Robert de Bethune Robert de Bethune Robert de Bethune (died 1148) was a medieval Bishop of Hereford. From a knightly family, he became a teacher before becoming a canon, a type of monk, by 1115. He was elected prior of Llanthony Priory in the middle 1120s, and was named bishop by King Henry I of England in 1130. As bishop, he was often appointed a judge by the papacy, and was known for the care he took of his diocese. After Henry's death in 1135, Bethune first supported King Stephen, who seized the throne from Henry's heiress the Empress Matilda, but when Matilda's
The Anarchy the spoils. William's son Henry I seized power after the death of his elder brother William Rufus and subsequently invaded and captured the Duchy of Normandy, controlled by his eldest brother Robert Curthose, defeating Robert's army at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry intended for his lands to be inherited by his only legitimate son, seventeen-year-old William Adelin. In 1120, the political landscape changed dramatically when the "White Ship" sank en route from Barfleur in Normandy to England; around three hundred passengers died, including Adelin. With Adelin dead, the inheritance to the English throne was thrown into doubt. Rules of succession