Henry I c. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. He purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but his brothers deposed him in He gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William Rufus against Robert.
Present in England with his brother William when William died in a hunting accident, Henry seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of William's less popular policies.
He married Matilda of Scotland and they had two surviving children, Empress Matilda and William Adelin ; he also had many illegitimate children by his numerous mistresses. Robert, who invaded from Normandy in , disputed Henry's control of England; this military campaign ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry as king. The peace was short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in and , finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life.
Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England and Normandy. In England, he drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxation, but also strengthened it with more institutions, including the royal exchequer and itinerant justices.
Normandy was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henry's system were "new men" of obscure backgrounds, rather than from families of high status, who rose through the ranks as administrators.
