Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex to the crown, perhaps in part due to a large fine levied by Henry I due to his displeasure at the escape of an important political prisoner when William was in charge of the Tower of London. The King also held the substantial estate of Geoffrey's maternal grandfather Eudo "le Dapifer" to which Geoffrey laid claim. Geoffrey gained Eudo's lands and his father's offices during the shifting tides of fortunes of the two competitors for the English throne after King Henry I's death in 1135. He initially supported Stephen, who sometime in 1140 (most likely May of that year) made
Henry VI the Good a pretext they used the fact that Henry III was directly responsible for the premature death of Henry V (Henry and Bolesław III's father). In the end, Władysław I the Elbow-high managed to capture almost all of Greater Poland, but his allies only took the towns of Uraz (which was given to Henry) and Wołów and Lubiąż (granted to Bolesław III). In 1314 Henry supported his brother-in-law Frederick the Fair of Austria in the battle for the throne of Germany. The war with Głogów began again in 1321. This time, however, Henry wasn't convinced as to the appropriateness of it,