White Ship Disaster
Gone Medieval
00:00
Henry the Conqueror and the White Ship
Henry I was a very cruel but effective monarch. He set up an incredibly successful bureaucracy to govern England and Normandy with the Exchequer, which still controls British finances today. In 1122 he arrived at bar flower ready to return to England in triumph. When they get there, the king already has his arrangements for returning across the channel. But by the time they pushed off that night around midnight, everyone was rip-woringly drunk - including the crew. The osmond bent their backs, the captain dropped the sail too soon,. They went into one of the great obstacles outside Buffalo, called the Keyberth Rock. It's invisible at high tide, but everyone knew where it
Play episode from 03:58
Transcript
