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ambitious, desirous of power. Beauclerc, Boclair.
Holy Land, Palestine. lampreys, a kind of eel.
mark, 13s. 4d. united, joined.
royal treasures, crown, sceptre, and jewels.
1. Henry the First was the youngest son of the Conqueror, and a brother of the late King. He was called Beauclerc, which means “fine scholar,” because he was very learned for a King in those days. But he was also cunning and ambitious. As soon as Henry heard of his brother's death, he hastened first to Winchester to seize the royal treasures; and then to London, where he was crowned King.
2. Robert, on his return from the Holy Land, came over to England with an army, to claim the crown, which was his by right. He, however, gave up his claim for 3, 000 marks a-year; which Henry agreed to pay him.
3. Soon after this, Henry invaded Normandy, took Robert prisoner, and brought him over to England. He was closely confined in Cardiff Castle,
in Wales, for the rest of his life—a period of twenty-eight years. Some say that his eyes were burned out with a red-hot needle by Henry's order.
4. Henry had married Edith-Matilda,
daughter of Malcolm the Third of Scotland, and niece of Edgar the Ætheling. By this marriage the Norman and English royal lines were united.
5. To Henry and Edith there were born a son and a daughter, William and Maud. Prince William was drowned in the wreck of the White Ship between Normandy and England. It is said that, after hearing the news, he never smiled again. Henry, by his will, left the crown to his daughter Maud, and made his nobles and his nephew Stephen swear to obey her. He died of an illness brought on by eating too heartily of lampreys.
中文阅读
1. 亨利一世是征服者威廉排行最小的儿子，也是去世的鲁弗斯国王的弟弟。他被称为博克莱尔，含义是“不错的学者”，因为在他那个时代，作为国王的确算是满腹经纶了。但是他也同样奸猾，而且野心勃勃。他刚一听到他哥哥的死讯，立即就赶到温彻斯特掌握了皇家国库，然后又去了伦敦，并在那里加冕继位成为国王。
2. 罗伯特从圣城巴勒斯坦回来，便立即带着队伍来到英格兰要求继承王位，这也是他天经地义的权利。但不久他就放弃了，换取的条件是亨利每年付给他3000马克，亨利也已承诺满足他此要求。
3. 可没过多久，亨利便毁弃承诺，领兵攻入了诺曼底，罗伯特成了俘虏，被带回了英格兰。他被囚禁在威尔士的卡迪夫
城堡，全天候严密监视，直到他终老于此——整整28年。有些记载还说亨利后来下令，用烧红的针刺瞎了他的眼睛。
4. 亨利后来娶了伊迪丝·玛蒂尔达
为妻，她是苏格兰首领马尔科姆三世的女儿，也是埃德加王储的侄女。通过这一联姻，诺曼王族与英格兰王族得以联合。
5. 亨利与伊迪丝育有一儿一女，儿子叫威廉，女儿叫莫德。公元1120年，威廉王子在从诺曼底到英格兰的航海途中，因“白船”失事而溺亡。据说亨利听见悲剧发生的消息后，余生再也没有笑过。亨利只能将王位传于女儿莫德，并要求所有贵族以及他的外甥斯蒂文发誓效忠于她。亨利后来因过量食用七鳃鳗鱼而染病，最终不治身亡。