry now did penance at the tomb of Becket, fasting and praying there, and submitting to flagellation at the hands of the monks. The Scots, having in-vaded England, were defeated, and the rebels, including his sons, returned to obedience. The king of Scotland did homage to him, and surrendered portions of his dominion. In the interval of quiet that followed, Henry made several legal reforms. The disputes that broke out in his family were fatal to his peace. His sons quarrelled with him and with each other.

The "eldest died in 1183, and Geoffrey was killed in 1180. In 1188 Richard rebelled, and was aided by France, though both Henry and the French king had taken the cross, intending to embark for Palestine. Henry was beaten, and submitted to the terms dictated by his enemies. Shortly after he died of a fever brought on by mental irritation.