William Bigod

  Death Notes:

The White Ship was a new ship owned by Thomas FitzStephen, whose father Stephen had been sea captain for William the Conqueror when he invaded England in 1066. He offered to let Henry I use it to return to England from Barfleur. Henry had already made travelling arrangements, but suggested that his son William Adelin travel on it instead.

But when the White Ship set off in the dark, its port side struck a submerged rock (this rock can still be seen from the cliffs of Barfleur), and the ship quickly capsized. The only known survivor was a butcher from Rouen. He was wearing thick ram skins that saved him from exposure, and was picked up by fishermen the next morning.
In his account of the disaster, chronicler Orderic Vitalis claimed that when Thomas FitzStephen came to the surface after the sinking and learned that William Adelin had not survived, he let himself drown rather than face the King. The accuracy of this account is doubtful-it describes a full moon, but NASA sky tables, which include adjustments based upon the Gregorian calendar to the Julian calendar in use during the twelfth century, show that the moon was actually new that night.

The cause of the shipwreck remains uncertain. Various stories surrounding its loss feature a drinking binge by the crew and passengers (it is also suggested that the captain was dared to try to overtake the King's ship ahead of them), and mention that priests were not allowed on board to bless the ship in the customary manner. However, the English Channel is a notoriously treacherous stretch of water.

Stephen of Blois, Henry's nephew by his sister Adela, had allegedly disembarked just before the ship sailed. Orderic Vitalis attributes this to a sudden bout of diarrhoea. As a direct result of William's death, Stephen later usurped the English throne, resulting in the period known as the Anarchy.

The death of William Adelin in this shipwreck resulted in the chaos following the death of Henry I. The English barons were reluctant to accept Matilda as Queen Regnant, causing Stephen to usurp the throne. Even during the sixteenth century, the example of that time contributed to Henry VIII's several marriages in the search for a male heir.

Robert Lacey has observed that "The White Ship was the Titanic of the Middle Ages, a much-vaunted high-tech vessel on its maiden voyage, wrecked against a foreseeable natural obstacle in the reckless pursuit of speed."