Succession Crisis of Henry I of England

Timeline

1. 1120Barfleur · NormandyAfter the White Ship disaster of November 1120, Henry I's only legitimate son William Adelin died, abruptly severing the line of succession. Though the king had several illegitimate sons, Norman and English nobles traditionally favored legitimate male heirs.
2. 1127England · EnglandStill without a legitimate son after remarrying, Henry I around 1127 gathered the nobility to swear recognition of his daughter Matilda (the empress) as heir and arranged her marriage to Geoffrey of Anjou to secure the succession. However, the baronial oaths proved weakly binding, sowing the seeds of future dispute.
3. 1135–1153England · EnglandAfter Henry I died in 1135, his nephew Stephen was crowned first. Matilda counterattacked from Normandy, and the two sides' supporters fought for years, plunging England into prolonged civil war and local fragmentation until the Treaty of Wallingford in 1153 and Stephen's death the following year, when Henry II acceded, brought it to an end.