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Lecture

Earl Charles Spencer
The Legacy of King Henry I of England

Wednesday 25.11.2020

Summary

The life and legacy of King Henry I, highlighting his brilliance as a strategist, soldier, and administrator, and how the unresolved question of his successor led to a civil war.

Earl Charles Spencer

an image of Charles Spencer

Charles Spencer is an author, public speaker, broadcaster, and journalist. He is also the 9th Earl Spencer. His bestseller Blenheim: Battle for Europe (2004) was shortlisted for Historical Book of the Year at the 2005 National Book Awards. His latest book is The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream (2022). Charles has been the keynote speaker at hundreds of events in the UK, India, USA, South Africa, France, Australia, Canada, Spain, Portugal and New Zealand. As a broadcaster, Charles Spencer worked for NBC News as an on-air correspondent from 1986 to 1995, primarily for the TODAY Show. He was educated at Eton and at Oxford University, where he earned his MA in modern history. He served as a Page of Honour to HM the Queen in the 1970s and has been one of her deputy lieutenants for Northampton shire since 2005. He has seven children and two stepchildren and is the brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Claudia Rubenstein

an image of Claudia Rubenstein

Claudia Rubenstein is the director of Jewish Book Week. She is an author of historical nonfiction under the pen name Claudia Gold. Her book, Women Who Ruled (2015), tells the stories of fifty of the world’s most famous—and often notorious—women rulers. The King’s Mistress (2012) is a biography of the extraordinary woman who became England’s first Georgian queen in all but name. Her latest book, King of the North Wind (2018), is a biography of Henry II, King of England and lord of much of modern day France. Claudia also writes for a number of publications, including the Spectator, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Oldie.

I think England would’ve been much more just a small island race in the North Sea. I think it was Henry II who brought us into a much more international sphere by marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine. On the other side, we wouldn’t have had Magna Carta, King John, or Richard the Lionheart. All these amazing kings and figures and moments would not have happened.