Missing Royal Remains, Part 1: Henry I of England

The recent discovery, identification and reburial of the remains of Richard III of England has given fresh interest in search for the remains of several Kings of England whose remains are currently missing.

We will start this series with King Henry I of England, who reigned from 1100 until his death in 1135. Henry was born in 1068 and was a younger son of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. Following the death of his father, Henry’s older brother reigned as King from 1087 until 1100.

Shortly after he became King, Henry married Matilda of Scotland by whom he had two surviving children: William Adelin, who perished on the White Ship, and Matilda, the mother of the future Henry II. In 1118, Matilda died and Henry remarried in 1121 to Adeliza of Louvain but this marriage was childless.

In 1121, King Henry founded the Cluniac Abbey of Reading in the county of Berkshire in memory of the souls of his father, brother and wife. This royal foundation would go onto become a great medieval pilgrimage site in Europe and had one of the largest Abbey churches in England.

When the King died at Lyons-la-Forêt, Normandy in 1135 his remains were brought back to Reading Abbey for burial in front of the high altar. Over the later centuries, many other royal and nobles were buried at the Abbey church including Henry’s second wife and his illegitimate son Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall.

Reading Abbey was largely pillaged and destroyed in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII and nothing survived from the tomb of Henry I. The Abbey today is largely a ruin but in 2015 there were reports that a search for the bones of King Henry I is being planned in Reading using Ground-Penetrating Radar on the site. Previous searches in the past proved inconclusive but it will be interesting to see if anything is discovered and if it will lead to further searches for the other missing royal remains.

Filed under Historical Royals, The United Kingdom
Tagged Biography, Henry I of England.

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