Early 14th-century depiction of the sinking of the White Ship at Barfleur on 25 November 1120
The White Ship was a vessel that sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur, on 25 Novemeber 1120. Only one of those aboard survived. Those who drowned included William Adelin, the only legitimate son and heir of King Henry I of England, his half-sister Matilda, and his half-brother Richard.
The Shipwreck
Doomed ship founders on Quilleboeuf Rock
The White Ship (real name: French: la Blanche-Nef, Latin documents Latin: Candida navis) was the finest vessel in the Norman Fleet. Earlier in the day King Henry I had departed for England with some of his entourage. But nearly 200 others stayed behind to travel on the White Ship. While getting ready a large batch of strong drink arrived and the party and crew all got very drunk. Others noticing the state of the crew, elected to stay ashore, including William Adelin's cousin, Stephen of England (c1095-1154).
Finally, the ship set sail shortly before midnight, but the inebriated crew sailed right into a large rock outcropping outside the harbor entrance (that still is visible there today). First priority was given to the rescue of William Adelin into the lifeboat, but when he saw his half-sister (Matilda FitzRoy) downing nearby, he went to her rescue. But this action only brought the small boat into reach of many others in the water and collectively they swamped the lifeboat and all were souls were lost.
Only one of those aboard survived. Those who drowned included William Adelin, the only legitimate son and heir of King Henry I of England, his half-sister Matilda, and his half-brother Richard.
Shipwreck Story
Source : The Plantagenets by Dan Jones (2012)
The White Ship was a large vessel, capable of carrying several hundred passengers, along with a crew of fifty and a cargo of treasure. The Norman historian Orderic Vitalis called it "excellently fitted out and ready for royal service." It was long and deep, decorated with ornate carvings at prow and stern and driven by a large central mast and square sail, with oar holes along both sides. The rudder, or "steer-board", was on the right-hand side of the vessel rather than in the center, so the onus on the captain was to be well aware of local maritime geography; steering was blind to the port side.
A fair wind was blosing up from the south, and it promised a rapid crossing to England. The crew and passengers bade the king's vessel farewell sometime in the evening. They were expected to follow shortly behind, but the drinking on board the White Ship was entertaining enough to keep them anchored long past dark. When priests arrived to bless the vessel with holy water before her departure, they were waved away with jeers and spirited laughter.
As the party ran on, a certain amount of bragging began. The White Ship contained little luggage and saw equipped with fifty oarsmen. The inebriated captain boasted that his ship, with square sail billowing and oars pulling hard, was so fast that even with the disadvantage of having conceded a head start to King Henry's ship, they could still be in England before the king.
A few on board started to worry that sailing at high speed with a well-lubricated crew was not the safest way to travel to England, and it was with the excuse of an stomach upset that William's cousin Stephen of Blois excused himself from the party. He left the White Ship to find another vessel to take him home. Dismayed at the wild and headstrong behaviour of the royal party and crew, a couple of others joined him. But despite the queasy defectors, the drunken sailors eventually saw their way to preparing the ship for departure. Around midnight on a clear night lit by a new moon, the White Ship weighed anchor and set off for England.
Malmesbury Chronicle
William of Malmesbury noted their fate:
"She [flew] swifter than the winged arrow, sweeping the rippling surface of the deep." wrote William of Malmesbury. But the ship did not fly far.
"the water having washed some of the crew overboard and entering the chinks drowned others, the boat was launched, and the young prince getting into it might certainly have been saved by reaching the shore, had not his illegitimate sister, the countess of Perche, now struggling with death in the larger vessel, implored her brother's assistance, shrieking out that he should not abandon her so barbarously. Touched with pity, he ordered the boat to return to the ship, that he might rescue his sister; and thus the unhappy youth met his death through excess of affection; for the skiff, overcharged by the multitude who leaped into it, sank, and buried all indiscriminately in the deep." Thus William Adelin perished trying to save his sister Maud.
Aftermath
English Succession Crisis Triggered
William Adelin's death led to a succession crisis and a period of civil war in England known as the Anarchy. Henry I's hopes for a direct male heir were dashed, thus bringing to an end the House of Normandy. However, a grandson, Henry II would rise to the throne as the first English king of House of Plantagenet. Stephen of England (c1095-1154), William Adelin's cousin, would inherit the throne in his place, and rule England as the last ruler of the House of Normandy.
The sinking of the White Ship was not just a personal tragedy for Henry I. It was a political catastrophe for the Norman dynasty. In the words of Henry of Huntingdon, William's "certain hope of reigning in the future was greater than his father's actual possession of the kingdom." Through William the Aetheling's marriage, Normandy had been brought to peace with Anjou. Through his homage to Louis VI, the whole Anglo-Norman realm was at peace with France. All of Henry's plans and efforts to secure his lands and legacy had rested on the survival of his son. Now it was all in vain.
The death of William the Aetheling and the fortuitous survival of his cousin Stephen of Blois would come to throw the whole of Western European politics into disarray for three decades. (1120-1150)
Deaths
| Father | Mother | Death date | Age at death | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matilda FitzRoy (c1090-1120) | Henry I of England (1068-1135) | Edith (given name) | 25 November 1120 JL | |
| Richard of Lincoln (1094-1120) | Henry I of England (1068-1135) | Ansfrid (1070-) | 25 November 1120 JL | |
| Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester (1094-1120) | Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester (−1101) | 25 November 1120 JL | ||
| Maud of Blois (c1097-1120) | Stephen II, Count of Blois (c1045-1102) | Adela of Normandy (c1062-1138) | 25 November 1120 JL | |
| William of Normandy (1103-1120) | Henry I of England (1068-1135) | Matilda of Scotland (c1080-1118) | 25 November 1120 JL |
| This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at White Ship. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |
Other Casualties
- Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester (1094-1120)
- Maud of Blois (c1097-1120) - wife of Richard d'Avranches and a cousin to Prince William Adelin.
- Ottuel - illegitimate half-brother of Richard d'Avranches
- Geoffrey Ridel - English judge
- Othver - Tutor to Prince William,
- Juliana du Perche (d. after 1132), married to Gilbert, Lord of d’Aigle. They had two sons, Geoffrey and Engenulf, who died in the wreck of the White Ship Disaster
- Many other cousins and freinds of the royal prince.
Survivor Rouen
From Plantagenets:
Only one man survived the wreck of the White Ship, a butcher from Rouen who had boarded the ship at Barfleur to collect payment for debts and been carried off to sea by the revelers. When the ship went down, he wrapped himself in ram skins for warmth and clung to wrecked timber during the night. He staggered, drenched, back to shore in the morning to tell his story. Later on the few bodies that were ever recovered began to wash up with the tide.
References
- The Plantagenets by Dan Jones, pg 11-15.
- The White Ship: The 12th Century's Titanic with Much Worse Consequences