Claim of William Clito refers to the conflicts between Louis VI of France and Henry I of England over William Clito's claims to the Duchy of Normandy, the County of Flanders, and potentially to the throne of England. Although Henry did not recognise Clito's claims, Clito attracted support from Henry's dissidents, leading to recurring conflicts in Normandy, Flanders, and the Île-de-France from AD 1108 until his death in 1128.
In 1106, Henry I of England conquered the Duchy of Normandy from his brother Robert Curthose, leaving Robert's son, William Clito, with a claim to the duchy. After ascending the throne, Louis VI began to assert his royal prerogative more forcefully. With regional allies, Louis and Henry first clashed between 1108 and 1113, culminating in Louis's reconciliation with Henry. In 1110, Clito, the son of Robert, escaped capture as Henry attempted to arrest him. A larger conflict broke out between 1116 and 1120 when Louis invaded Normandy alongside Baldwin of Flanders (d. 1119) and Fulk of Anjou, supporting Clito's claim to the duchy over that of Henry's son, William Adelin. Fulk made peace with Henry and wed his daughter Matilda of Anjou to Henry's son, Adelin. Louis and Clito were defeated at the Battle of Brémule in 1119 and the French king made peace with Henry in 1120, with Adelin swearing fealty for Normandy.
Clito's claim to both Normandy and Flanders renewed viability when Adelin, the only legitimate son and heir of Henry, died in the White Ship disaster in November 1120, causing another phase of conflict. Fulk broke with Henry and wed Clito to his daughter Sibylla, but the marriage did not last as Henry convinced the papacy to issue an annulment in 1124. In 1127, Louis raised Clito to the countship after Charles the Good, Count of Flanders, was murdered. Despite early successes, Clito was abandoned by his supporters and threatened by Thierry of Alsace as a rival for the county. He ambushed and defeated Thierry at the Battle of Axspoele, but was mortally wounded while besieging Aalst, where Thierry had retreated, before he could capitalise on his success, dying in July 1128. Henry and Louis signed a peace treaty in 1129, and Thierry was recognised as the Count of Flanders.
The fighting was tied to Louis's campaign to assert the authority of the French king and to his wars against rebellious barons such as Thomas of Marle. This, itself, was the latest step in the attempts of the Capetian kings to assert their authority in France. After Henry's reign, a civil war broke out over the English throne known as The Anarchy. The alliance between Henry and Anjou that came of the fighting formed the nucleus of the Angevin Empire, which threatened Louis's son, Louis VII.
Background
Capetian dynasty
The early medieval subjects of West Francia did not regard themselves as a single group beyond their allegiance to one king. There was not even a contemporary name for the entire region; "West Francia" is a later historiographical term. By the late 9th century AD, royal presence no longer penetrated past the comital level, while the power of the comes, count, increased continuously. The ability of the Carolingian crown in West Francia to exercise most of its prerogatives (aside from dispensing charters and receiving fealty) was weakened significantly.
The Robertian dynasty first arose in the 9th century under Robert the Strong in Neustria (Northern France), and its first king was his son Odo. Despite the brevity of his reign (888–898), it undermined the power of the Carolingians by creating an alternative dynasty, and the Carolingian Charles the Simple would be deposed in favour of Robert I, another Robertian. He was succeeded by his son-in-law, Rudolph. In 987, the Robertian Hugh Capet became the King of West Francia, founding the Capetians. Since the reign of Henry I of France, the Capetian kings had gradually gained more recognition and authority from their princes. He oversaw the emergence of a central royal bureaucracy in France. This Henry saw mixed but real success in his dealings with Anjou and Blois. Fighting between the French crown and the dukes of Normandy continued under Louis's father, Philip, stoking revolt, dividing the conqueror's family, and placing pressure on the Vexin.
In the 980s, the Capetian crown held significant estates between Orléans and Paris, but by the second half of the 11th century, they began buying and selling parcels of land to consolidate the royal demesne. The Capetians theoretically had the rights to collect revenues over a much wider area than simply the royal demesne, but in fact this was challenged strongly by castellans of the king who made claims of autonomy. By the mid-century, the French crown partially suppressed these interests. Philip I of France significantly expanded his personal holdings, adding the Vexin, Amiens, and other territories.
Relations between Normandy and France
Conflicts between the French crown and the dukes of Normandy arose first in the mid-11th century, with Henry of France launching unsuccessful invasions of Normandy under William the Conqueror throughout the 1050s. After Henry, Philip received multiple opportunities to intervene in the duchy, and gained a decisive upper hand after the conqueror's death in 1089, when Normandy entered into a period of instability under the rule of Duke Robert Curthose. From 1103 onwards Robert's vassals gradually peeled off from him in favor of his younger brother Henry, who ruled as King of England. The Anglo-Norman king's preparations for an invasion of Normandy were ongoing from 1104, prompted by Robert's reconciliation with the rogue baron, Robert of Bellême. Henry invaded Normandy in 1105 and 1106, culminating in the decisive Battle of Tinchebray, where the duke was captured. At Falaise, Henry met the duke's 4-year-old son, William Clito. As a show of compassion, he placed the boy into the care of his brother-in-law, Helias of Arques. Henry's intervention in Normandy revived ducal authority under him.
In the aftermath, Henry temporarily made peace with Robert of Bellême to avert further conflict and consolidated his regime in Normandy. The king released many of his prisoners, aside from Count William of Mortain and Duke Robert. He also dealt with the issue of the Investiture Controversy in England, reconciling with the church and Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury in 1107. In 1108, Louis VI, known as the fighter or the fat, succeeded Philip as King of France. Philip and Henry had maintained a cordial relationship up to this point, but Louis intended to expand the power of the French crown. It was under the reign of Louis VI, who Jim Bradbury referred to as an "active military man," that a surge of royal power would take place. In particular, Louis desired the castle of Gisors, its status in doubt.
Direct confrontation
Revolt in France
Upon his accession, Louis demanded Henry's homage for Normandy (alongside the other French princes) and that Henry surrender the fortifications of Bray-et-Lu and Gisors, which French sources alleged were held in violation of a prior agreement. The truth of this statement, which Henry denied, cannot be ascertained. Louis raided into Normandy, but when he and Henry encountered each other on opposite sides of the Epte, they agreed to a truce that resolved none of their disputes. Supporters of Louis in the Vexin overthrew William of La Roche-Guyon soon after the meeting on the Epte. Henry suffered another diplomatic reversal when Fulk V became the Count of Anjou in 1109. This directly led to Henry losing his suzerainty over Maine; Helias of Maine, Henry's fidelis, died in 1110, and Fulk inherited his county, refusing to renew the arrangement. Instead, the new count allied himself with Louis. Meanwhile, Henry attempted to arrest Clito in 1110 while he was eliminating a number of unruly barons, but Clito escaped capture with his guardian Helias of Arques. Henry then arrested Robert of Bellême in 1112, which eliminated one of Clitos's supporters.
Henry had Stephen of Blois as an ally, who was his younger nephew through his sister Adela's marriage with Stephen-Henry of Blois. Adela's other son, Theobald II of Blois, would break from Louis and ally with Henry by 1110. Louis meanwhile dealt with rebellious barons and castellans in around the Île-de-France such as Hugh de Puiset, who represented the most significant threat to royal authority. In 1111, Louis besieged and capturing the castle of Le Puiset and Hugh with it. When released under oath in 1112, Hugh immediately took up arms against the king again, defeating Louis near Le Puiset. Hugh would not be defeated for another 6 years. By 1112, Louis faced one of the most significant crises of his reign when Hugh and Theobald of Blois led a significant coalition of French lords in an uprising against Louis, defeating the king in battle near Le Puiset. Ralph of Vermandois was one of the French king's supporters, while the rebels were backed by Henry I, whom Suger reports sent a Norman army.
Marriage pacts won Henry more allies at this time. A betrothal between the king's son William Adelin and Fulk's daughter Matilda brought Anjou into back into the Anglo-Norman orbit, and a marriage between Henry's natural daughter Matilda FitzRoy and Conan III of Brittany, dated by modern historian Hollister to just before 1113 was made with the same intent. Henry was left with the upper hand. Although Louis's position did not collapse, and he defeated many of the rebel castellans, he was forced to come to terms. Louis acquiesced to Henry all that had been contested, as well as the overlordship of Maine and Brittany, which he had already gained.
Armed Interlude
William Clito had resided in Flanders after 1112, and Hollister suggests that he developed a bond with Baldwin VII, the Count of Flanders. Baldwin launched raids into Normandy as early as 1114, but he did not present a serious military threat to the English king and Henry seemed confident the truce would hold. In 1115, Henry attempted to convince Louis to accept William Adelin's fealty for the Duchy of Normandy, as a solution to the unique situation in Normandy. However, on the advice of William II of Nevers, Louis refused, instead choosing to support the claim of William Clito. Theobald soon seized William of Nevers and would hold him for the next few years. The next round of fighting likely broke out around 1116, influenced by Henry's earlier support for the French rebels. The campaigns (mid-1116 to mid-1118) led by Louis of France and Baldwin of Flanders caused devastation in northeastern Normandy within the pays of Caux.
Invasion of Normandy
The war began in earnest after 1118 with the deaths of Henry's key advisors, Robert of Beaumont, William of Évreux, and his queen Matilda of Scotland. Peace in Normandy collapsed under invasions from Fulk, Louis, and Baldwin, and according to Orderic Vitalis, 18 castellans in upper Normandy fought for Clito. As a preventative measure, Hugh of Gournay and Henry, Count of Eu, two magnates in the northeast, were both arrested by the king on suspicion of defection in 1117. They were both released at the insistence of William of Warenne, but despite promises of good conduct, they took up arms against the king in June 1118. Stephen of Aumale, who, alongside Henry of Eu, had ties to Baldwin of Flanders, also revolted in favour of Baldwin. Further south. Robert Giroie, another rebel baron, held the castle of Saint-Céneri against the king, joining Fulk of Anjou in a siege of La-Motte-Gautier. The garrison surrendered by August.
On 3 September, Louis managed to seize L'Aigle, but his success was counterbalanced when Baldwin of Flanders suffered a wound that same month, forcing him to return to Flanders, where he would die on 17 June 1119. His successor, Charles the Good, made peace with Henry. This loss for Louis and Clito was soon offset on 7 October when William Pointel, the royal constable of Évreux, surrendered the castle of Évreux to Amaury III of Montfort, a Norman rebel who was allied with Louis and Fulk of Anjou. Stephen of Blois was granted the town of Alençon in order to help with Henry's defence in Southern Normandy, but he mistreated the townspeople. In response, they sought aid from Fulk of Anjou in their revolt. Alongside his brother Theobald, Stephen led the advance guard, but they were defeated in battle before the walls, and Alençon's garrison surrendered before the end of 1118.
Fighting continued into 1119 as Louis launched a campaign towards Les Andelys and captured the town in the early year, holding it for the next few months. From his bases at L'Aigle and Les Andelys, Louis was able to send in raiding parties into the Vexin, and by now the French, Angevin, and rebel Norman coalition controlled a significant amount of territory near the borders of the duchy. In addition, Henry's life was threatened twice, and he became nervous over his personal security. Around the same time, Eustace of Breteuil threatened to make war against the king unless his family's castle of Ivry was returned to him. Henry promised to consider his request, holding Ralph Harenc's son as a hostage while giving Ralph Eustace's daughters. On the advice of Amaury of Montfort, Eustace blinded Ralph's son. As recompense, Henry allowed Ralph to blind Eustace's daughters. Eustace led a revolt against Henry, but it was largely unsuccessful; when his wife, Juliana, attempted to defend their castle at Breteuil, the garrison was undermanned and demoralised, forcing her to flee. The couple lost almost all of their lands.
Norman recovery
Fulk of Anjou exited the conflict in May 1119 when Henry, partially prompted by his defeat at Alençon, finally agreed to pay him a large sum of money, and upon the completion of the long-awaited marriage between William Adelin and Matilda of Anjou. Also at Fulk's request, Henry restored the lands of the Bellême family to Robert's son and heir, William Talvas. The count of Anjou then went on crusade to Jerusalem, leaving Maine to Henry I until his return. This infuriated the French court. Henry had a major advantage in his large and professional familia regis, which was a permanent, salaried core of royal troops distinct from the temporary mercenaries he also employed.