A Chronological History of Britain
Every episode of The British History Podcast that moves the story forward in a chronological way.
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Ok, I know at the end of that last episode I kinda sorta promised you a fight. And we are definitely going to have one.
But we are pausing real quick to cover some SERIOUSLY good gossip…and possibly a murder?
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All of those promises Rufus made to be a better man had finally convinced God. After about two months of being bedridden, the King finally recovered from his mysterious illness.
And now that the Divine had delivered its side of the bargain… well, there was really no point to any of those promises anymore. So Rufus immediately set about invalidating all his penitential acts.
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We don’t really know precisely what Henry got up to once he fled Mont Saint Michel. What few records we have are incomplete and some contradictory. But from those records we /are/ able to glean some details… and when we take the accounts in total, what immediately becomes clear is that, just because Henry was in exile, it didn’t mean he had accepted his defeat. He had plans and he set them in motion.
His first plan was to have sex. Like… lots and lots of sex.
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After Robert kicked Henry out of Rouen, the Duke tried to restabilize his position in Normandy.
And his first move was to make an alliance with Robert of Belleme.
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We’ve been spending a lot of time with Rufus and Robert. And that was the way things were back in the 11th century, too. Rufus and Robert got the attention, while Henry… the youngest, and apparently most forgettable brother… was often left out. And this reality was made most clear when their father died… and, despite holding vast territories, the Conqueror didn’t bother to give Henry a single hide of land.
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It’s one of the most famous landmarks in the world. The White Tower, or more recently, the Tower of London. If you’ve visited London you likely took time to go see it.
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With Count Henry and Robert of Belleme imprisoned under his tender care, Bishop Odo had free rein to guide the impressionable Duke Robert in whatever direction he wanted. And he had a direction in mind.
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William the Conqueror had not set his sons up for success, and at the heart of it was land.
Obviously, the way he distributed those lands in his Will had been a bit of a disaster, as it had set his two eldest sons up for war.
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It was Easter of 1088. This was, typically, a time when the most powerful figures of England would gather at Court. But this wasn’t a typical year.