David I of Scotland only after Henry II ordered David's child successor Máel Coluim IV to hand over the most important of David's gains. It is clear that neither one of these interpretations can be taken without some weight being given to the other. Henry I had arranged his inheritance to pass to his daughter Empress Matilda. Instead, Stephen, younger brother of Theobald II, Count of Blois, seized the throne. David had been the first lay person to take the oath to uphold the succession of Matilda in 1127, and when Stephen was crowned on 22 December 1135, David decided to make war. Before
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