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168 reviews for:
The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I's Dream
Charles Spencer
3.89 AVERAGE
168 reviews for:
The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I's Dream
Charles Spencer
3.89 AVERAGE
Brisk and entertaining history of a striking inflection point in early English history, ably tracing the tributaries of influence, action, and error.
Thoroughly enjoyed, especially the first 2 thirds which genuinely did read like a historical thriller, very easy going and well paced. The last bit post the tragedy seemed a bit rushed to me but overall a great read.
In this book, Charles Spencer tells the fraught story of the rise of William the Conqueror’s son Henry I to the British throne and his desperate attempt to stay there. Henry inaugurated a period of relative calm in England and Normandy, destroyed by the death of his likely heirs in the sinking of the ‘White Ship’ in a winter storm in 1120. The book is an interesting case study of “what might have been,” without going as far as counterfactualism. Spencer describes the misery and abuse suffered by ordinary people as various would-be kings, counts, earls, and bishops going about consolidating their power and holding territory, without norms or laws to temper their strategies. He also explores the illegitimacy of female monarchs in this period, as Henry’s daughter Matilda, rightful heir to the throne, lost out to his bastard son Stephen of Blois. A bloodthirsty tale of the middle—not to say “dark”—ages.
informative
medium-paced
informative
tense
medium-paced
A really well-written book that covers the history from 1066 up until Henry II becomes king. There are a lot of similar names and titles in this period, but the book covers them well. This isn’t my favourite period of history, but I actually really enjoyed the book and learned a lot. It hinges off the sinking of the white ship and the impact that had on the ruling family, something I’d only vaguely been aware of. If only women could have ruled then there’d have been a lot less fighting!
If you're at all into early English and French history, you'll probably enjoy this well-written, well-paced account of 12th century kings (subset - drunk kings!), queens, knights, insufferable young lords, traitors, wars, castles, sieges, men named Henry or William, and many, many women named Matilda!
Henry I of England - who also ruled big parts of France including Normandy, after conquering it - was a ruthless king who believed in rough justice and that only through punishment would people respect him and do his bidding. He was a warrior who could also read, write, gave England some of its most sensible laws up to that point, and he had 22 illegitimate children! Too bad he only had 2 legitimate children, William Aetheling and Matilda. In 1120 17-year-old William went down with the White Ship of the book's title; turns out trying to sail from northern France to England in November with threatening weather ahead and a boatful of drunks isn't a great idea! Who knew. This disaster is famous for not only ending the life of the heir to the throne, but also the lives of two of Henry's illegitimate children, a bunch of other royals and lords, and two of Henry's greatest supporters and I guess what you'd call Cabinet members.
Henry's first wife was already dead by this point, and though he married again quickly after his heir's death in an effort to have some more legit children, it didn't work out. He wanted his daughter Matilda to inherit the throne after him, but at the time of his death she wasn't on the spot and Henry's nephew Stephen was. Seems like Stephen was a dude lots of people liked so they all said, yeah, you should be the king! But he wasn't a very good leader and the next 20 years were Anarchy (I believe this is the actual name of this time period in English history) as Stephen and Henry's daughter Matilda battled back and forth. At one point she had to be rescued from Stephen's troops and spirited away in the middle of winter, crossing an ice-choked river while wrapped in white sheets to make her blend in with the snow!
This book has a lot of entertaining quotes that reminded me of Monty Python material from The Holy Grail! For example:
"In the face of this unanswerable legal onslaught, de Bellême withdrew and prepared for military action."
On Henry, prior to being King, being teased by the previous King: "While Rufus reigned Henry had to deal with the taunting as best he could."
(The Knights) "thundered into Curthose’s men with an impact so devastating that Robert de Bellême panicked. He abandoned his duty as commander of Curthose’s rearguard, and fled for his life without taking any part in the fighting." (Run away!!!)
"Still reeling from the completeness of their defeat, the French king and Clito were surprised to be reunited with the magnificent warhorses that they had abandoned in their flight."
"This was chivalry of such a supremely high order that it bordered on the insulting."
"The sight completely unnerved him and his companions. They fled for their lives."
"Stephen-Henry tended to do his wife’s bidding, (one writer) putting his obedience down to the irresistible effect of (his wife) Adela’s ‘conjugal caresses’."
"The agonies of the anarchy were so severe that contemporaries felt they must be suffering divine retribution for their sins."
"None of the trio was blessed with more than borderline competence."
And there's more where these came from! Good stuff.
Henry I of England - who also ruled big parts of France including Normandy, after conquering it - was a ruthless king who believed in rough justice and that only through punishment would people respect him and do his bidding. He was a warrior who could also read, write, gave England some of its most sensible laws up to that point, and he had 22 illegitimate children! Too bad he only had 2 legitimate children, William Aetheling and Matilda. In 1120 17-year-old William went down with the White Ship of the book's title; turns out trying to sail from northern France to England in November with threatening weather ahead and a boatful of drunks isn't a great idea! Who knew. This disaster is famous for not only ending the life of the heir to the throne, but also the lives of two of Henry's illegitimate children, a bunch of other royals and lords, and two of Henry's greatest supporters and I guess what you'd call Cabinet members.
Henry's first wife was already dead by this point, and though he married again quickly after his heir's death in an effort to have some more legit children, it didn't work out. He wanted his daughter Matilda to inherit the throne after him, but at the time of his death she wasn't on the spot and Henry's nephew Stephen was. Seems like Stephen was a dude lots of people liked so they all said, yeah, you should be the king! But he wasn't a very good leader and the next 20 years were Anarchy (I believe this is the actual name of this time period in English history) as Stephen and Henry's daughter Matilda battled back and forth. At one point she had to be rescued from Stephen's troops and spirited away in the middle of winter, crossing an ice-choked river while wrapped in white sheets to make her blend in with the snow!
This book has a lot of entertaining quotes that reminded me of Monty Python material from The Holy Grail! For example:
"In the face of this unanswerable legal onslaught, de Bellême withdrew and prepared for military action."
On Henry, prior to being King, being teased by the previous King: "While Rufus reigned Henry had to deal with the taunting as best he could."
(The Knights) "thundered into Curthose’s men with an impact so devastating that Robert de Bellême panicked. He abandoned his duty as commander of Curthose’s rearguard, and fled for his life without taking any part in the fighting." (Run away!!!)
"Still reeling from the completeness of their defeat, the French king and Clito were surprised to be reunited with the magnificent warhorses that they had abandoned in their flight."
"This was chivalry of such a supremely high order that it bordered on the insulting."
"The sight completely unnerved him and his companions. They fled for their lives."
"Stephen-Henry tended to do his wife’s bidding, (one writer) putting his obedience down to the irresistible effect of (his wife) Adela’s ‘conjugal caresses’."
"The agonies of the anarchy were so severe that contemporaries felt they must be suffering divine retribution for their sins."
"None of the trio was blessed with more than borderline competence."
And there's more where these came from! Good stuff.
Decent read but took them ages to get to the White Ship
A lucid and readable account of a very turbulent and complex period of British/French history. The book navigates the murky waters of the protagonists, who share a very narrow name pool - so many Williams, Henrys, Roberts and Matildas! I recommend this to anyone interested in the period covered by the Brother Cadfael novels.
The white ship story is one in larger plantaganet histories are very significant so a full version of it and the power strugglers before and after was interesting, but there just want really enough content even for quite a short book. Lot of listing of allied people that wasnt strictly relevant to bulk it up. But the actual telling of the wreck and the early power shifts was great.