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William Clito
William Clito
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William Clito (25 October 1102 – 28 July 1128) was a member of the House of Normandy who ruled the County of Flanders from 1127 until his death and unsuccessfully claimed the Duchy of Normandy. As the son of Robert Curthose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror, William Clito was seen as a candidate to succeed his uncle King Henry I of England. Henry viewed him as a rival, however, and William allied himself with King Louis VI of France. Louis installed him as the new count of Flanders upon the assassination of Charles the Good, but the Flemings soon revolted and William died in the struggle against another claimant to Flanders, Thierry of Alsace.

Key Information

Youth

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William was the son of Duke Robert Curthose of Normandy and Sibylla of Conversano.[1] His father was the first son of King William the Conqueror of England. His nickname Clito was a Medieval Latin term equivalent to the Anglo-Saxon "Aetheling" and its Latinized form "Adelinus" (used to refer to his first cousin, William Adelin). Both terms signified "man of royal blood" or, the modern equivalent, "prince".[2] It may have been derived from the Latin inclitus/inclutus, "celebrated."[3]

Robert was defeated and captured by his brother King Henry I of England at the Battle of Tinchebrai in 1106.[4] Robert accompanied Henry to Falaise where Henry met his nephew William for the first time.[5] Henry placed his nephew in the custody of Helias of Saint Saens, count of Arques, who had married a natural daughter of Duke Robert, his friend and patron.[6] William stayed in his sister's and Helias's care until August 1110, when the king abruptly sent agents to demand the boy be handed over to him.[7] Helias was at the time away from home, so his household concealed William and smuggled him to their master, who fled the duchy and found safety among Henry's enemies.[7]

First Norman Rebellion, 1118–19

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William's first refuge was with King Henry's great enemy, Robert de Bellême, who had extensive estates south of the duchy.[8] On Robert's capture in 1112, William and Helias fled to the court of the young Count Baldwin VII of Flanders, William's cousin. In 1118 a powerful coalition of Norman counts and barons was sufficiently disenchanted with King Henry to ally with Count Baldwin and rebel. They took up William Clito's cause and commenced a dangerous rebellion.[9]

The Norman border counts and Count Baldwin between them were too powerful for the king and seized much of the north of the duchy.[9] But the promising campaign abruptly ended with Baldwin's serious injury at the siege of Arques (September 1118). The next year the cause of William Clito was taken up by King Louis VI of France. He invaded the duchy down the river Seine, and on 20 August 1119 was met by the troops of King Henry at the Battle of Brémule, where the French were decisively defeated.

William had ridden as a new knight amongst the king's guard that day, and barely escaped capture. His cousin, King Henry's son William Adelin, the next day sent him back the horse he had lost in the battle with other "necessities" in a courtly gesture. The rebellion collapsed, but William continued to find support at the French court. Louis brought his case to the pope's attention in October 1119 at Reims, and forced Henry I to justify his treatment of the exiled boy.

Second Norman Rebellion, 1123–24

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The death by drowning in the White Ship disaster of William Adelin, Henry's only legitimate son, on 25 November 1120 transformed William Clito's fortunes.[10] He was now a contender for the thrones of England and Normandy, and a significant party of Norman aristocrats adopted his cause.[10] Henry's problems became worse, as William Adelin had been betrothed to Matilda, daughter of Count Fulk V of Anjou, and Fulk demanded the return of her dowry of several castles and towns in the county of Maine, between Normandy and Anjou. Henry refused.[10] Fulk, in turn, betrothed his daughter Sibylla to William Clito, giving to him the entire county of Maine as her dowry.[10] King Henry appealed astutely to canon law, however, and the marriage was eventually annulled in August 1124 on the grounds that the couple were within the prohibited degree of kinship.[11]

In the meantime, a serious aristocratic rebellion broke out in Normandy in favour of William, but was defeated by Henry's intelligence network and the lack of organisation of the leaders, who were defeated at the Battle of Bourgthéroulde in March 1124. Louis VI was distracted from active intervention as Henry I persuaded his son-in-law Emperor Henry V to threaten Louis from the east.

Count of Flanders

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Louis VI made great efforts to further William's cause in 1127.[12] In January he granted him the royal estates in the French Vexin as a base to attack down the Seine into Normandy, and he was married to Joanna of Montferrat, a half-sister of Queen Adelaide of France.[12] The murder of Count Charles the Good of Flanders on 2 March 1127 gave King Louis an even better chance to further William's fortunes.[12] He marched into Flanders at the head of an army and on 30 March got the barons of the province to accept William as their new count.[12]

Initially, William did well, securing most of the county by the end of May. But English money and the emergence of a rival in Thierry of Alsace led to a deterioration in his position. In February 1128, Saint-Omer and Ghent declared against him, as did Bruges in March. In May 1128, Lille too welcomed Thierry, leaving William controlling little more than the southern fringe of Flanders. However, he struck back at Bruges and at the Battle of Axspoele south of the town on 21 June, William, with his Norman knights and French allies, defeated Thierry.[13]

At this point, William was joined by Count Godfrey I of Louvain, and together their armies besieged Aalst on 12 July, with the probable intention of going on from there to reduce Ghent. During the course of the siege he was wounded in the arm in a scuffle with a foot soldier. The wound became gangrenous and William died at the age of twenty-five on 28 July 1128, attended to the end by his faithful brother-in-law, Helias of Saint-Saëns, whose wife was one of William's illegitimate half-sisters.

William had written letters to his uncle, Henry I, asking for his followers to be pardoned; Henry did as requested. Some followers returned to Henry I while others set out for the crusade.[14]

William's body was carried to the abbey of Saint Bertin in St. Omer and buried there. He left no children and was survived by his imprisoned father by six years.

References

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Further reading

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
William Clito (25 October 1102 – 28 July 1128) was the only legitimate son of , former , and a grandson of through the male line. Known by the epithet "Clito," a term denoting royal blood akin to "prince," he asserted claims to the against his uncle, King , who had seized the duchy after defeating Robert at the in 1106. His persistent rebellions, backed by French King Louis VI, highlighted the fragile Norman succession but ultimately failed due to Henry's diplomatic and military countermeasures, including papal interventions to annul Clito's betrothals. Raised initially by the Norman noble Hélias of Saint-Saëns after his father's imprisonment, Clito participated in early revolts against Henry from 1118 onward and fought at the in 1119, where Norman forces repelled a French incursion. The death of Henry's son in the White Ship disaster of 1120 elevated Clito's prospects as a potential heir, yet Henry promoted his daughter Matilda instead, viewing Clito's lineage as a direct threat to stability. Attempts to secure his position through marriage—first to , annulled under papal pressure in 1124, and later to Joanna of Montferrat in 1127—underscored the geopolitical maneuvering, with Henry leveraging ecclesiastical authority to thwart alliances. Clito's fortunes turned in 1127 when, following the death of Baldwin VII, he inherited the through his grandmother , launching a brief but turbulent rule marked by internal dissent. He defeated rebel forces at Axspoele but succumbed during the Siege of Aalst in July 1128 to from an arm wound sustained in , dying at age 25 without issue and ending the direct male line of William the Conqueror's eldest branch. His death facilitated Henry's designation of Matilda as heir, averting immediate crisis but presaging upon Henry's own demise in 1135.

Early Life

Birth and Family Background

William Clito was born on 25 October 1102 in , . He was the only legitimate son of , Duke of Normandy (c. 1051–1134), and his wife (d. 1103), a daughter of Geoffrey of from . Sibylla's marriage to Robert in 1100 had been arranged during his return from the , but she died shortly after Clito's birth, in early 1103, leaving the infant as Robert's sole heir to . Clito's epithet "Clito," derived from the ætheling via Latinization, denoted a noble youth of royal blood, underscoring his status as a potential successor in the Norman dynasty. His paternal grandfather was (c. 1028–1087), king of and , whose 1066 conquest established the Anglo-Norman realm; Clito's grandmother was (c. 1031–1083), linking him to the Flemish comital house. Robert Curthose, as the Conqueror's eldest surviving son, had inherited in 1087 but was denied , which passed to his brother William II Rufus; after Rufus's death in 1100, their youngest brother Henry I seized the English throne, setting the stage for familial rivalries that would shadow Clito's life.

Upbringing and Early Captivity

William Clito was born on 25 October 1102 as the only legitimate son of , and eldest surviving son of , and his wife , a Lombard noblewoman who died shortly after in early 1103, likely leaving the infant under his father's direct oversight in . Until age four, Clito's early years coincided with his father's precarious rule over , marked by ongoing tensions with his uncle Henry I, who had seized the English throne in 1100; Robert's focus on consolidating ducal authority amid baronial unrest provided a turbulent but privileged Norman court environment for the boy's initial upbringing. The on 28 September 1106 decisively altered Clito's circumstances, as Henry's forces defeated and captured , imprisoning him in for the remainder of his life and effectively ending the elder branch's control over . The nearly four-year-old Clito, representing a potential rival claim, was promptly taken into Henry's custody to neutralize threats from ducal loyalists; Henry initially placed him under the guardianship of Helias of Saint-Saëns, a Norman baron and former supporter of who had married one of Robert's illegitimate daughters, thus tying the arrangement to familial bonds while keeping Clito in . This custodianship lasted until 1110, when Henry summoned Clito to his own direct oversight, reportedly receiving him from Helias's household amid growing suspicions of the baron's reliability; Helias's subsequent in 1112, partly fueled by resentment over the transfer, underscored Henry's intent to centralize control over his nephew. From 1110 onward, Clito resided in Henry I's Anglo-Norman , where he received an education befitting his royal blood—likely including military training, literacy in Latin, and exposure to —while being treated with outward honor as a kinsman but effectively confined as a ward to prevent him from rallying support for Normandy's . Henry's refusal to grant Clito independent lands or authority, viewing him as a dynastic despite their proximity (Clito often accompanied progresses), marked this period as one of gilded captivity, fostering resentment that later fueled rebellions; primary chronicler notes Clito's chafing under these restraints, portraying him as a figure of unfulfilled potential amid Henry's consolidation of power. This arrangement persisted until 1118, when Clito, now of age, escaped Henry's surveillance to join Norman dissidents.

Claims to Normandy and England

Legitimacy Under Primogeniture

William Clito's claim to the rested on the principle of , which entitled the eldest legitimate male heir in the to inherit. Born on 25 1102 as the only legitimate of —the eldest of —Clito succeeded to his father's rights upon Robert's defeat and imprisonment by Henry I at the on 28 1106. had designated for Robert in his 1087 succession arrangements, excluding younger s like Henry, thus preserving the senior line's precedence under emerging norms of partible but male-preferring inheritance in Norman custom. This legitimacy challenged Henry I's de facto control, acquired through conquest rather than hereditary entitlement, as Clito represented the unbroken male descent from the Conqueror's primary heir. Chronicler , writing in the Ecclesiastical History (completed c. 1141), depicted Clito's partisans as defenders of ancestral against Henry's , emphasizing the moral weight of in Norman baronial oaths and rebellions from 1118 onward. While 12th-century succession often blended designation, force, and feudal consent over strict —allowing Henry to extract loyalty oaths—Clito's status as the sole surviving male in Robert's line provided a theoretically unassailable basis for contesting until his death on 28 July 1128. For , Clito's primogeniture-based legitimacy was weaker, as the Conqueror had partitioned the kingdom to in 1087, with Henry seizing it after Rufus's death on 2 1100 without direct reference to Robert's line. Nonetheless, post-1120 White Ship disaster—drowning Henry's sole legitimate son on 25 November—Clito's senior lineage fueled cross-channel ambitions, though baronial support prioritized stability under Henry over abstract theory.

Henry I's Disinheritance Efforts

Henry I's primary strategy to sideline William Clito involved promoting his daughter Matilda as following the White Ship disaster of 25 November 1120, which drowned Henry's only legitimate son, , and elevated Clito's position as the adult son of the senior ducal line. Despite Clito's dynastic precedence under emerging norms of male , Henry convened assemblies of Anglo-Norman barons in 1126 at Westminster and in early 1127 at (or per some accounts), compelling oaths of to Matilda and any future issue from her marriage to , explicitly bypassing Clito's claim. These oaths, sworn by approximately 150–200 lay and ecclesiastical magnates, aimed to bind the aristocracy to Henry's preferred succession amid ongoing Norman unrest, though enforcement relied on Henry's distribution of lands and offices to compliant supporters, with resisters facing confiscation or exile. A tactical maneuver occurred in 1123 when Clito married Sibylla, daughter of Fulk V of Anjou, securing him a claim to the County of as her and forging a potential against Norman interests. Henry protested the union to Pope Calixtus II, leveraging papal authority over (the couple were third cousins once removed via common ancestry in the ), resulting in the marriage's on 25 December 1124 at the Council of ; this deprived Clito of strategic territory and Anjou's military backing, preserving Henry's buffer zones. The formed part of broader Anglo-papal negotiations, including Henry's 1125 grant of legatine powers to papal envoys in exchange for ecclesiastical support. Henry supplemented these legal and diplomatic efforts with punitive measures against Clito's adherents, such as the 1123–1124 imprisonment of barons like , Count of Evreux, and Hugh de Gournay for plotting his advancement, and selective land forfeitures post-rebellions to redistribute estates among loyal "new men." While outright legal disinheritance proved infeasible given Clito's legitimacy as Robert Curthose's son—recognized in the 1119 Treaty of Esneval, where Henry nominally conceded Norman succession to him—the cumulative pressure eroded Clito's domestic support, fostering divisions exploited after Henry's death in December 1135.

Rebellions Against Henry I

First Rebellion (1118–1119)

In 1118, a coalition of disaffected Norman barons and counts, weary of King Henry I's centralizing policies and favoritism toward his son , allied with Count Baldwin VII of to champion William Clito's claim to the duchy. The rebels, including figures like Robert de Bellême, seized control of northern , providing Clito—then aged about 16—with his first significant military platform against his uncle. French King Louis VI, seeking to undermine Henry's continental holdings, refused homage from Adelin and actively backed Clito, framing the revolt as a restoration of ducal . The uprising gained initial momentum as Baldwin VII led Flemish forces into , besieging key fortresses like Arques in 1118. However, Baldwin's severe injury during the siege—reportedly from a —crippled the coalition's leadership and stalled advances, allowing Henry I to rally loyalists and counterattack. Clito, lacking independent command experience, relied on these allies for operational support, highlighting his dependence on external amid his under Henry since childhood. By spring 1119, Louis VI escalated involvement by invading along the River Seine, aiming to link up with remaining rebels. This culminated in the on 20 August 1119, near Andelys, where Henry's Anglo-Norman army decisively routed the French and their allies; Clito participated as a in the French ranks but narrowly escaped capture amid the . Henry's forces captured over 140 French knights, including Louis VI himself briefly, though the king was released without ransom to avoid prolonged war. The defeat at Brémule shattered the coalition, prompting the rapid collapse of rebel holdings in by late 1119. Clito fled to the French court for refuge, while Louis VI appealed Clito's cause to at the of in October 1119, though without success in reversing Henry's control. The rebellion underscored Henry's military prowess in defending but exposed persistent baronial unrest, fueled by Clito's legitimist appeal as Robert Curthose's heir.

Second Rebellion (1123–1124)

In 1123, a widespread revolt broke out in against King Henry I, primarily driven by baronial discontent over fiscal exactions, perceived favoritism toward English interests, and support for William Clito's dynastic claim as the son of the disinherited . Key instigators included Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan, and Amaury de Montfort, who coordinated with Clito to challenge Henry's authority; these nobles controlled strategic castles and leveraged familial ties across the Anglo-Norman realm. Clito, positioned in as following the death of Count Elias in 1110 and bolstered by his 1123 betrothal to Sibylla, daughter of Fulk V of Anjou (which included as her ), actively threatened Henry's border territories from bases like Sillé-le-Guillaume. Henry I swiftly countered by dispatching his illegitimate son of Gloucester, and Ranulf le Meschin, , to in mid-1123 to secure loyalist garrisons, followed by his personal intervention later that year with reinforcements from . He constructed forward forts at Normant and Illiers to isolate rebel holdings in the Thimerais and Hiémois regions, while many barons defected, submitting castles such as Sillé and Domfront under pressure from royal forces. Clito's uncle Amaury de Montfort briefly held out at Évreux but faced encirclement, prompting localized submissions without major pitched battles in . The rebellion's turning point came in March 1124 at the Battle of Bourgthéroulde (near Rougemontier), where a royal led by Odo Borleng intercepted Waleran's relief column en route to revictual Vatteville castle. On 26 March, Waleran, charging with approximately 40 knights alongside brothers-in-law Hugh de Grentemesnil, William Lovel, and Hugh de Châteauneuf, was overwhelmed after his horse was brought down by arrows; he and over 130 rebels were captured. Henry exploited the victory through relentless sieges, capturing Pont-Audemer after seven weeks and compelling the surrender of Vatteville and other holdouts by 16 April 1124, with Waleran ordering his Morin du Pin to yield remaining fortifications. William Clito evaded capture and fled to the protection of Baldwin VII of , whose forces had provided peripheral aid but could not sustain the uprising; the revolt's suppression, achieved with minimal royal losses through superior organization and intelligence, temporarily consolidated Henry's Norman dominance until Clito's betrothal to Sibylla was annulled later in 1124 on grounds, influenced by papal legates amenable to English pressure.

Rule as Count of Flanders

Acquisition Through Marriage and Inheritance

William Clito's claim to the rested on his descent from the Flemish comital house through his paternal grandmother, (d. 1083), daughter of (r. 1035–1067), and wife of . This matrimonial alliance integrated Flemish royal blood into the Norman ducal line, granting Clito, as Matilda's grandson, a remote but legitimate hereditary interest as a great-grandson of Baldwin V in a county where female-line succession had precedents. The assassination of the childless Count on 2 1127 in the church of Saint-Donatian triggered a violent , with rival candidates including William of , of , and Arnold of vying for power amid widespread and Erembald clan reprisals. King (r. 1108–1137), seeking to counterbalance English influence under Henry I—who backed alternative claimants with subsidies—championed Clito's candidacy to exploit his nephew's Flemish ties and install a pro-Capetian . Louis mobilized an army, entered , and by late pressured key magnates to recognize Clito, culminating in his proclamation as count around 23–30 1127. Clito's installation was secured through Louis's military presence and diplomatic rather than broad native consensus; by early May 1127, after suppressing initial resistance, Louis departed Flanders on 6 May, leaving Clito nominally in control of most territories, though persistent baronial opposition and English interference undermined stability from the outset. No contemporary marriage facilitated this acquisition, as Clito remained unmarried following the 1124 of his union with ; his rule thus hinged primarily on inherited legitimacy amplified by French royal backing.

Governance Challenges and Death

William Clito's brief tenure as , beginning in March 1127 following the assassination of on March 2, 1127, was plagued by profound governance challenges rooted in his status as an outsider of Norman origin amid a fragmented and burgeoning urban interests. Installed by King at with initial endorsements from some Flemish barons and burghers—secured through promises of tax exemptions—Clito quickly encountered resistance from key magnates who favored local claimants such as of and William of , viewing him as imposed by external French influence rather than rooted in Flemish lineage. His feudal-oriented policies clashed with the commercial ethos of Flemish towns, leading to alienation of burgher support; for instance, Clito's revocation of tax privileges prompted uprisings in in August 1127, in September 1127, and in February 1128. The opposition coalesced into a year-long civil war (1127–1128), exacerbated by external meddling: King imposed a wool trade embargo to undermine Clito's economy and backed rivals like , while Henry V also intervened against French dominance. Clito targeted the servile Erembald clan—implicated in Charles's —further inflaming noble factions including Walter of Hesdin, Hugh III of Saint-Pol, and Baldwin III of Hainaut. Despite a decisive victory over 's forces at the Battle of Axspoele on June 21, 1128, which temporarily bolstered his position, northern towns defected to by early 1128, and Louis VI's support waned after English incursions into French territory in May 1128. Clito's rule culminated in his death during the Siege of Aalst (Alost) in 1128, as he sought to suppress lingering rebels aligned with or of . On July 12, 1128, he sustained an arm wound in close combat with a foot soldier, which turned gangrenous due to inadequate medical care—reportedly exacerbated by a physician's overly tight dressing. He succumbed to the infection on July 28, 1128, at age 25, ending the immediate and allowing of to consolidate power as the new count by 1130.

Legacy and Assessment

Influence on Anglo-Norman Succession

The death of Henry I's sole legitimate son, , in the White Ship disaster on November 25, 1120, elevated William Clito's position as the senior surviving male descendant in the direct paternal line from , rendering him the most plausible alternative heir to the Anglo-Norman realms under prevailing norms favoring male . As grandson of the Conqueror via his eldest son , Clito's claim drew support from disaffected Norman aristocrats who viewed him as a counter to Henry's autocratic rule and preference for his daughter Matilda. This rivalry compelled Henry to expend significant resources on containment, including military interventions and diplomatic maneuvers, which diverted attention from consolidating Matilda's succession and exacerbated factionalism among the nobility. Henry's efforts to neutralize Clito included securing oaths of to Matilda from English and Norman barons as early as 1126–1127, explicitly positioning her as in response to Clito's threat, while simultaneously undermining his prospects through economic embargoes on Flemish trade and backing rival claimants in . Clito's acquisition of the in 1127, backed by King , intensified the danger by forging a potential anti-Henry coalition involving , , and Anjou, prompting Henry to accelerate Matilda's marriage to Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou on June 17, 1128, to counterbalance these alliances. These maneuvers highlight how Clito's persistent claims forced Henry into reactive strategies that, while temporarily stabilizing his rule, failed to fully resolve underlying baronial divisions over female inheritance. Clito's untimely death on , 1128, from a gangrenous wound sustained during the siege of Aalst, eliminated the primary male rival and ostensibly cleared the path for Matilda's accession, allowing Henry to reinforce oaths to her without immediate challenge. Nevertheless, Clito's earlier rebellions and the aristocratic support they garnered exposed vulnerabilities in Henry's succession scheme, contributing to the contested oaths and opportunistic seizure of the throne by Stephen of Blois in 1135 upon Henry's death on December 1, 1135, which ignited . His role thus underscored the fragility of dynastic continuity in the absence of a clear adult male heir, amplifying tensions that persisted beyond his lifetime.

Historiographical Views and Counterfactuals

Medieval chroniclers often depicted William Clito as a virtuous and legitimate claimant to and , emphasizing and portraying Henry I's disinheritance efforts as morally culpable. , a near-contemporary monk, criticized Henry for imprisoning Clito's father after the in 1106 and systematically blocking Clito's inheritance, presenting Clito as a pious figure whose repeated rebellions (1118–1119 and 1123–1124) stemmed from rightful grievance rather than personal ambition. , while generally favorable to Henry, acknowledged Clito's strong hereditary claim as grandson of through the eldest line, though he attributed Clito's failures partly to youthful impetuosity and foreign alliances, such as with . These accounts reflect monastic biases toward dynastic legitimacy but undervalue Clito's agency, framing him more as a pawn in baronial discontent than an independent actor. Modern historians assess Clito as a capable but thwarted contender whose career exposed fault lines in Henry I's Anglo-Norman realm, particularly the tension between English administrative efficiency and Norman feudal expectations. Judith Green highlights Clito's emergence as a sudden around 1119–1120, forcing Henry to expend resources on continental diplomacy and annulments (e.g., Clito's 1124 marriage to ) to neutralize him, viewing his 1127 acquisition of as a brief success undermined by internal Flemish opposition. David Bates underscores Clito's role in complicating Henry's , as his claims drew support from disaffected Norman barons and French interests, though Bates cautions against overemphasizing Clito's viability given his lack of independent power base until late in life. Overall, scholars like James Turner portray Clito as a for aristocratic unrest, competent in warfare (e.g., his participation in the on August 20, 1119) but limited by inexperience and untimely death from a gangrenous on July 28, 1128, during the siege of Aalst. Counterfactual analyses posit that Clito's survival past 1128 might have reshaped the post-Henry succession, leveraging his male-line claim to rally Norman support against after Henry's death on December 1, 1135. Turner speculates that without his fatal injury, Clito could have pressured Henry into designation as heir or capitalized on baronial preference for a Curthose descendant, potentially forestalling the Anarchy's (1135–1153) by unifying factions around a non-Beauclerc candidate over or Matilda. Green implies his removal eased Henry's final years, suggesting persistence might have prolonged instability but strengthened ducal legitimacy in , though causal realism tempers this: Clito's childlessness and Flemish entanglements likely would have diluted his English appeal absent broader reforms. Such scenarios remain speculative, hinging on unproven assumptions of Clito's diplomatic acumen beyond his documented martial prowess.

References

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