On the 900th anniversary of the shipwreck, Dr Sam Willis talks with Charles, Earl Spencer, about the White Ship disaster of 25 November 1120. The loss of the ship was one of the greatest disasters that England ever suffered and its repercussions changed English and European history forever. Henry I was sailing for England in triumph after years of fighting the French as the most formidable ruler in Europe. He landed home safely but the boat which followed a little later, upon which travelled some 300 passengers of the highest rank, including Henry's only legitimate son, the cream of the Anglo-Norman aristocracy including eighteen women of the rank of countess, famous knights and courtiers, did not...

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