Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie and this is episode 450.

Begin with a bang. This show is ad-free due to member support and as a way of

thanking members for keeping the show independent I offer members on the

content including extra episodes and rough transcripts and you can get instant

access to all the members extras by signing up for membership

at the British History Podcast.com for less than the price of a latte per month.

And thank you very much to Chris, James, and Jennifer for signing up already.

It was early September of 1087, and for weeks, nearly two months in fact,

people had been discussing William's impending death and were worrying

about what would happen next. And for good reason, this family, which ruled over Normandy, had a history of infighting and civil wars, especially during times of succession.

The wars, the chaos, and the bloodshed that had followed the last Norman succession was still in living memory.

And in preparation for this next succession crisis, there had already been at least one civil war and possibly two,

as there are records suggesting that Robert and William had renewed their feud in 1086 or 1087.

Even worse, William's presumptive heirs were bitter rivals who hated each other

and had been gathering allies to support their individual ambitions.

It would have been clear to pretty much everyone what was likely to happen once the

bastard was dead.

And then, it happened. William died and in response his sons who

would have been expected to fill this power vacuum when AFK. The eldest son, Robert, wasn't even in Normandy. He was

in the court of King Philip of France. Similarly, the middle son, Rufus, was also out of town, having left the duchy

for England while dear old dad was still breathing. And as for the youngest, Henry, well no one was entirely sure where he was, because upon hearing his

inheritance would just be some cash from his mom, he ran to the Treasury, grabbed 5,000 pounds, and disappeared along

...