When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman

[annis]

Despite being a hard man, Henry I was also very interested in justice and legal rights, and it was when his original 1100 Charter of Liberties was read to King John's barons by Stephen Langton that they demanded King John produce an updated version- and i have to confess I hadn't realised that particular fact till I recently read James Goldman's "Myself As Witness"! Magna Carta follows the original quite closely.

[EC2]

[quote=""annis""]Despite being a hard man, Henry I was also very interested in justice and legal rights, and it was when his original 1100 Charter of Liberties was read to King John's barons by Stephen Langton that they demanded King John produce an updated version- and i have to confess I hadn't realised that particular fact till I recently read James Goldman's "Myself As Witness"! Magna Carta follows the original quite closely.[/quote]

Yes, that's right - although that charter was also trotted out at Stephen's coronation, and I think Henry II's. But the original was Henry I's. He began the judicial processes on which Henry II built. It wasn't so much 'FitzEmpress's Law' as Henry I's Law adapted. He sorted out the corruption among the members of his peripatetic court and stipulated that goods had to be paid for when the court came through a town or village, and that the officers had strict budgets and responsibilities. It got written down in Stephen's reign as the Constitutio Domus Regis, but Henry I was the instigator.

[Miss Moppet]

[quote=""annis""]
Juliet Dymoke's "Henry of the High Rock" is the only novel I know of about him, though he does appear in George Shipway's 2 book series about Walter Tirel, "The Paladin" and "The Wolf Time", which cover the later years of William the Conqueror's reign and the struggle for power between William's three sons before and after his death.[/quote]

I have to wonder if Henry didn't top William Rufus, although hunting accidents were common enough so he ought to have the benefit of the doubt.

He really does need a big novel about him. In some ways he was greater than his grandson, the oft-lauded Henry II. Just not as glam.

I think a lot of Henry II's glamour is reflected from Eleanor of Aquitaine. If Henry I had been married to an Eleanor type there probably would be more fiction about him.

[EC2]

[quote=""Miss Moppet""]I have to wonder if Henry didn't top William Rufus, although hunting accidents were common enough so he ought to have the benefit of the doubt.



I think a lot of Henry II's glamour is reflected from Eleanor of Aquitaine. If Henry I had been married to an Eleanor type there probably would be more fiction about him.[/quote]

There's a speculative book about that (topping of William Rufus) written as a detective investigation of the facts. I thought it was fascinating at the time. I very much suspect that Henry I did top William Rufus. I think he was ruthless enough to do it.
I also think you are so right about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. I've forgotten what the Norman nobles used to call Henry I and his wife but it was something like Godric and Godif, suggesting that they were a pair of stuffy English peasants. Whereas Eleanor surrounded herself with beauty and culture and sparkled like a gem, Henry I's wife preferred to spend her time in pious works and kissing the feet of lepers. (remarked upon by her brother, who wondered if Henry I knew about this particular habit. Once suspects he must have done given his score of illegitimate children as opposed to the two from his marriage!).

[Miss Moppet]

[quote=""EC2""] I've forgotten what the Norman nobles used to call Henry I and his wife but it was something like Godric and Godif, suggesting that they were a pair of stuffy English peasants. [/quote]

Sounds like Bill and Ben the flowerpot men! Adeliza must have been a refreshing change.

[Ken]

[quote=""Miss Moppet""]Sounds like Bill and Ben the flowerpot men! Adeliza must have been a refreshing change.[/quote]

Miss Moppet. You have to agree that 'Weeeeeeed' was a bit of allright!! Our American cousins will have no idea what we are talking about!

[Miss Moppet]

[quote=""Ken""]Miss Moppet. You have to agree that 'Weeeeeeed' was a bit of allright!! Our American cousins will have no idea what we are talking about![/quote]

They will if they watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcF9JSxkUSE

[annabel]

[QUOTE=EC2;57106]There's a speculative book about that (topping of William Rufus) written as a detective investigation of the facts. I thought it was fascinating at the time. I very much suspect that Henry I did top William Rufus. I think he was ruthless enough to do it.


I'd love to read that one - title/ author, please?
Have to agree about Henry 1. I'm in the middle of Juliet Dymoke's Henry of the High Rock - thorougly absorbed in it. Have Valerie Anand's King of the Wood next on TBR list.

[EC2]

[quote=""annabel""]

There's a speculative book about that (topping of William Rufus) written as a detective investigation of the facts. I thought it was fascinating at the time. I very much suspect that Henry I did top William Rufus. I think he was ruthless enough to do it.


I'd love to read that one - title/ author, please?
Have to agree about Henry 1. I'm in the middle of Juliet Dymoke's Henry of the High Rock - thorougly absorbed in it. Have Valerie Anand's King of the Wood next on TBR list.

I can't remember the title or author. It might have been The Killing of William Rufus by D.W. Grinell-Milne (1968) but I'm not quite sure. That's the only one I can find online. I know I read it around the time I was writing The Wild Hunt, but I borrowed it from the library, which is why I can't remember!
King of the Wood is excellent. The best portrayal I've read of William Rufus.

EDITED TO SAY IT IS THE MILNE BOOK I REMEMBER - JUST BEEN TO LOOK AT ABE AND I KNOW THE COVER.

[princess]

[quote=""EC2""]There's a speculative book about that (topping of William Rufus) written as a detective investigation of the facts. [/quote]


There's also "The Death of the Red King" by Paul Doherty.