Thomas FitzStephen ( fro, italic=no, Thomas fiz Estienne; died 1120) was captain of the ill-fated ''

White Ship The ''White Ship'' (french: la Blanche-Nef; Medieval Latin: ''Candida navis'') 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 ...

'' (french: la Blanche-Nef), which sank off

Barfleur Barfleur () is a commune and fishing village in Manche, Normandy, northwestern France. History During the Middle Ages, Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England. * 1066: A large medallion fixed to a rock in the harbour ...

, Normandy, on 25 November 1120.

Life

FitzStephen was the son of Stephen FitzAirard ( fro, italic=no, Estienne fiz Airard), the captain of the ''

Mora Mora may refer to: People * Mora (surname) Places Sweden * Mora, Säter, Sweden * Mora, Sweden, the seat of Mora Municipality * Mora Municipality, Sweden United States * Mora, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Mora, Minnesota, a city * M ...

'', the ship which brought

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

over from

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

during his invasion of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1066. FitzStephen owned and captained the ''

'', which at that time was docked at

harbour.J.A. Guiles, ''William of Malmesbury's Chronicle of the Kings of England'' (London: George Bell and Sons, 1904), p. 455 When Thomas FitzStephen presented himself to the king he said: Henry had already made other arrangements, but gave permission for his sons

William Adelin William Ætheling (, ; 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 M ...

and Richard, as well as the young nobles in William's entourage, to travel on it instead.Judith A. Green, ''Henry I: King of England and Duke of Normandy'' (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 165 According to Orderic Vitalis, the nobles as well as the crew were drinking. 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.William M. Aird, ''Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy c. 1050–1134'' (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2008), p. 269 FitzStephen and his crew were challenged by the revelers to overtake the king's ship which had already sailed. 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. However, when the ship set off in the dark, its port side struck a submerged rock and the ship quickly capsized and sank. The loss of life was devastating – according to Orderic Vitalis only one survived, by clinging to the rock all night: a butcher from Rouen.Ordericus Vitalis, ''The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy'', Trans. Thomas Forester, Vol IV (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1856), p. 35 Orderic also claims that FitzStephen let himself drown rather than face the wrath of King Henry I, as Henry's son

had been among those drowned.

Stephen of Blois Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne ''jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 unti ...

, the king's nephew by his sister Adela, was among the entourage and had boarded the ship but had disembarked just before it sailed due to illness. The death of William Adelin in the ''White Ship'' caused a succession crisis leading to The Anarchy and ultimately to Stephen becoming King of England.Ordericus Vitalis, ''The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy'', Trans. Thomas Forester, Vol IV (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1856), p. 36

Notes

References

External links

* Britannia.co
The Wreck of the White Ship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzstephen, Thomas 1120 deaths Deaths on the White Ship Captains who went down with the ship Year of birth unknown