Thomas FitzStephen (Old French : Thomas fiz Estienne; died 1120) was captain of the ill-fated White Ship (French : la Blanche-Nef), which sank off Barfleur, Normandy, on 25 November 1120.
FitzStephen was the son of Stephen FitzAirard (Old French : Estienne fiz Airard), the captain of the Mora , the ship which brought William the Conqueror over from Normandy during his invasion of England in 1066. [1] FitzStephen owned and captained the White Ship , which at that time was docked at Barfleur harbour. [2] When Thomas FitzStephen presented himself to the king he said:
"Stephen, my father, served yours all his life by sea, and he it was who steered the ship in which your father sailed for the conquest of England. Sire king, I beg you to grant me the same office in fief: I have a vessel called the Blanche-Nef, well equipped and manned with fifty skilful mariners." [3]
Henry had already made other arrangements, but gave permission for his sons William Adelin and Richard, as well as the young nobles in William's entourage, to travel on it instead. [4] According to Orderic Vitalis, the nobles as well as the crew were drinking. [4]
By the time the ship was ready to leave there were about 300 people on board although some had disembarked before the ship sailed due to the excessive drinking. [5] FitzStephen and his crew were challenged by the revelers to overtake the king's ship which had already sailed. [5] The White Ship was fast, of the best construction and had recently been fitted with new materials, which made the captain and crew confident they could reach England first. [2] However, when the ship set off in the dark, its port side struck a submerged rock and the ship quickly capsized and sank. [5] The loss of life was devastating – according to Orderic Vitalis only one survived, by clinging to the rock all night: a butcher from Rouen. [6] Orderic also claims that FitzStephen let himself drown rather than face the wrath of King Henry I, as Henry's son William Adelin had been among those drowned. [lower-alpha 1] [7]
The White Ship was a vessel transporting many nobles, including the heir to the English throne, that sank in the Channel during a trip from France to England near the Normandy coast off Barfleur, on 25 November 1120. Only one of approximately 300 people aboard, a butcher from Rouen, survived. Those who drowned included William Adelin, the only legitimate son and heir of Henry I of England, his half-sister Matilda of Perche, his half-brother Richard of Lincoln, the earl of Chester Richard d'Avranches, and Geoffrey Ridel. William Adelin's death led to a succession crisis and a period of civil war in England from 1135 to 1153 known as the Anarchy.
Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was the half-brother of the Empress Matilda, and her chief military supporter during the civil war known as The Anarchy, in which she vied with Stephen of Blois for the throne of England.
William Ætheling (Middle English: [ˈwiliəm ˈaðəliŋɡ], Old English: [ˈæðeliŋɡ]; 5 August 1103 – 25 November 1120), commonly called Adelin, sometimes Adelinus, Adelingus, A(u)delin or other Latinised Norman-French variants of Ætheling, was the son of Henry I of England by his wife Matilda of Scotland, and was thus heir apparent to the English throne. His early death without issue caused a succession crisis, known in history as the Anarchy.
Robert de Bellême, seigneur de Bellême, seigneur de Montgomery, viscount of the Hiémois, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury and Count of Ponthieu, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, and one of the most prominent figures in the competition for the succession to England and Normandy between the sons of William the Conqueror. He was a member of the powerful House of Bellême.
Alan III of Rennes was Count of Rennes and duke of Brittany, by right of succession from 1008 to his death.
Hugh V was the count of Maine from 1069 until 1072.
Matilda of Anjou, also known as Mahaut was married in 1119 to William Adelin, son and heir apparent of Henry I of England.
Barfleur is a commune and fishing village in Manche, Normandy, northwestern France.
Robert II, Archbishop of Rouen, and Count of Évreux was a powerful and influential prelate, and a family member of and supporter of five dukes of Normandy.
Amaury III de Montfort was a French nobleman, the seigneur de Montfort-l'Amaury, Épernon, and Houdan in the Île-de-France and Count of Évreux in Normandy.
Robert de Grantmesnil also known as Robert II, was a Norman nobleman; a member of a prominent Norman family. He first became a monk, then abbot at the Abbey of Saint-Evroul in Normandy and later Bishop of Troina in the Norman Kingdom of Sicily.
Events from the 1120s in England.
Matilda Fitzroy, Countess of Perche, was among several members of the English royal family who died in the wreck of the White Ship off Barfleur.
Mora was the name of William the Conqueror's flagship, the largest and fastest ship in his invasion fleet of 700 or more ships used during the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
William, Count of Évreux was a powerful member of the Norman aristocracy during the period following the Norman conquest of England. He is one of the few documented to have been with William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.
Giroie, Lord of Echauffour and Montreuil-l'Argillé, was a knight from Brittany who became a Norman nobleman and the progenitor of a large family in Normandy, England, and Apulia.
William fitz Giroie, Lord of Échauffour and Montreuil-l'Argillé. A Norman nobleman and patriarch of a large and powerful family in Normandy and Apulia.
Juliane (Juliana) de Fontevrault, was a French noble, the illegitimate daughter of King Henry I of England. She is notorious for attempting to murder her father. An account of these events can be found in the Historia Ecclesiastica by Orderic Vitalis.
The victims of the White Ship disaster on 25 November 1120 have been unevenly identified by various sources. The impact of the disaster on the throne of England is well-documented, and this article presents the details of what is known about the crew and passengers of the ill-fated voyage as well as those who chose not to travel on her.