The White Ship, a twelfth century vessel, sank in the English Channel near the Normandy coast off Barfleur, on November 25, 1120. Those drowned included William Adelin, the only unquestionably legitimate son of King Henry I of England. Only one sailor survived. Map of the English Channel Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche (IPA: ), the sleeve) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... Mont Saint-Michel, one of the famous symbols of Normandy. ... Barfleur is a small picturesque fishing-port and commune in north-western France, in the Manche d̩partement in the Basse-Normandie r̩gion. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Welcher of Malvern creates a system of measurement for the earth using degrees, minutes, and seconds of latitude and longitude. ... William Adelin (1103 РNovember 25, 1120) was the only legitimate son of Henry I of England and his wife Maud of Scotland. ... King Henry I of England (c. ...

The White Ship was a new ship owned by Thomas FitzStephen, whose father Stephen had been sea captain for William the Conqueror when he invaded England in 1066. He offered to let Henry I use it to return to England from Barfleur - Henry had already made traveling arrangements, but suggested that his son William travel on it instead. William I ( 1027 – September 9, 1087), was King of England from 1066 to 1087. ...

But when the White Ship set off in the dark, its port side struck a submerged rock (this rock can still be seen from the cliffs of Barfleur), and the ship quickly capsized. The only survivor was a butcher from Rouen - he was wearing thick ramskins that saved him from exposure, and was picked up by fishermen the next morning. In his account of the disaster, chronicler Orderic Vitalis claimed that when Thomas FitzStephen came to the surface after the sinking and learned that William Adelin had not survived, he let himself drown rather than face the king. (The accuracy of this account is debatable - it describes a full moon, but sky tables show that the moon was actually new that night. This issue is further complicated by the need to convert modern sky tables based upon the Gregorian Calendar to the Julian Calendar in use during the twelfth Century.) Rouen Cathedral The entrance to Rouen Cathedral Abbey church of Saint-Ouen, (chevet) in Rouen Rouen, medieval house Rouen (pronounced in French, sometimes also ) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and presently the capital of the Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) région. ... Orderic Vitalis (1075 – c. ... The Gregorian calendar is the calendar that is used nearly everywhere in the world. ... The Julian calendar was introduced in 46 BC by Julius Caesar and took force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). ...

William of Malmesbury wrote: "Here also perished with William, Richard, another of the King's [Henry I] sons, whom a women of no rank had borne him, before his accession, a brave youth, and dear to his father from his obedience; Richard d'Avranches, second Earl of Chester, and his brother Otheur; Geoffrey Ridel; Walter of Everci; Geoffrey, archdeacon of Hereford; [Matilda] the Countess of Perche, the king's daughter; the Countess of Chester; the king's niece Lucia-Mahaut of Blois; and many others..." William of Malmesbury (c. ... Richard dAvranches, 2nd Earl of Chester (1094-1120) was son to Hugh, 1st Earl of Chester and Ermentrude of Clermont. ... Lucia-Mahaut of Blois (d. ...

The cause of the shipwreck remains unclear. Various stories surrounding its loss feature a drinking binge by the crew and passengers (it is also suggested that the captain was dared to try and overtake the king's ship ahead of them), and mention that priests were not allowed on board to bless the ship in the customary manner. However, the Channel has often proven a notoriously treacherous stretch of water.

Stephen of Blois, King Henry's nephew, had allegedly disembarked just before the ship sailed. If so, his action appears ironic, since, as a direct result of William's death, Stephen would later usurp the English throne, resulting in the period known as the Anarchy. However, Orderic Vitalis attributes this to a sudden bout of diarrhea. Stephen (1096 - October 25, 1154), the last Norman King of England, reigned from 1135 to 1154, when he was succeeded by his cousin (or, as the gossip of the time had it, his natural son) Henry II, the first of the Angevin or Plantagenet Kings. ... The Anarchy in English history commonly names the period of civil war and unsettled government that occurred during the reign (1135–1154) of King Stephen of England. ... Orderic Vitalis (1075 – c. ...

The death of William Adelin in this shipwreck led to the chaos following the death of Henry I. The English barons were reluctant to accept Matilda as Queen Regnant, leading Stephen to usurp the throne. Even in the sixteenth century, the example of that time contributed to Henry VIII's many marriages in the search for a male heir. William Adelin (1103 – November 25, 1120) was the only legitimate son of Henry I of England and his wife Maud of Scotland. ... Empress Matilda (February, 1101 – September 10, 1167) (Saxon form Maud or Maude) – was the daughter and dispossessed heir of King Henry I of England. ... A queen regnant is a female monarch who possesses all the monarchal powers that a king would have without regard to gender. ... Stephen or Steven (generally pronounced IPA ) is an English masculine first name, derived through the Latin form Stephanus from the Greek Στέφανος (Stephanos), which means crown or wreath. Less commonly encountered spellings include Stephan, Stefan, and Stevon. ... For the play, see Henry VIII (play). ...

References

• Victoria Chandler, "The Wreck of the White Ship", in The final argument : the imprint of violence on society in medieval and early modern Europe, edited by Donald J. Kagay and L.J. Andrew Villalon (1998)
• Robert Lacey, "Henry I and the White Ship" in Great Tales from English History (2003)