William Adelin
William Adelin (
1103 –
November 25,
1120) was the only legitimate son of
Henry I of England and his wife
Maud of Scotland. His maternal grandparents were
Malcolm III of Scotland and
Saint Margaret of Scotland. The second part of William's name is variously referred to as Audelin, Atheling, or Aetheling. In any case it is derived from the
Old English Ætheling, meaning "son of the king".
His early death in the
White Ship disaster re-arranged the politics of
England and
France. William initially survived the wreck, made it into a life-boat, but perished trying to rescue his half-sister. Since he was but 17 or 18, he had only limited opportunity for personal influence in the political affairs of his father's domains, principally in two ways.
During his long reign Henry would face several eruptions of hostilities due to the alliances of rival regions with some of his neighbors. As part of an effort to bring
Anjou, a long-time rival of
Normandy, into his sphere of allegiance, in
1113 Henry betrothed William to
Isabella d'Anjou, eldest daughter of Count
Fulk V of Anjou. The marriage finally took place in
1119. William's new wife was on another ship at the time of the wreck, and survived him to become a nun and eventually,
Abbess of Fontevrault.
The King of France was another of the hostile neighbors. A major item of contention was the ostensible duty for Henry to do
homage as
Duke of Normandy. As a king in his own right, Henry was loathe to comply and in
1115 he offered to have William do this in his stead. This offer was eventually accepted in 1120, after an intervening period of war and William did homage to
Louis VI of France in the middle of 1120. For this reason William is sometimes counted as Duke of Normandy.
These roles paled in importance, however, as his death affected events in the early
12th century significantly. The impact of White Ship disaster was that it left Henry with no male heir. William's older sister
Matilda succeeded him as
Heir Presumptive, but on Henry's death those barons who had vowed to support her accession to the throne reneged and
Stephen, William and Matilda's cousin, seized the throne. His reign was marked by
anarchy ulitimately resolved only upon Stephen's death.
William's mother Queen Edith usually served as Henry's regent in England while he was away in Normandy. After her death in
1118 William was old enough to serve in her stead. He was closely advised in this role by the king's administrators such as
Roger of Salisbury. During the last year or so of his life he was sometimes referred to as
rex designatus (king designate). Nevertheless William had very little real power.
*Hollister, C. Warren.
Henry I (Yale Monarchs Series)
